The Apocalypse of Selfishness

When I first started my manuscript in progress nearly three years ago, I began with the belief that if the Shroud of Turin was authentic it was the most important material object on earth.  I now believe that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate its authenticity.

What I did not anticipate is where I would wind up.  I’m now beginning work on the 17^th chapter which is tentatively entitled “The Apocalypse of Selfishness.”

The point is this: humanity, for the first time since its emergence as a self conscious entity, faces extinction.  The driving forces for that extinction primarily involve the selfish exploitation of the environment.  Our air, water, and land are all yielding to onslaughts from interests seeking immense wealth, whatever the environmental costs.

The use and misuse of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones in agriculture have engendered plagues, not only by the direct action of toxins, but through the evolving of super pathogens that defy medical treatment.  Rising ocean levels have already inundated the homes of millions of residents in coastal areas including Bangladesh.  Heedless extraction of oil, natural gas and coal not only fuel the runaway carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere but leave behind masses of unusable and deleterious waste.

That is only a partial litany of what plagues humanity.  The common thread that results through that litany and other evils inflicting humanity is selfishness.  The combined result is that for the first time in recorded history the survival of the human race is at issue.

In my manuscript, what is emerging is the identification of Jesus selfless sacrifice as the personification of love, and the selfishness of the rulers that propelled his crucifixion is the personification of evil.

Stay tuned.