Here's a long article by Paul Kingsnorth arising from his reaction to a visit to the Caves at Niaux and the paintings therein. A mutedly passionate call for the value of sacred awe as an essential component of human life.
I like this.
The myth of progress is to us what the myth of god-given warrior prowess was to the Romans, or the myth of eternal salvation was to the conquistadors: without it, our efforts cannot be sustained. Onto the root stock of Western Christianity, the Enlightenment at its most optimistic grafted a vision of an Earthly paradise, towards which human effort guided by calculative reason could take us. Following this guidance, each generation will live a better life than the life of those that went before it. History becomes an escalator, and the only way is up. On the top floor is human perfection. It is important that this should remain just out of reach in order to sustain the sensation of motion.
Uncivilisation - The Dark Mountain Manifesto. Paul Kingsnorth and Dougald Hine. 2009
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