Where we are headed- The Second Axial Age and post-Axial Religion, part 4: Trans-human Morality

​Given that the sense of moral goodness and duty to act virtuously is a universal element of religion, it would follow that if religion evolves, our sense of moral responsibility also should be expected to evolve.
 
If we look at the long term, big picture evolution of human morality, we see a gradual expansion of our sense of moral obligation from family to tribe to village to larger political units such as states and nations. What, then, will be the next step in what has so far been an ever-expanding sense of human moral responsibility? What will morality in a post-Axial Age spirituality look like?
 
First, our sense of spiritually-grounded moral obligation likely will extend to the entire human species, not just to one’s “own” group, whether that be a church, nation, ethnic group, or whatever. For many contemporary believers, that sense of moral obligation has already been extended to its maximum breadth within the human community through a sense of moral obligation to all humans, regardless of religion, ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, etc. The notion of a “brotherhood (or sisterhood) of man (or humanity)” is hardly a new idea, and its origins can be seen even in the teachings of Axial traditions (Jesus extending the sense of moral obligation beyond his Jewish followers to the Gentiles, the Buddha teaching the importance of extending compassion and other moral virtues to people of all castes). In real life, of course, this sense of a moral commitment to the entire species is often forgotten and sullied by its confused connection with various forms of religious exclusivism (moral obligations only to fellow true believers), nationalism (moral obligation only to God’s chosen nation), and similar limiting perspectives. Nonetheless, over the course of the 20th century, and especially among the post-Baby Boomer generation that has grown up with a previously unknown global ecological awareness and more informed recognition of the consequences of many aspects of modern human technologies, we find that the sense of community with the entire human species to be more and more the norm rather than the exception. Such a trend is likely to continue, and the moral teachings of the religion of the future will reflect this sense of the need to treat all of humanity in a virtuous manner.
 
But we would suggest that there are also signs that the expansion of our sense of moral responsibility is already extending even beyond the human species and evolving into a sense of moral responsibility to all living beings.
 
The ethicist Peter Singer has coined the term “speciesism” to describe and criticize the traditional approach to morality in which we treat one species (human) as more deserving of moral consideration than other species, whether plant or animal. Singer argues that speciesism, like racism and sexism, are relics of a morality which humanity is growing out of. We already see the early signs of the emergence of what might be called a “trans-human” morality in the growth of vegetarianism and veganism (growing to the point that even fast-food restaurant chains now offer plant-based alternatives to beef and chicken) and the growing popularity of organizations and movements devoted to natural conservation, environmental protection, and ethical treatment of animals. One might speculate that given these trends, just as today’s believers look back critically at earlier religious moralities that were confined to one’s own tribe and identified sexist and racist behavior as morally acceptable, religious people in the future might someday look back at today’s nationalist and speciesist morality as similarly primitive and brutal.
 
This movement toward a trans-human global ethic is explored by Ervin Laszlo, who sees the evolutionary development of the human species as heading into a post-Axial Age in which human consciousness will become more attuned to our trans-human connections and consequently a similarly expanded ethic will eventually develop. As our concept of God/Spirit/the Sacred expands, so will our sense of ethical responsibility:
 
When people evolve transpersonal consciousness they become aware of their deep ties to each other, to the biosphere, and to the cosmos. They develop greater empathy with people and cultures near and far and greater sensitivity to animals, plants, and the entire biosphere (Laszlo, Quantum Shift in the Global Brain, 125)
 
Again, this will be problematic for those who cling to Axial religions and their less expansive moral teachings, and as with basic beliefs as discussed above, it will take time to develop a more detailed set of post-Axial moral principles. But whatever form those principles take is sure to be one which is certain to reflect a moral commitment on a global scale, covering not only all humans but all sentient beings.