Should the ‘Ecological Question’ top the Church’s agenda? Part 1
The recent national election raised a puzzling question: “Why were Christians so silent on the politics of the environment?”
The topic was hardly raised in the general election campaign. But the church, as custodian and proclaimer of the Good News for all creation, didn’t do any better. Christians were largely silent about the vast ecological problems bearing down on our civilization.
Are we politically sidestepping the ‘ecological question’?
The key problem today?
In the mid-19th century, Dutch Reformed leader Groen van Prinsterer urged Protestants and Catholics to tackle the ‘school question’ in the Netherlands. He argued that parent’s right to choose and run faith-based schooling with just public funding was a top cultural question. In the early 20th century, Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper urged the Christian community to shift focus to the ‘social question.’ He argued industrialization and the swelling ranks of destitute workers and families was the new leading question of the early 20th century.
“There is nothing new under the sun,” says Ecclesiastes 1:9. But, a cursory study of 20th century environmental history shows something radically and dramatically new is occurring. “This is the first time in human history that we have altered ecosystems with such intensity, on such scale and with such speed. It is one of the few times in the earth’s history to see changes of this scope and pace,” J. R. McNeill concludes in Something New under the Sun.
“Albert Einstein famously refused to ‘believe that God plays dice with the world,’” he continues, “But in the twentieth century, humankind has begun to play dice with the planet, without knowing all the rules of the game.”
I think its time that the church recognizes the ‘ecological question’ as the overriding problem of the 21st century.
Current ecological transformations
Massive environmental changes are reported daily in our newspapers. The New Scientist offers a concise overview of these trends since the 1960s. Notice the rate of change for each activity and problem increases so spectacularly that each graph look like a ‘hockey stick.’ They rise slowly for the length of the shaft, and then suddenly skyrocket up into the blade when we hit the 1950s.
These graphs powerfully confirm that we really do face ‘something new under the sun’!
Human use and abuse of God’s good creation is growing so rapidly that it now threatens both human wellbeing and the flourishing of creation itself! At increasing speed, we are stripping the world of resources and dumping huge quantities of waste into air, water, and land.
(To be continued…)
Dr. John Hiemstra teaches in the Politics-History-Economics (PHE) 4-year BA program at The King’s University College and is Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Posted: August 3rd, 2011 under Hiemstra, King's Faculty.
Tags: christians, election, environment
Comments
Comment from tz
Time August 3, 2011 at 2:51 pm
This is such an important question, John. If we start to evaluate our impact on the environment, we inevitably are confronted by none other than ourselves and how we have constructed our society and our own lives. As a family psychologist, I am challenged to ask how we psychologically justify for ourselves and our children the ways in which we use the precious resources that have been given to us in this world. For me, the question comes right down to personal use and responsibility and what we model for our children.
We know that nothing so potently affects global markets like consumer choice. So why, then, don’t we choose to be more responsible? I have been thinking about this question, and it inevitably leads me to the question of personal sacrifice. What are we willing to give up or, at the very least, use in greater moderation? Plastic McDonald’s toys? Jet fuel? Gel nails? Bobble head dolls? Having five different show scrapers for three different cars? These questions aren’t meant to be facetious; they are serious, but we don’t, as consumers, seem to take them very seriously. With bins containing heaping mounds of snow scrapers in the local Canadian Tire, it’s hard to imagine that taking two or three is much of an issue. As I said to a friend yesterday in discussing Theresa of Lisieux, it’s hard to follow a “little way” in a world that wants everything supersized.
If, fundamentally, consumer choice can correct or, at least, affect levels of global production, then we have to be and raise responsible consumers who can practice restraint — even a little bit. For parents, this means discussing choices with children, for example, about what to do for holidays — Disneyland? Staycation? Local trips? — as well as the impact of those decisions on us, on others, and on the earth. Parents can’t do this alone; they need support — educational, personal, social, moral, and spiritual support. Making these decisions goes to the very root of who we are and how we have organized our society; making these decisions requires us to be counter-cultural, which is not easy.
The supports that parents need in order to make these kinds of decisions and model them for their children can come from the Church — if the Church recognizes the issues as a priority and understands what parents are going through in raising families today, which is the topic of my own current research. For me, the issue of the environment is the overriding issue in the sense that it connects directly to the question of our personal morality and personal relationship with God and God’s creation — how we live in creation, how we use creation, and our stewardship towards creation. If we are mistreating the environment, we need to acknowledge our greed and apathy towards others and towards creation — we need to acknowledge that we are our own problem, which leads us back to an appreciation of our sinfulness and separation from God in our fallen state. I do support the idea of a free-market economy, but it clearly is out of control because we, as consumers are out of control. I’m glad you posted your ideas, as you helped me to sort out some of my own thinking on the topic.
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