On Friday I got an e-mail, forwarding me the Episcopal Bishop's Pastoral letter on the Environment. My initial reaction was negative. So I wanted to give it some time and reread it later. I gave it time, I reread it, and my second reaction was negative.
Let me be clear, I am in agreement that pollution is bad and consumerism and over-consumption are wrong. I also confess that I have been shaped by my culture in such a way that I engage in practices which are consumeristic and consumptive. My house is too big and we have too much stuff. I have never been at peace at how I ended up. But my models for spirituality, classical Christian faith, were what motivated me. As a seminarian and young priest I preached on this alot. St. Francis was my hero. Over and over again, I was told I was too idealistic and at some point I simply stopped fighting and enculturated. Now I am 'middle class man,' living the American "dream." So I am still, at some level, hungry for an answer to the question, "how does a Christian live in this land today?"
But the bishops have simply dressed up Al Gore's environmental message with numerous Biblical quotes and references to Christ. The message they sent was not profoundly Christian nor was it inspirational. The danger is, of course, that environmentalism, which is one of the leading secular religions, is replacing Christianity. The greater danger is these bishops have no clue that that is what is going on. I have seen the last year or two that "green" has replaced "gay marriage" as the primary concern of this church.
The first cheap shot I can take at the bishops is pulling the hypocrisy card. How can a group of people who regularly fly jets to gather in meetings (of questionable value) several times a year (and usually at some prime hotel) have the temerity to talk to anyone about consumption? How can bishops who oversee dioceses' with large builidngs and expansive facilities (generally inhabited by small numbers of parishioners) fail to address their own business first before they pontificate on what "we" should do? Like Al Gore, who consumes incredible amounts of energy and whose carbon footprint is the size of several third world villages, these "prophetic" words ring hollow.
The bigger issue for me is that the bishops, who seem to delight in rejecting classical Christianity as they "struggle" to "reshape" "Gospel preaching" for a new age, have simply embraced one of the party planks of the Left Wing of our nation's political debates. That is fine, Lord knows Christians must engage the world and politics is the venue in which we humans hammer out the policies and procedures of life together. The problem is the church leaders, who have long criticized (sometimes fairly) the right wing equating Jesus with their politics, cannot paint up the "leftist" politics with Christ without the same criticism being levelled at them. But then, in political power, hubris is a predominant factor...
I am not a scientist. I do not know by if driving to work each day I have put the world in peril. It makes sense that I am having an impact. But I also know that there was a period of extreme cold, called the mini ice age, as recently as the middle ages. I know the impact of weather on crops was horrible and in the colder climates people starved and were weakened. I have read that some think this added to the killing power of the bubonic plague which wiped out a large percentage of the population. I also know that climate change is the normal state of things. When I was a child I remember my terror while reading that the earth was on its way to freezing again. I prepared for a future of winter coats years round and eating seal blubber.
Whatever else may be true, it is simply not true that the bishops offer anyone a comprehensive solution to the issue. Have any of these "teachers" given any thought to what the western world should look like if we adopted a program of "green" living? Would everyone walk? What kind of construction would we embrace for work and living? What of farming? What of transportation? What about advances in science? Would it be nuclear, solar, wind? (which apparently are not able to do the job) And if so, why has the church not invested in these technologies? or explained how they will be implemented. And what about everything which currently exists? What can we reasonably expect to do? (besides those new light bulbs, which unfortunately can kill people if not properly disposed?)
The environment matters. Our actions matter. However, the Gospel is that GOD is the ONE Who we turn to in our brokeness and need. The empty platitudes of left wing politics do not ring true to me. Replacing Christian faith with Environmental activism leaves me angry. In their letter, the bishops display little in the way of serious answers. It seems to me that this new religion will not save, it cannot save because it depends on me and you. It is a call to "do something" but the sum total of what that something is, is precious little. Sorry, bishops, I am sure you are remarkably sincere and heartfelt in your exhortation, but I do not think you have given me much to work with here. No, we will not focus on climate change in this parish beyond what we already do. The focus will remain the spiritual climate of our relationship with the Triune God. Sins against the earth matter, but they are secondary. No sense confusing people about Who the Messiah is and What our main concern should be. The people hear enough of that already outside the church....
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