The Two Faces of Civilization

Dr Abe V Rotor

Lost civilization: Macho Picchio of Peru was spared by its remoteness from the Spanish conquistadors who plundered the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs.  

Ruins of an ancient city in Syria, now endangered by the present civil war in that country.

Human pyramid, a quest for the the highest living pillar in sports competitions all over the world.  

Tsunami triggered by a 9.0 earthquake hit Japan one year ago today.  The disaster caused countless lives and billions worth of properties lost.  It caused nuclear meltdown of one of the reactors in Fukushima spreading radiation over a large area. 

Country life on the Cordillera mountain range, part though remote, from the famous Rice Terraces of Banaue, one of the wonders of the world, and UNESCO heritage site. 

“The ultimate test of any civilization
Is not in its inventions and deeds;
But the endurance of Mother Nature
In keeping up with man’s endless needs.”

   

                                          - AVR, Light in the Woods.

But what is civilization? Can’t civilization hear and heed the groaning of Creation?

• It is civilization that wiped out the American Indians from the Great Plains.
• It is civilization that plundered the Aztecs and Mayas Empires.
• It is civilization that spurred the powerful West to "discover" and colonize the East.
• It was civilization that resulted in the death of millions and the genocide of 6 million Jews during the second world war.
• It was civilization that built the atomic bomb – and dropped it in two cities of an "enemy."
• It is civilization that made a clone animal, Dolly the Sheep, and inevitably man.
• It is civilization that threatens the whale and the Philippine Eagle, and resulted to the extinctions of many species.
• It is civilization that is causing global warming and its untold consequences destroying lives and properties.
• It is civilization that is causing today’s fuel crisis and food shortage, drastic inflation and loss of currency value, the recession of America and consequently the world, ad infinitum.

But it is also civilization that brought us and our society to the highest level of consciousness no known species can parallel. It is civilization that makes the Earth a beautiful place to live in.

• It is civilization that created our great institutions that bind us into a society.
• It is civilization that made the greatest masterpieces in thought and in the arts.
• It is civilization that instills in us pride and dignity in our continuing accomplishments.
• It is civilization that prods us to explore the ocean and space, and knowledge itself.
• It is civilization that treasures knowledge in libraries, archives and multimedia, all ever expanding and mysteriously revealing.

It is civilization that makes nations great - big and small - equally proud of their culture, and contribution to the world.

It is civilization that brings us all towards universal brotherhood and globalization, shrinking the world into a friendly village.

It is civilization that makes heroes and martyrs that always prevail at the end in keeping peace and order here in our only home, The Planet Earth.~

Photo Credit: Internet