“Man cannot long separate himself from nature without withering as a cut rose in a vase. One of the deceptive aspects of mind in man is to give him the illusion of being distinct from and over against but not a part of nature. It is but a single leap thus to regard nature as being so completely other than himself that he may exploit it, plunder it, and rape it with impunity.” --- Howard Thurnan
As we deepen spiritually, we come to know that The Divine (whatever name we use for God) is everywhere, in all, beyond all, immanent and transcendent, yes both. The old cliche is true - there is no spot where God is not.
In this quote above, he is primarily talking about our relationship to earth. But I think it is not useful to compartmentalize, Unfortunately we often treat our earth as other. I agree. But we also treat each other and life in general as other.
There seems to be an epidemic of exploitation, plundering, and rape going on. And its not just toward nature. There is a darkness, as if a dark fog spreading from dark places on the web and elsewhere. There is increasing violent behavior and murder. There are humans selling children. There are massive cartels and conglomerates selling addictive and killing drugs . There are politicians and professors selling communism. There are journalists telling things they know to be untrue. I could go on and on, but I'll stop with these examples.
I suggest that it is partially due to labelling "other" and then anything is fair game.
We have time to turn it around, I hope and pray. We need not only to be against the darkness, but we also need to be for and with the Light. We need the courage and vision to stand up for what we know to be good and holy. We need to awaken and remember there is no other. Ultimately we are one, and we are in this earth adventure together.