Bad Religion

I found Timothy Morton’s presentation on hyper objects interesting but slightly too abstract to be easily understood. However, the presentation did give me a new understanding into the green movement. I realized that the green movement is religion for the modern era. Recycling, driving less, turning off lights are all rituals that a person performs in order to feel like they are in control of their future. A person who prays does so because it makes them feel like they are in control of where they are going to be in the afterlife. “Going green” serves the same psychological purpose, a person who recycles finds comfort in the daily ritual because they believe, perhaps subconsciously, that it will save the world, it gives them the feeling of control over their future. It even mimics religion in the way it is structured. Those who have already gone green preach the ideals of the green movement to the masses in an attempt to convert them. People who drive hybrid cars are seen as the most devout followers of the faith. In actuality, one person recycling is not going to make any difference on the environment, even a million people recycling probably does not make much of a difference. Because like religion, the green movement will never be able to convert enough people to make a difference and even if they could it would not matter because whatever humanity has done to the environment and the climate is irreversible. Don’t get me wrong I’m totally for alternative energy and energy conservation; I just think that we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that by recycling we are on some sort of higher moral plain.