The Sin of Sustainability?

A thought provoking critique from Paul Kingsnorth's essay, Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist:

I became an “environmentalist” because of a strong emotional reaction to wild places and the other-than-human world: to beech trees and hedgerows and pounding waterfalls, to songbirds and sunsets, to the flying fish in the Java Sea and the canopy of the rainforest at dusk when the gibbons come to the waterside to feed. From that reaction came a feeling, which became a series of thoughts: that such things are precious for their own sake, that they are food for the human soul, and that they need people to speak for them to, and defend them from, other people, because they cannot speak our language and we have forgotten how to speak theirs. And because we are killing them to feed ourselves and we know it and we care about it, sometimes, but we do it anyway because we are hungry, or we have persuaded ourselves that we are.

But these are not, I think, very common views today. Today’s environmentalism is as much a victim of the contemporary cult of utility as every other aspect of our lives, from science to education. We are not environmentalists now because we have an emotional reaction to the wild world. Most of us wouldn’t even know where to find it. We are environmentalists now in order to promote something called “sustainability.” What does this curious, plastic word mean? It does not mean defending the nonhuman world from the ever-expanding empire of Homo sapiens sapiens, though some of its adherents like to pretend it does, even to themselves. It means sustaining human civilization at the comfort level that the world’s rich people—us—feel is their right, without destroying the “natural capital” or the “resource base” that is needed to do so.

It is, in other words, an entirely human-centered piece of politicking, disguised as concern for “the planet.” In a very short time—just over a decade—this worldview has become all-pervasive. It is voiced by the president of the USA and the president of Anglo-Dutch Shell and many people in between. The success of environmentalism has been total—at the price of its soul.

Santorum needs to chat with the Pope

Sunday morning, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum appeared on CBS's "Face the Nation" to defend his remarks to the Ohio Christian Alliance. While speaking to the conservative Christian group last weekend, Santorum stated that President Obama perpetuates “some phony theology. Not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology.” This statement itself is problematic in several ways, not least of which is the tired implication that the president might not be a Christian. It was Santorum's clean up, though, that actually mucked everything up.

Santorum tried to explain that he was actually talking about "radical environmentalists", who “have a worldview that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources, because we’re going to harm the Earth by things that frankly are just not scientifically proven.”

This statement is the political equivalent of a "What's Wrong with this Picture" page in the back of a Highlights magazine. So let's ignore the obvious issues like inclusiveness or, you know, science, and jump right into the theological gaffes.

Claiming that humanity has unbridled control over God's creation is not only ignorant, but arrogant. The creation narrative of Genesis 2 shows God placing the human being in the garden "to till it and to keep it" (2:15 NRSV), not to strip it and to plunder it. Humanity was never meant to blindly and irresponsibly consume anything, especially something so specifically placed in our care. The earth and its resources are not ours to "take," as Santorum stated, but God's to give. This right-to-pillage mindset extends beyond matters of environmental concern, into justifications of exploitative economic systems and hugely disproportionate wealth.

The root of the problem is that Santorum's statement implicitly acknowledges a divorce of the fate of people from the fate of the world. Creation and humanity are inseparable, and if you don't believe the science, let us turn to the leader of Santorum's faith community, the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI, in celebration of World Peace Day on January 1, 2010, offered a message entitled, "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation," where he implores humanity to "renew and strengthen 'that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying.'" The Pope beautifully articulates the undeniable fact that as humans created by God, our lives and well-being are tied up with the rest of creation:

Our present crises – be they economic, food-related, environmental or social – are ultimately also moral crises, and all of them are interrelated. They require us to rethink the path which we are travelling together... The quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation.

It's about the environment. But more accurately, it's about the sum of God's work. Santorum's myopic understanding of climate change has allowed him to be concerned about the deficit burden on future generations while ignoring the environmental squalor left for our children's children. The wholeness of the rich can no easier be separated from that of the poor, than the fullness humanity from that of our home. We are connected to each other and to the earth by the God who formed and redeemed all of creation. To live outside of that responsibility reflects the selfishness and conceit of the human condition rather than the humble discipleship of a people responding to God's continued grace.

Willing to be Arrested

This statement was made yesterday by the Reverend Bonnie Osei-Frimpong who represents ARISE Chicago.

People ask me why I wanted to be arrested with Occupy Chicago last October. My answer is simple. I did not want to be arrested. Jail was cold. I was hungry. I didn't have any privacy. They took my timepiece. I had no idea how long I would be there. I did not want any of that. I did not want to be arrested.

I do want a political system in America that treats the poor, the sick, the aged, and the infirm like citizens, like human beings "endowed by their Creator" with inalienable rights. I do want to live in an America, and in a great American city, that honors its commitments to its residents and treats with dignity those in its midst who will hold it to its own promises.

When the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch of the United States of America, and the municipal powers of the city of Chicago, violate the promises on which our country is built, by criminalizing the poor and funneling resources and undue influence to the wealthy, I will gather with my fellow citizens and peacefully assemble to redress my grievances.

Although I do not want to get arrested, I am, however, willing to be arrested. I am willing to be arrested to defend our right to peacefully assemble in order to redress political grievances, and to redress economic corruption, and to redress social needs. I am willing  to be arrested if that is what it takes to remind our government to concern itself with "the least of these." And I am willing to be arrested if that is the next step in a long-term plan to get corporate money out of our political system.

Sadly I cannot say that I have faith in the judicial system. The Courts have gotten it wrong in defining what constitutes a person. Why shouldn't I believe that they will get it wrong about what it means to peacefully assemble? But, I'm a faithful Christian, so I will give them a chance.

The question is not a matter of whether I wanted to get arrested. The question is a matter of what you are willing to do in defense of the "least of these." The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and we can and should do better. The question isn't why I am willing to be arrested. The question should be: why aren't you?

God bless you, and God bless America

It's Time for Clean Power

It's no secret that coal-fired power plants are a major source of air pollution for the city of Chicago.  In fact, Fisk and Crawford, the two Chicago power plants, have affected their surrounding communities profoundly.  Effects of the plants on the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods have resulted in over 40 premature deaths, 2800 asthma attacks, and 500 emergency room visits per year.

Yesterday, the Clean Power Coalition of Chicago hosted a press conference urging the city to retire these two plants.  Follow Coalition updates through this facebook group to get information about the progress of this movement.  And raise your voices, Chicago.  It's time for clean power!

A Moral Obligation

This statement was made by The Reverend Bonnie Osei-Frimpong at the Raise Illinois Lobby Day in Springfield on Tuesday, January 31.

A family earning a minimum wage of $16,000 a year can not afford for the car to break down. They can not afford to take time off work if someone gets sick. They can not afford health care, child care, or elder care. A family living on a minimum wage can hardly afford nutritious food.

A family living on a minimum wage can afford to advocate for what is best for their well-being, and for their community's well-being. A family living on a minimum wage income can afford to march and move and mobilize for the sake of the American Dream. They can afford to buy-in to the common good, if they are given the chance to live, with a living wage.

There is one thing you learn very quickly when you are poor in America. Being poor is very, very expensive. When you are broke, and start cutting corners, juggling debts, when you skip your insurance payment just to get by, that is when things start to go wrong. That is when people get sick, home fires happen, bad luck hits.

When the only bill that gets paid this month is the bill that hit the ground first when you threw them all up in the air, then it is time for you to earn a wage that is enough to live on.

I was speaking to a man at my church. He told me, "It's not that I'm afraid to work. I work hard. I don't expect things to be easy. But what I don't understand is why it has to be so hard--why it feels impossible. I don't know why it is impossible."

Brothers and sisters in Christ, securing a living wage for the poor is a moral obligation. We in the state of IL have a responsibility to promote the livelihood of our fellow citizens by establishing a living wage. This is why the legislature should pass Senate Bill 1565 during this calendar year.