Can we save ourselves?

I was born into this culture with all its short comings but I can think of worse places. In some ways we get the culture we deserve but the opposite is also true. We have always felt threatened by forces bigger than us. Cain said he had become a fugitive and a wanderer upon the face of the earth and protested that his punishment had become too great. He was alienated from his creator, or so the story goes. Perhaps there is a truth here. Could it be that our fundamental problem is that we have become exceedingly idolatrous. I mean our ultimate concern appears to be consumerism and oil has fed it. Sartre said... "We are so shaped by our past choices and decisions that in the end we checkmate ourselves into an inescapable cubicle of thought and action", so we are prisoners. We also appear to want to be part of communities or belong to a church. Once you join a group things get complicated. I guess we need to write some new hymns. Then we have to convince or evangelize to the flock that we should all sing the same hymn..." I write the songs that make the world go round, I write the songs" ... I guess we should tell it like it is but what happens to those who do that. The story of Christmas comes back into focus with its ultimate conclusion being a crucifixion and the the claim of a redemptive return to save us from our stupidity. Hey guys, I went to the optometrist the other day and he said he didn't think much of the eye as a design. I couldn't stop myself so I said would he like to try and make one starting from scratch. I said that I wasn't talking about a camera connected to a computer just in case he was. There was a long silence and we started to talk about the metaphysical component and how the brain played a significant role in the construction of what we see. The brain certainly not being a computer and nothing like one. We are so confidently ignorant. Perhaps we do need saving from ourselves.