
The Gospel According to Science: The Path of Integrity is Now Obvious
The gospel according to science—the saving good news from an evolutionary perspective—is this:
A deep-time worldview makes coming into integrity, or "getting right with God", individually and collectively, practically a no-brainer.
This is really good news because integrity is everything; it's the only thing that truly matters. At this time in history, focusing on anything other than right relationship at and with all nested levels, from the personal to the planetary, is a distraction.
Religion has always recognized the centrality of integrity. In the language of my own tradition, what is 'conversion' other than coming home to Integrity? What is 'abiding in Christ' other than living in Integrity? What is 'the fruit of the Spirit' other than evidence of Integrity?
The two types of religious leaders that Jesus was most critical of were the Sadducees and the Pharisees—those who thought being right with God meant being in the right tradition, having the right beliefs, or performing the right rituals. To both of these kinds of believers Jesus emphatically said, "No, that's not it! Follow me. Walk the path I'm walking. Abide in integrity. It's by your fruit that you'll be known." When we forget this, we betray God (and belittle the gospel).
While we naturally feel whether we are in or out of integrity with respect to our values and our closest circles of relationship, without an evolutionary worldview we can't know whether we are in integrity at larger scales. And without a deep-time view of grace and creative emergence, we certainly cannot see our way forward.
Here's an initial sketch of what I suggest integrity looks like at multiple levels:
Education that includes how each subject fits within the big picture has integrity.
Education that ignores the larger ecological and cosmological context lacks integrity.
Religion that celebrates the divine at all scales of reality and that honors what is real has integrity.
Religion that values the unnatural over the natural lacks integrity.
Religious education that helps children interpret science in inspiring, faith-enhancing ways has integrity.
Religious education that fails to help children interpret science in sacred, meaningful ways lacks integrity.
Spirituality that helps each of us work through resentments, secrets, and unfinished business has integrity.
Spirituality that fails to transform peoples lives and relationships lacks integrity.
Governance concerned with aligning individual and group self-interest with planetary self-interest has integrity.
Governance that fails to reflect back to the parts their impact on the whole lacks integrity.
Democracies that effectively harness collective intelligence have integrity.
Demorcracies controlled by moneyed interests lack integrity.
Economics with accountability and an understanding of our evolved instincts has integrity.
Economics that fails to take into account a scientific view of human nature lacks integrity.
Humanity committed to a thriving future for the body of life of which we are part has integrity.
Humanity unaware or dismissive of our impact on other species and the planet lacks integrity.