|
For
this domain I have deliberately chosen the name ECUMENE, evoking the image
of a house or household, since it neatly links several major aspects of
human life that can help or obstruct the building of a global community:
Ecology, Economics, Ethics, and Religion. The term economy" is derived
from the Greek word OIKONOMIA (management of the houshold or stewardship).
OIKONOMIA contains the word OIKOS (inhabited house) which also gives us
the term "ecumenical" -- pertaining to the OIKOUMENE, the inhabited earth
or earth household as well as the terms "ecology" and "ecological" -- dealing
with the relationships of living organisms and their environment. The notions
"household" and "stewardship" contain implicitly the expectation of human
kinship and mutually beneficial exchange of goods and services.
The
ECUMENE domain provides cyber-homes for organizations dedicated to bridging
the ideological boundaries that divide humanity and have been used for
millennia to rationalize suspicion, proselytism, hatred, aggression, and
warfare. The Internet is giving us the opportunity both to focus on what
human beings have in common and to discover, come to respect, and celebrate
our many faces and varied ways. People from all over the world can now
collaborate on countless projects to "build the earth," in the words of
Teilhard de Chardin. Knowledge can be shared across borders and all can
be simultaneously learners
and teachers. From the perspective of cyberspace the world of communication
and human relationships is as much one as the physical earth is when viewed
from outer space. But unity does not mean uniformity and genuine globalization
does not mean loss of what is best in a culture's tradition; it means enrichment,
healing, cross-fertilization, and growth. It
means that all human beings can finally begin to see themselves as members
of one big, sprawling, diverse, noisy, argumentative, but ultimatly caring
and mutually supportive family.
|
|
|
