From the Mission Field: Our AC Addiction
September 29, 2008
By Rick Burnette
These days you don’t have to drive too long before coming across a hybrid car. High gasoline prices are finally having an effect. SUVs are out and hybrids, as well as other high mileage vehicles, are suddenly very much in demand. We simply can’t afford the gas.
What about homes? Families are beginning to feel the pain of electric bills. Many, particularly lower income households in colder climes, are quite worried about how they’ll be able to pay the heating bill this winter.
But, from what I’ve observed in the South, folk haven’t yet reached the point of cutting back on their beloved air conditioning. To recommend as much would be tantamount to suggesting that Southerners stop drinking sweet tea. Read more
Floresta Seeks $220,000 to Restore Haitian Farms Ruined by Storms
September 19, 2008
- Aid targeted at preventing further devastation with careful planting
- First $56,000 in donations to be matched by anonymous donor
SAN DIEGO – In an effort to break Haiti’s cycle of hurricane disaster by focusing on reforestation, the San Diego-based global charity Floresta has put out a call for immediate aid to farmers who face utter devastation from several recent storms.
Floresta has planted nearly 250,000 trees in Haiti over the past 10 years, helping thousands of the world’s poorest people stop the erosion and deforestation that is a leading cause of poverty. “When storms strike the United States, we can turn to government aid. But Haitians get virtually no help, relying on the kindness of strangers,” explained Doug Satre, director of outreach at Floresta, an organization that has worked at the intersection of poverty and the environment since 1984. The charity serves thousands of villagers in six countries. “The increasingly violent weather patterns worldwide will put even more people at risk of losing their farms and their lives because hillsides stripped of trees can rapidly turn into massive mudslides. But catastrophic flooding is preventable with proper planting and agricultural training,” he explained.
Funds collected in the next several weeks will be used by Floresta to help Haitian farmers buy seeds to replant their fields in addition to replacing animals and farm equipment lost to flooding. “We need $220,000 to rebuild farms and homes while helping people to better prepare for the next, inevitable storm. Many of the world’s poorest nations need to adapt to climate changes by planting living barriers that match the topography. Farmers can stop erosion while growing fruit trees and crops to feed their families at the same time they restore the land,” Satre added.
An anonymous donor will match the first $56,000 in donations. Those wanting to contribute can give though Floresta’s website at www.floresta.org or call Floresta’s San Diego office at 1-800-633-5319.
About Floresta
An international Christian charity that works in areas where poverty is caused by deforestation, Floresta restores the environment and empowers the poor. For 24 years, Floresta has provided solutions to meet the complex economic, environmental and spiritual needs of impoverished farmers in developing countries by planting 3.8 million trees, revitalizing thousands of small farms, and making over 3,500 small business loans.
Lost Innocence
September 12, 2008
No one is innocent.
That’s a sweeping statement, but I was reminded of its truth last Friday, when an armed man entered a bank in my quiet neighborhood and held a dozen hostages inside for hours before killing himself. And I’m reminded of it this week, as we recognize the seventh anniversary of September 11.
I am not innocent.
I’ve never held a gun; I was in college when 9/11 happened. How can I possibly hold myself responsible for these tragedies, and what do they have to do with my concern for the well-being of creation? Well, the threads of connection are faint, but they’re strong.
Last Friday night, after the hostage situation had passed, I drove to a local mall and stood in a computer store for two hours. I was a consumer, surrounded by dozens of other consumers, all looking for something tangible, something the right color, something with the necessary functions to satisfy dissatisfaction and to craft identities for us that we are not ashamed of. With every new item that entered my hands at the mall, and with every step on the gas pedal as I drove home, I was acutely aware of filling the world with death, instead of life; with things and pollutants instead of friendship and grace and love.
I can’t say that the actions of the gunman in the bank or of the perpetrators of 9/11 were driven by consumerism or dissatisfaction or shame or the deterioration of the earth or a lack of love and community. But it’s safe to say that all of these things—that we each perpetuate—contribute to the brokenness of lives and communities and wild spaces.
Matthew Sleeth, in his introduction to the new Green Bible (Harper Bibles), and as quoted in this Fall’s Creation Care magazine, writes that “The earth is dying.” We contribute to its dying, and we do it every step of the way, even when we try to do right: As Ariah points out, even when we consume green, we still add stuff to the world instead of adding health and beauty and relationship to it. Even when we drive a hybrid, we still contribute carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Even when we blog about creation care, we still use electricity. Everything we do has an effect on the world around us—both the physical planet and the people who live on it.
Sounds paralyzing. It’s not.
It’s a fragile place to be—this realization of our own complicity in the wrongness of things. We could give up, or we could readjust our perspective.
At the same time that God asks us to pick up our cross and try to live rightly, he also overwhelms us with the reassurance that we will never get anything perfect, but that his grace is sufficient to fill up and overflow all the gaps. I can’t say I understand this. I can’t say I want to understand it. But remembering that it’s not about us, after all, has a simultaneously calming and invigorating effect. God must increase, and we must decrease. This fact not only frees us to leap with abandon at the goal of living rightly and gently upon the earth and with each other; it also floods our many failings with hope.
It is all connected—the harm we do to creation and the harm we do to each other and the harm we don’t even know we do. We are not innocent. But, by the grace of God, we are forgiven and free.
Kendra Langdon Juskus is managing editor for Creation Care magazineCreation Care magazine. She lives with her husband in Illinois.
Church & Politics
September 11, 2008
What role (if any) should the church play in politics and culture? This close to the election, it’s a question worth asking.Some would suggest that God’s people should stick to preaching the gospel, carrying for the poor, and personal morality.None of which are bad in and of themselves.Others would suggest that it is adulterous for Christians to put so much emphasis on the modern world especially the modern state while the actual injunction of scripture is to focus on the church and by doing so become a witness/model for the world. Certainly we should all benefit from an attentive focus on church life.Well friends, unfortunately by withdrawing from the public square we will not rid ourselves from the trappings of culture or politics. Instead the church would rob this nation and this culture of its moral witness.When we turn to matters of creation care this becomes especially germaine. For most creation care issues are society wide.An old historical hand Alexander DeTocqueville once noted that it was the witness of the religion that kept the mores of men in line within a pluralistic society. It is only when the church seeks to align itself with a political bloc that it loses its influence.
Alexei Laushkin, a graduate from Claremont McKenna College, works for the Evangelical Environmental Network. He and his wife live in Alexandria, VA.
Going Green: Is It For You or The Earth? Really?
September 10, 2008
So, we all know “Being Green” is the in thing these days. Seems like every business under the sun is doing some marketing to let consumers know that they’re ‘green.’ And we individually are jumping on board as well, in ways we can prove our greeness. Honda had a hybrid car out for a while that didn’t sell well at all, the reason, it didn’t look distinct (like a Prius). You see, people who drive hybrid’s want you to know they are driving a hybrid. A lot of what we do, quite honestly, is to bolster our own image. Going Green is often more about me, then the earth.
And because it’s more about me and my image, consumerism continues to thrive. Everyone who wants to be ‘green’ goes out and by reusable grocery bags. We find out plastic is bad so everyone buys stainless steal water bottles. We buy organic, new t-shirts with catchy slogans on them. And sometimes we make drastic changes and change the location we buy coffee at to the local organic shop rather then the big box. But, in all of this, we are continuing to buy, buy and buy some more. We are buying new things that still need to be manufactured, shipped, packaged and sold, when we might not have needed to buy anything at all. We have not changed our consumption habits, simply tailored them to a specific style, a ‘green’ style (which doesn’t seem any better at times then someone whose style is that they enjoy the color pink).
I’m not trying to be overly critical (Though maybe I am), I just think we need a challenge to the ‘green’ trends we are seeing everywhere. And here is my challenge. If your desire to Go Green is really about the earth and not about you, then band your altruism and energy conservation together and help your neighbor at the same time as you help the planet. Instead of spending thousands on a hybrid, which is better for the environment, but not necessarily ton’s better (for the cost) then your current car (unless it’s an SUV, then maybe), try this experiment.
From what I’ve heard, CFL bulbs are pretty much the most cost-efficient, energy-saving switch a person can make. They not only save you money in the short run (electric bills) and the long-run (bulb replacement), but I think per dollar spent they have one of the biggest energy savings/conservations (sorry I don’t have a stat to link to), and everyone needs light bulbs. So, buy a bunch of CFL bulbs in bulk (ebay is good for this). Put them all in a little red wagon and go walking down your street. Knock on your neighbors door and offer to trade them three cfl’s for three of their incandescent bulbs (You can use them for the few places you can’t switch to cfl, or let them keep them, or try these). If that seems like too much work, you can send me some money via paypal and I’ll do it in my own neighborhood. It’s a much better use of your ‘green’ dollars then some of the more consumeristic trendy ‘green’ decisions
Ariah Fine lives in North Minneapolis with his beautiful wife and daughter. He is a blogger, community organizer, and author of Giving Up.
Coming Home Environmentally
September 9, 2008
Having recently moved back to the town I grew up in (Austin, TX), I’ve had ample opportunity in the past few weeks to reminisce. Austin is a very environmentally friendly town and I am enjoying exploring the eco-options for shopping and doing life around town. Yet as I reflect on my experience as a youth here, I recall that my introduction to environmentalism was a rather conflicted experience.
I attended the local science academy for Jr. High where I took classes like Environmental Science and joined the science club. Our activities included beach and river clean-ups and advocacy programs to get recycling bins in the local schools. We went river rafting, camping, and bird watching. One of my classes even created a garden on the school grounds amidst the broken glass, discarded syringes, and used condoms littering the neighborhood. Appreciating nature and learning to care for it was a vital part of my education. And we didn’t just talk about it – we lived it out.
At the time, I of course dove into environmental causes with the sort of obsessive passion only a Jr. High girl can display. In that age of big hair and towering bangs I encouraged my friends to stop their bottle a week aerosol hairspray habits. I wore a pendant that said “Save the Dolphins” and wrote (horrid) poetry for the student section of the Austin paper about keeping our oceans clean. I did my best to take 5 minute showers (I had a timer) and read everything I could about the watershed issues involving the local aquifer. My gestures didn’t amount to much, but they were the manifestation of the little I knew and of what I believed.
But those beliefs about caring for the earth that I learned at school were rarely echoed at home or in church. In fact they were often directly discouraged and ridiculed. Environmentalism was referred to as an anti-Christian value with environmentalists serving as the butt of many jokes. My parents constantly warned me against loving the creation more than the creator. In their eyes loving God and loving creation were either/or options – one couldn’t faithfully do both. I was the rebel treading dangerously close to sin by getting involved with environmental causes.
At the time I fought that message knowing that it just didn’t make sense. But as I left the science academy and the support and encouragement to care about the earth, the message of my church slowly won me over to apathy. For a long time I just stopped caring about creation – I didn’t recycle; I didn’t think about my lifestyle choices, I just didn’t care. I didn’t actively hate environmental ideas or endeavors; I just didn’t care enough to be proactive – which in all practical reality amounts to the same thing. It took years of distancing myself from such anti-environmental beliefs before I was able to truly care for creation again. It was an emotional journey to finally accept that loving creation is part of what it means to love God.
Now, nearly two decades after my Jr. High introduction to environmentalism, I have returned to Austin with new eyes. Recycling advocacy seems almost quaint these days as many local schools have student gardens and environmental clubs. I have access to eco lawn care and dry cleaning. I painted my house with eco-friendly paint and discovered a place to recycle all of my moving boxes. Once again, all small everyday gestures, but part of what it takes to commit to a lifestyle that loves God by loving creation. I am enjoying the opportunities offered by a supportive community. And twenty years have even changed the attitudes of my family and the church. Creation care is no longer a rebellious sin, but a spiritual discipline to be explored.
So my reminiscing on the past has helped me to re-establish myself here with environmental commitments already in place. I look forward to the journey ahead and am pleased to discover that, environmentally speaking, it’s good to be home.
Julie Clawson has spent the last few years helping plant an emerging church in the Chicago suburbs, but has recently re-established her roots in Austin, Tx. She is passionate about social justice, emerging Christianity, gender equality, and really good Tex-Mex food. Julie is currently working on a book about everyday justice issues. She blogs at julieclawson.com.
It’s All Greek to Me: A Recent Trip Reminds Me Just How Far Behind Americans Are
September 8, 2008
The trip was billed “The Journeys of Paul.” Many in the tour group came hungry to learn about the great Apostle while others simply wanted some sightseeing, relaxation and a Mediterranean cruise. I was probably somewhere in the middle, but the real experience I took home had nothing to do with either one.
When I landed in Athens airport, I immediately noticed that there were recycling bins everywhere. Some were marked for glass, others for plastic, others still for aluminum. Leaving the airport, I walked under the overhead electric wires used to power the gasless city buses ala San Francisco. (And people here actually ride the public transportation because cars are regulated so that they are not needlessly wasting gas.) If this were not enough, almost every house in the city of Athens is fitted with rooftop solar panels.
When I arrived in my hotel room, I noticed that even the recessed lighting made use of CFLs and the hotel was clear that they wouldn’t be washing your sheets every day to conserve water unless you specifically requested. In fact, a permanent sign in the bathroom noted that water was a “precious commodity, so please do your best to conserve it.” When I left the room, I had to remove my card from a slot near the door that turned off all the lights and appliances.
Stumbling and swaying as we sailed the Aegean Sea, I noticed that sparse islands were replete with energy-capturing windmills. When we ported in Turkey one day, our tour guide shared with us that the country has many hydro-electricity fields from which they harvest energy. As a result, the average cost of all household utilities in Turkey is around $40 US. I could go on and on, but I will save you the labor of reading it all (not to mention, I lost my notes on the flight back).
I felt enough like a foreigner being in a strange country where I can’t read the street signs and few people speak English, but I was shocked how out of place I—a creation care advocate—felt in a country that truly does its part to protect the planet.
In America, we go to Wal-Mart and buy our “Seventh Generation” paper towels and organic milk, load it up into our amenity-wrought Prius and head down to our homeowner’s association to brag to all our neighbors about how we’ve “gone green.” But when you put it in perspective, when you see firsthand how other people are altering the very way they live in the race to sustainability, it can knock the wind right out of you. At least, it did me.
For me, my trip to Greece was more than a relaxing vacation, although it was that. And it was more than a time for spiritual reflection, although I reflected often. My trip to Greece was a subtle reminder that the historically Christian Western world must do a better job of stepping outside of our self-gratifying, en vogue, light-green lifestyles and making tough decisions that will protect the God-glorifying creation we have been charged with keeping.
Jonathan Merritt is a faith and culture writer and National Spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative. His opinions have appeared in outlets such as TIME, The Washington Post, ABC World News and Relevant Magazine. You can connect with him at www.jonathanmerritt.com.
Al Mohler & Creation Care
September 5, 2008
Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and one of the nation’s leading theologians and cultural commentators, has been writing about the role of the outdoors in building the character of kids and their awareness of the Creator.
His latest post on the topic is called “Aliens in Creation – A Generation of Nature Know-Nothings”. But you can find other reflections by Dr. Mohler on the dangers of “nature deficit disorder” dating back several years here (a review of the important book Last Child In the Woods by Richard Louv) and here. Dr. Mohler interviewed Richard Louv on his radio show in 2005 – the episode is certainly worth a listen.
RELATED:
Creation Care Magazine featured an article about nature deficit disorder called “Leave No Child Inside” in its Fall 2007 issue.
The Prayer of a Llama
September 4, 2008
This post originally appeared at Restoring Eden and was written by Peter Illyn.
I had an old male llama named Benny. He wasn’t a gelding; he was an intact male, if you know what I mean. While the rest of the llamas had their heads to the ground eating grain, Benny would be standing at the fence line looking over the horizon dreaming about mating.
One day my daughter looked up the window and said. “Daddy our llamas are in the front yard… no wait! Those aren’t our llama’s!” An abandoned herd of female llamas had been running wild in the county for the past month, I later learned from police. They stopped running, however, when they came to my farm. Benny taught me a lot about prayer because that night was the best night of his life. He was an old llama, the best packer I ever had. He didn’t live much longer after that night – but he made a baby! You go, old man!
So 360 days later, I was blessed when one of the mama llamas named Dottie gave birth to a little brown male who looked just like his daddy. Click here to continue reading about how llamas help me believe in God and learn interesting facts like “the Incan word for dried llama meat was ‘jer-que,’ which is where we get the term jerky.” (I used to threaten my llamas that if they didn’t behave, I would see they ended up next to the checkout counter at 7-11.)
Llamas have few defense skills – they are not very fast runners, they don’t have sharp hooves, fangs or claws, they are covered with soft wool. All they can really do when threatened is spit. It is rude, trust me, it only make the spit-upon angrier. Trust me, I speak from experience and confess to having cursed out a few llamas in my day. I hope God understands.
Instead of defensive mechanisms, like plating like on an armadillo, speed like a gazelle, or camouflage like a walking stick insect, God chose to give llamas and camels a special measure of providence – the ability to survive in ecosystems harsher than their predators can survive in – camels in the desert and llamas in the high mountains above tree line.
Llamas are amazingly adaptive creatures. They have elliptical blood cells, the opposite of sickle-cells found in the tropics; deeply curved and bright red, they’re able to latch on to the super thin oxygen at 14,000 feet above sea level. A llama’s blood is also bright, bright red – chock full of cells ready to grab all the oxygen they can get. As such, llamas became the perfect pack animals of the indigenous people of the Andes. They were able to travel from sea level to mountain top with ease.
I’ve seen llamas sitting motionless all night long, becoming completely covered in 6 inches of falling snow. Their hair is also hollow with long outer hair that sheds rain and soft inner hair that keeps them warm. But when morning comes they stand up and shake off and wait for me to finish my cup of coffee before hitting the trail. The Incas would make clothes for themselves out of the softer inner wool, and rugs and bags out of the courser outer wool. Alpaca and vicunas, two cousins of llamas, have the softest fiber in the world.
A llama also has three stomachs. It is called a ruminant, one that breaks down food in a tri-step process, including regurgitating and re-chewing its cud. This ability allows animals like llamas and deer , who are most exposed to danger when they are grazing, to go out at dawn, fill up a stomach with plant matter, and then hide in the brush and spend the rest of the day chewing what they had gathered. Stomach acid also plays a large role as everything they eat rots and breaks down. That is the sour mash a llama spits when perturbed.
This trait, however, is one of many of God’s provisions. “Even their poop don’t stink,” was one campaign ad we considered. Llamas excrete hard pellets, similar to an elk’s. Unlike a horse’s one stomach, llama dung has gone through three stomachs. This means llama dung is virtually odorless, invasive seed free and low in nitrogen and phosphorus. It is a great fertilizer and will not burn the delicate plants.
Llamas are browsers, not grazers. They eat grass but also twigs, bark, charcoal, shrubs. They can process low levels of protein and carbohydrates, as low as 1 to 2% so they can live on dry lands. They are easy to care for in the wilderness – in fact, all the world is a salad bar to a llama. They are happy to walk and graze along the trail all day long. It also means you do not have to carry much supplemental feed when traveling with a llama. You just need to give them time in the morning and evening to browse.
Llamas also have only lower front teeth. This allows them to rip the top of grass off, but prevents them from tearing the roots or pulling the plant out of the ground. This way the llamas get the nourishment of this year’s solar growth found in the plant, but keeps the roots intact for an easier grow-back. This way, llamas do not overgraze the fragile meadows of the high plains.
Llamas have amazing feet. Each foot is two pads with toenails. They leave a track on the ground that looks like an elk or a deer hoof (Ask me some day about the trick I played on behalf of a bunch of elk hunters’ wives who were left back at the camp I came walking through), but the llama foot is entirely different, soft and padded. Snow always melts from the bottom, so narrow feet would just break through in what we call “post-holing.” Just as a camel has a wide foot to distribute their weight on the sand, so a llama has a wide foot to protect the fragile soil and to cross melting snow banks.
House-pet llamas have toenails that you have to trim with rose clippers, but in the wild, long toenails allow the llama to grip the snow.
They really have a low impact. The Forest Service even did a study and proved that a fully loaded pack llama still does less trail damage than a backpacker in boots.
Llamas also have a split lip that they use to push leaves aside to get at specific berries or flowers. I’ve seen a llama clean off a huckleberry bush. Because llamas do not have long tongues – just short stubby tongues that they use to tenderly tear off plant tops – they don’t have the ability to lick off the afterbirth on a newborn baby, called a cria. A wet cria would die in hours if it was born in the middle of the night, but mama llama’s only give birth during the day and usually near the time of full sunlight from 10am to 3 pm. This allows the newborn cria to dry off. They also start walking within hours – spindly little legs, tripping over themselves, then dancing and leaping. By nightfall the llama is nursing and traveling with mama.
So llamas make me believer in a God, who so loved the world, the creation, the life, that he sent his son, Jesus. Llamas declare to me the love of a God who provides the daily bread for all of creation. Llamas are just one part of the choir of God singing praise to the Creator, but they are one part of the choir I can sing along side of.
Sarah Palin and New Evangelicals: Conservative, Christian, and Green
September 3, 2008
One of many interesting elements that emerges with the selection by Sen. John McCain of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is that she is a deeply committed Christian who has expressed her concern for climate change and exhibits the characteristics of a western environmentalist.
Publicly known evangelical Christians who are pro-life and pro-environment effectively debunk the notion that Christians who champion creation care are less evangelical, less conservative, and less concerned about traditional evangelical issues.
What we know is that there is a growing number—we sense it is a rapidly growing number—of devote Christians who are becoming greener without, necessarily, becoming bluer.
The new expressions of creation-care, as well as other initiatives by conservative evangelicals on issues such as rescuing Darfur, assisting African AIDS victims, and protecting human rights, are introducing new realities to the political and ecclesiastical landscape.
The clearest way to explain the majority of American evangelicals, including the new—often young—evangelicals is that they are increasingly embracing a total life ethic.
This new ethic still calls for protection of the unborn and of the unwanted through policies against abortion and euthanasia. But it also strives to protect the climate, and to help the poor and disadvantaged in the U.S. and in the vulnerable places of the world, such as Africa. The total life ethic seeks to protect the incubator and divinely designed cradle of human life, the family; but it also calls for human rights, freedom and the rewards of hard work. New evangelicals are reaching into new areas, but they don’t stop preaching and demonstrating that fullness of life comes only through lives surrendered to and transformed by Jesus Christ.
Most evangelicals—70 percent in a recent Ellison Research poll—believe that human-induced global warming will cause harm to future generations; and most believe that action to curb it should be taken now. But as conservatives we believe a robust response to the threat of global warming will involve individuals, families, churches, businesses, and governments at multiple levels. In particular, we believe in states’ rights and responsibilities and that strong action on climate by states, businesses, families, and individuals should be encouraged and not weakened by action at the federal level.
Also, evangelicals believe—as do most Americans—that our reliance on foreign oil undermines our national security, and makes us dependent on undemocratic, despotic foreign regimes that restrict the religious liberty of their peoples, threaten the stability of democratic allies such as Israel, and constrain our ability to occupy the moral high ground in foreign policy on human rights and religious freedom.
We do believe there is a role for government and that one of its primary functions is to protect all of its citizens from undue harm, be it from foreign invaders, criminals, or pollution that impacts human life.
Not all evangelicals agree on how to solve the problems we face as a nation. That complicates things for political candidates, which is fine. It shouldn’t be easy for political parties to pigeonhole evangelical Christians or any faith group. A life ethic and worldview informed by historic faith and guided by moral principles should transcend politics. Often it doesn’t, but at its best the Church will inject moral courage and the principles of the Kingdom of God into temporal kingdoms.
As more-than-green evangelicals we are pleased to stand apart from both environmentalists who ignore the Creator and Christians who ignore His Creation. And as a national community of evangelicals that is largely conservative and increasingly committed to a total life ethic, we suggest that observers see us for who we really are. When they get to know Sarah Palin, they may develop a greater understanding of what this means.
Jim Jewell is the campaign director of The Evangelical Climate Initiative.
