To frame environmental issues in terms of feminism and the feminine is also, I believe, problematic, not because feminism has nothing to contribute, but because it represents the anthropocentrism we've been discussing. The moment we hone our sights on issues of patriarchy and gender inequality (as important and relevant as these problems are to any discussion of humanity's alienation to the ways of Physis), our concerns become exclusively human; we become bogged down in the endless conversations surrounding inequalities in human society, and our language continues to reflect the fundamental error of radical Nomos. We are suddenly no longer concerned with the victims hardest hit by human abuse of the natural world, and our hearts are not breaking for the immense suffering of this world, which instead of alleviating as we were intended to, we have by our greed and alienation exacerbated. Our compassion is disrupted, and instead of filling a key cognitive function of the cosmos. We become so concerned with issues of Nomos that we are prevented from performing our functional role in the creative intentions of the universe (Thomas Berry language).
Issues of Nomos such as gender inequality and patriarchy are not unimportant or unworthy of discussion; they are vitally bound up in man's inhumanity to man (as some have called it), and they should be talked about and explored in order for human life to flourish more abundantly. However, it is a harsh truth that we have a job to do, and if we cannot do it, we will be phased out and replaced. The paperwork at the desk is piling up, and has been piling up for centuries. We have only recently reached the level of maturity required to begin tackling the enormity of this mounting task, and if we cannot or will not assume our responsibilities, the human experiment will fail and the universe will wipe the slate clean to start again. Our place at the table of life is at stake. But as regards human issues that turn our gaze away from Physis, we must eventually come to the harsh realization that procrastinating in our functional role is a luxury we can no longer afford to indulge in. Time is running out, whether we have managed to address our internal Nomos problems or not. Physis has waited, but no longer, and it does not care that we are still plagued by issues of economic and social inequality. A storm does not care what state your house is in when it threatens to blow it all down. Our house, Nomos itself, will be blown down by our neglect, whether we've managed to set it in order or not. We can no longer afford to defer our observation of duty. We have a job to do, and the universe is calling, asking why we are late. Our job is at stake. Our very existence is at stake. What is our answer?
To quote Jane Goodall, "the greatest danger to our future is apathy."
