Environmentalism was a pseudo religion where I grew up. It’s no wonder, as I lived in a former hippie town in Colorado at the base of the Rockies. We could boast the most days of sun with greenbelt and beauty of nature to explore in every direction. Meanwhile, my church community cared very much for the poor, some in our own neighborhoods, but also around the world. Ours was a largely privileged, educated, and well-meaning white community where belief in the Christian God was not regarded highly, but the “sin” of not not recycling was universally agreed upon.
And from my earliest days, the dual gods of my Christian faith and love of nature slid together just fine. In Hebrew, the wilderness is “the speaking place” and it is in nature that I can identify the most clear places of God’s speaking, or maybe it’s just where I can hear. I know I am not alone.
It wasn’t until my early adulthood that I encountered a theology of creation care written by my denominational upbringing. In it they utilized the tree of life in Revelation 22 whose “leaves are for the healing of the nations” as a signifier of the importance of renewal and stewardship of creation. To have my theology actually reinforce my spiritual connection of nature and hometown environmentalism was significant to say the least. Likewise, as I learned more of the impacts of climate change upon the most poor and vulnerable faith, practice and environmentalism were no longer parallel dogmas but cohesive.
With that has come a strong push for my own lifestyle to buy sustainably, reduce plastic in our home, green banking, etc.; the logarithm has found me and I am in deep! And guilt for throwing away some plastic, or adding to the CO2 emissions in online shipping, can really get into my head. For anyone familiar with the recent NBC show, The Good Place, at one point it is concluded that a person cannot buy roses for their mom without garnering “bad points”, underscoring the complexity of consumer sourcing. It often can feel like this, that our world is set up against our making any changes that are truly helpful to curb climate change and the ravaging of our earth.
Stepping away from this guilt ridden tension of how to do any good, I have been wrestling with two things. The first is recognizing how very white and privileged is the world of environmental/sustainable marketing that comes my way. Occasionally there are fair trade, black and women owned companies in the mix, which is good. But especially where I grew up, those who model care about the environment are SO VERY white. When I think of the unlearning of white supremacy that is steeped within my implicit bias, I cannot help but see a toxic connection. Privilege and whiteness create a view of environmentalism that is self-righteous and very much connected to choices only available to those in upper echelons of society: buy the Tesla, shop locally instead of at Walmart, and eat at fancy farm-to-table restaurants. Give to the latest fire relief program and get a t-shirt. The aim: a clean conscious and I keep getting to enjoy what I enjoy.
Which is the second point I’ve been wrestling with: how very little I am asked to sacrifice in the white-eco-friendly world. No need to reduce my consumption, just reduce the amount of plastic it comes in. No need to inconvenience myself by taking public transit, but buy the Electric Vehicle. I own a home, so utilizing federal rebates to add to solar paneling is available to me. I can now go post my good deed consumerism to Instagram.
How different is this world of “eco-living” to the one of my brothers and sisters in the global south, who truly suffer the effects of climate change?
Oh Lord, how entwined is my white American privilege with my desire to care for the least of these and your creation too! Maybe I cannot have clean hands, but perhaps better to have an honest heart.
1 comment
Wow, Lin, This is an amazing, bold, honest, humble look at how we *white people pat ourselves on the back while using our privilege to do so. Thank you for your challenge to me to embrace the sacrifice and let it hurt a little.
I have watched to unfolding of support for Ukraine, and then heard the complaints about gas prices, and never has anyone asked us to sacrifice for those who do not even have cars, or heat, or running water or electricity anymore. I filled up the tires on my bike (although it is snowing here today!!) and am ready to ride to work. Small contribution, yet in the moment, it will be a regular reminder of how blessed I am.
Thank you.