Consequences of Discovery

Since we had not then nor have we yet adopted a principle of noninterference – ala Star Trek – it’s likely that the first contact between the European world and the Americas was going to go badly. As with any encounter life as it was being lived was going to be changed. Back then the idea of cultural sensitivity while present in the minds of a few wasn’t common practice.

But now that we sit here more than half a millennium after that discovery and the consequences of that discovery – both the good and the bad – it is appropriate to stop on this Columbus Day and consider the cultural and ecological foot print we leave on this world we live in. It is important that we remember that every action has its consequences. They can be good or ill, but the consequences are real. Sometimes those consequences are quite destructive.

We’re here now – we can’t change that fact. But we can consider how we live within our environment. That would be a worthy way of commemorating a bittersweet holiday.

[via Ponderings on a Faith Journey]