We are facing a global crisis created by the climax of our capitalist money culture — a crisis that calls for a global answer. The world’s many religions are well suited to serve as resources in the face of this crisis because they emerged during the Axial Age: the same time period when money and private property began to penetrate everyday life in precapitalist societies across the globe.
The major religions and philosophies of the Axial Age, the historical period beginning in the eighth century bce, emerged in direct confrontation with the new political economy of that era. For this reason, they all reach toward a life-enhancing culture that may have the potential to overcome the death-bound Western civilization. In addition, this means that in spite of all the differences in details, the messages and spiritualities of these systems of thought have a direct relation to our own...
