The Assisi Foundation 2026–2027 International Distinguished Lecture Series
“Something of the abysmal darkness of the world has broken in on us… When evil breaks… into the order of things, our whole circle of psychic protection is disrupted.”C.G. Jung, Vol. 10, p. 411
Humanity’s scars are etched in our ongoing wars. It is time to dismantle many of our illusions about life and face the terrifying truth about ongoing crimes against humanity, while also seeing that we are marching steadily towards our own demise.
History proves this fact when documenting our development of ever more sophisticated instruments of destruction. From the beginning of time, when our hands were our only weapons, to nuclear bombs, which, if detonated, will create a reality we never wanted to imagine, bringing us ever closer to that brink.
Humanity is intoxicated with the power and hope of creating and destroying life.
After the creation of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer declared: “Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
And, in a moment of pure ecstasy, Dr. Frankenstein cries out: “…It’s moving. It’s alive! In the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God.”
Once these discoveries and creations are unleashed into the world, we no longer have control over them, and similar to the workings of an autonomous complex, they take on a life of their own.
We have far too many examples of our inability to contain or control what we have created and the grave consequences suffered by humanity because of these. We continue making discoveries which adversely affect our health, while still electing despotic leaders who bring such disaster and hatred into the world.
Now we must ask: “What is our unconscious motivation for such decisions?”
This intoxication with power, with evil, or something far beyond our imagination is more alive today than ever. But aren’t we taught that life is sacred? How can we have strayed so far from this natural order of life?
