LINKS TO CURRENT PAPERS AND RESPONSES TO PRESENTATIONS
Reading #1 for March 29
Philip Clayton
My Passion for Eco-Theology
Excerpts from Pope Francis on Ecology
Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident... No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest...
-- Francis, Laudate Deum, § 5
Our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. We need â lucidity and honesty in order to recognize in time that our power and the progress we are producing are turning against us.
-- Francis, Laudate Deum, § 2, 28
The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. Laudato Si, § 13
The deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes human coexistence. (LS § 6, quoting Pope Benedict XVI)
These problems [of pollution] are closely linked to a throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to rubbish. (LS § 22)
“Environmental deterioration and human and ethical degradation are closely linked.” (LS § 56)
“Human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself. (§ 66)
God has joined us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement.(§ 89, opening the chapter onUniversal Communion”)
Inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good because, lived out authentically, it is reflected in a balanced lifestyle together with a capacity for wonder which takes us to a deeper understanding of life. (§ 225
Reading #2 for March 29
Philip Clayton
My Passion for Eco-Theology
Excerpt from “What Is Ecological Civilization?”
Question #8
...talking about fundamental changes to the habits of nations, businesses, and middle-class consumers across the globe, changes that will affect the lifestyles of all but the poorest. These realizations spawn a deep anxiety, which can easily lead to depression, apathy, or despair.
When your nonprofit focuses on loss of rainforests, or species extinctions, or soil erosion, or the rights of the poor, or lobbying for environmental policies, you know the challenges up close and personal. Sometimes you celebrate phenomenal successes; your efforts literally change the world. At other times you struggle through setbacks, limited funding, outright opposition by those who are making money through these injustices, and a populace that often doesn’t seem to care either way. Overall, you recognize, the climate is changing, but humans aren’t (yet).
The time-worn response, If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, remains a temptation for many who watch the effects of capitalism and systems of global exploitation. How can we bring about change on such a large scale? The idealism that shines in the eyes of young people and activ ists can become dimmed by the magnitude of the problems before us.
A Big Idea That Does Something
T he notion of ecological civilization speaks directly to this situation. It does not replace the environmental nonprofits, the marches, and the activism; in fact, it relies deeply on all of them. But it supplements them in a crucial way by holding the big picture ”the biggest picture” before our eyes. Think of it as realism extended to the long-term. Studying civilizational change is not utopian; it doesn’t say, “Don’t worry, the perfect civilization is just around the corner.” Instead, the mandate is to roll up one’s sleeves and begin to lay the foundations for what will come after the unsustainable practices of the modern era end--whether they end in 5 years or 50, through gradual transition or violent collapse.
So, why does the prospect of civilizational change bring hope?
(1) It offers a direction. Reflecting on the possibility of an eco logical civilization makes us think hard about how human
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what is ecological civilization?
civilization will have to be organized for it to become genuinely sustainable. It helps us to render that goal more concrete and specific than it has ever been before. As our conceptions of what a sustainable and just society entails become clearer, they begin to offer more guidance for policies today. We have at least a rough roadmap of where we need to go, which means we have some idea of how to get there. Wandering aimlessly in the wilderness can induce hopelessness; but knowing your destination, no matter how big the moun tains that stand between here and there, begets hope--we know where we need to go.
(2) It grows out of a comprehensive vision. The next hope is contained in the term itself. Ecological civilization formulates the long term goal of humanity: to live together in a global civilization that can be sustained over the long run--a civilization where resources are shared and where the many do not suffer for the sins of the few. The comprehensive nature of the crisis we face can only be adequately addressed by an equally comprehensive set of solutions. As a vision for civilizational change, ecological civilization encourages a systematic strategy for systemic trans formation. It’s not simply the high stakes, but the never-ending laundry list of problems needing to be solved which many find overwhelming. By taking a comprehensive approach, the long and fragmented list of problems are reoriented through the lens of an integral civilizational systemâ”meaning the count less separate social and environmental problems are brought together as one civilizational problem, which feels more man ageable and instills a sense of hope.
(3) It’s already being realized here and now. The previous hope, rooted in the possibility of a roadmap, begets a second one: activity. Many things need to be done now if we are to suc ceed in reaching the goal. It is human nature to feel better when we can make a difference; human despair comes when there is absolutely nothing for us to do. Some readers will remember a time when we believed that, if we recycled bottles
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Question #8
and cans, drove less (or drove a Prius), and thought globally while acting locally, then we would be saving the environ ment. Today we know these steps won’t by themselves stave off climate change. At this stage we define success differently. It is no longer about avoiding climate effects or extinctions; they are already here. Instead, success is now about the pro gressive movement toward a new civilization, and the actions that take us in that direction are all valuable--whether we avert an economic collapse or begin rebuilding after it passes. As we saw in Chapter 7 above, the movement toward a new civilization is already upon us. An ecological civilization is beginning to emerge.
(4) The goal is achievable. The final ground for hope may seem strange, but it’s perhaps the most profound of all: realism. Suppressing a frightening possibility for the future, trying not to think about it, often deepens anxiety. By contrast, bringing the fears out of the closet and looking them in the eyes brings a strange kind of freedom. Between todayâ™s âmodernâ civili zation and a sustainable form of life on this planet lies a great chasm. The threat is real that we don’t make it, that humanity does not respond in time. If we don’t, it’s likely that we will witness a collapse of many of today’s social, economic, and political structuresâ”of modern globalization as we know it. T he consequences will be huge. There is something immensely freeing about looking that possible result in the face. When we know what we’re facing, we know what we most want to avoid. Against the backdrop of a sober assessment of the global situation, there remains the possibility that we might just make it. Knowing where we are now (realism), knowing where we are going (goal), knowing what we need to do (roadmap), doing it (activism), and knowing we may just make it (hope) is transformative. The journey to a sustainable civilization may be quick, with amazing technolog ical breakthroughs, massive sharing of resources on the part of the powerful, and voluntary self-sacrifice on the part of the rest. Or we draft...
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Sabbath Seminars
Room 3208
Centennial Complex of Loma Linda University Sabbath Morning 10:30-12:30