QUAKER EARTHCARE WITNESS encourages a spiritual concern for the environment because we believe that deep identification with the spirit that is in all life is the key to motivating enough people to change their ways before it is too late. There are encouraging signs that orientations are changing. “Ecological theology” is springing from the roots of ancient traditions, and there is growing appreciation for the storehouse of sophisticated Earth wisdom to be found in indigenous religions. When it comes to specific spiritual paths or religious traditions, we tend to take a pragmatic stance that I would express this way: “Practice Earthcare or stewardship in the context of whatever faith works for you (religion, like language, is universal, but both are experienced in terms of particular faiths and languages, which are bound up with their respective human cultures). Quakerism works for us, but from the standpoint of integrity of creation we value any religious orientation that fosters more benign treatment of the earth." But some deep ecologists, eco-feminists, and adherents of holistic philosophies have condemned the Judeo-Christian tradition for doing the opposite. Certain attitudes and values that they associate with that tradition (patriarchy, dualism, etc.) are blamed for just about every environmental and social ill (the parallel influences of ancient Greek and Roman cultures on the attitudes and values of Western civilization tend to be overlooked in this indictment). Such skepticism has been fed in part by historians trying to correct what they see as serious biases in traditional portrayals of "how the West was won." Heroic pioneers have been recast as religious imperialists and environmental anarchists, quoting the Bible as they deforest the continent and push native peoples and native flora and fauna to the edge of extinction. But those of us who are descended from European stock and who were steeped in Judeo-Christian values from childhood doubt that blame can be laid so easily at the feet of a faith tradition. History also records responsible, even saintly, conduct that had been nourished by the same tradition. Evidently there is potential there for both good and bad. For our cultural-religious heritage is a lot like our genetic makeup: Even if we consciously disown it, at some level it will always be part of us. Since genetic and cultural endowments tend to be mixtures of positive and negative qualities, we can still make a difference by focusing on what is positive. ELIZABETH G. WATSON, author of the Quaker Earthcare Witness booklet Healing Ourselves and Our Earth, lists five errors in thinking or perception, long associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition, that she believes have been destructive to the earth. But she points to other, more appropriate patterns that are just as strongly grounded in biblical wisdom. For example, the hierarchical mode of thinking that starts with Heaven above and puts the earth literally on the bottom of the heap is symbolized by "Climbing Jacob's Ladder." But we also have "Dancing Sarah's Circle" to symbolize a more egalitarian, less human-centered attitude toward the rest of creation. Another positive aspect of the Judeo-Christian tradition is that it does, on closer examination, appear to have a strong Earth-friendliness potential. For example, many scriptural references can be cited to demonstrate that respect for Creation was a central part of the original Covenant. The traditional Quaker practice of studying scriptures and then holding them in the Light can also be helpful in the search for religious truth about the environment. We need look no farther than the writings of John Woolman, who studied the Bible intensively all of his life, for whom the need to protect all living Creatures was just as biblically based as his convictions against slavery: I kept steadily to meetings; kept First-day afternoons chiefly in reading the scriptures and other good books; and was early convinced in my mind that true religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart doth reverence and love God the Creator, and learns to exercise true justice and goodness, not only toward all men, but also toward the brute creatures—That as by his breath, the flame of life was kindled in all animal sensible creatures, to say that we love God as unseen, and at the same time, exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by his life, or by life derived from him, was a contradiction in itself.” —Journal, pp. 21–22. THROUGH THE INNER LIGHT, Woolman was led to a sense of the will of God for his life that was all the more compelling because it came from the Bible as a whole and did not rely as much on literal adherence to particular verses. Putting ancient scriptures in historic context might help explain the fairly minor role the environment seems to play in the Old and New testament writings: By the time most of the books of the Bible were written, agricultural practices in the Middle East had already wrought significant environmental damage, but the pace of degradation was far too slow to attract attention in anyone’s lifetime. So it’s likely that the ancient biblical writers would have had a lot more to say on this subject if they had been confronted with the acute environmental crises that are unfolding today. More significant than scattered scriptural references to the earth is the emergence, described in the book of Genesis, of a new kind of religion among the early Hebrew people: The descendants of Abraham are distinguished in realizing they belong to something larger and more enduring than a tribe or city-state. They are part of Creation, and thus a conscious, responsible part of the goodness it represents. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” —Genesis 12:1–3 Yahweh’s noted jealousy (Exodus 20:5) stems from intimate involvement with his people. The gift of free will is bound to the promise of a greater destiny through union with the Divine will. The Sinai Covenant is a statement of optimism, declaring that what people do in their daily lives has cosmic significance. Our modern Western concepts of history, progress, and individual responsibility can be traced in part back to this unique consciousness of divine leadership. The Christian scriptures record another historically significant spiritual breakthrough: the extension of the original Covenant from the realm of outward conduct to the Kingdom within. (Matthew 23:27) At the same time, the definition of the “people” called to share the new Covenant is expanded to include the entire human race. (Romans 3:29) THESE BASIC THEMES AND PATTERNS of the Judeo-Christian tradition have, for better or worse, echoed throughout Western civilization and continue to have a profound impact on our environmental consciousness today, regardless of the particular belief system we may ascribe to. For example, the archetype of Creation is largely responsible for our culture’s creative orientation to the physical world—a two-edged sword, to be sure. On the one hand, it has helped us develop technologies that sometimes upset the balance of nature. On the other hand, it is one source of our deep interest in the laws of the nature, without which we could not acquire the scientific knowledge needed to identify and address environmental problems. Creation-consciousness also accounts for our instinctive sense of responsibility for what is happening in the world, as well as the climate of hope and the vision of a better world that keep us searching for solutions. The Judeo-Christian warning against rebelling against the divine order explains why things have gone so wrong environmentally, especially since the Industrial Revolution: Pride, selfishness, and arrogance have led us to make gods of ourselves. We are reaping the alienation and self-destruction that results when we break our historic covenant with the Creator. As 2 Chronicles 7:14 puts it: …if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. But awakening to our spiritual roots is only the beginning. The environmental crisis is forcing us to look at religion itself in a radically new way: If the earth’s life-support system is destroyed, little else that we may pursue in the name of religion will matter; if the balance of nature is lost, prospects for peace and brotherhood will go down with it. Therefore, followers of all religions need to be open to new revelations about what is truly enduring, what is sustainable in the light of modern environmental knowledge. At the same time, environmental concerns need to be broadened to include timeless spiritual questions: Not just, "How are our actions and the substances we release affecting eco-systems?" But also "Who are we?" "Why are we here?" "What is lacking in us that keeps us from wholeness and harmony?" "How do we recover what is missing?" I believe that some partial answers to those questions can be discerned in the Judeo-Christian scriptures.• Louis Cox is Publications Coordinator of Quaker Earthcare Witness. He is a member of the Burlington (Vt.) Friends Meeting, where he is active in the Meeting's Friends Earthcare Committee and the Earthcare Ministry committee of New England Yearly Meeting. Together with his wife, Ruah Swennerfelt, he grows much of his own food, lives in a solar-electric house, and tries to walk gently on the earth. Questions for reflection
Illustrative activities Form a Meeting or congregational Earthcare Group.
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