Dario Lisiero

Civilization, Salvation or Domination Dario Lisiero

It is this author's contention that the root of all man-made disasters and sufferings is the seemingly unstoppable urge of domination in man. The virus of domination infects the whole society and this global village seems unable to find a cure or an antidote. According to St. Augustine this wasn't God's original plan. God had given man dominion over all creation, animals included, but not over man. Subjection of man to man had been brought about by human sin. Augustine acknowledges the existence of the domination factor as something not only unavoidable (after the original sin) but also as something necessary. This admission of human domination and of his necessity "ratione peccati" is a real eye-opener. However controversial this assertion, the overall presence of domination will be the basic interpretational key of the present study. Only through these lenses it will be possible to make some sense of historical people that otherwise would be incomprehensible.