An Open Letter to the CRC Office of Social Justice
For Peter Vander Muelen and whoever cares about Climate Change:
I wonder if any of you at the OSJ have read Bill McKibben's new book Eaarth. McKibben, you may remember, wrote one of the most significant books on global warming, The End of Nature, about 20 years ago--and of course many other fine books on creation/science issues, but Eaarth absolutely knocked me off my feet. In it McKibben paints a picture not of what might happen if we don't act, but of what already has happened: "The planet on which our civilization evolved no longer exists. . . . We may, with commitment and luck, yet be able to maintain a planet that will sustain some kind of civilization, but it won't be the same planet, and hence it can't be the same civilization. The earth that we knew--the only earth that we ever knew--is gone."
Now I suppose any of us who has been paying attention, had some sense of this, but his description of what has happened, a summary loaded with documented scientific evidence, almost makes me despair. And the sad thing is that most Christians I know, people who acknowledge that they are called to be stewards of the creation, don't really care that we have failed utterly to do our job. I remember a presentation on Climate Change you (at least I think it was the OSJ) sponsored at Dordt College a year or so ago in which the tenor of the audiences response to the presentation was challenge and argument. Most people in my neck of the woods don't care that the woods are burning--no, they don't believe the woods are burning because they can't smell the smoke.
So, I got the OSJ email this morning and without forethought starting typing this email. What does the CRC do in the face of overwhelming evidence and overwhelming indifference about climate change? How does the church prepare for the radical transformation of civilization that McKibben describes--if he's right (and there are lots of scientists, NASA's James Hansen among them, who support what he says)? Is the church ever so bold and prophetic as to take a stand on an issue like climate change? What would Jesus do in the face of the scientific evidence we have on Climate Change? Do any normal people really care enough about the earth to radically change their life style? (As I write it is minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit and my furnace is busy heating my 3 storey, 10 room house, and I am planning to drive to Florida in a week.)
Climate Change seems to me to be the single most important issue facing the world today. Does that sound sacrilegious? Last night while sitting at a basketball game (bread and circuses will keep us all sedated), I mentioned my concern about global warming to a friend and he said, "Well, I'm much more concerned about moral issues." Only as I was going home did it occur to me that I should have said, "Well this is a moral issue."
Enough. I really wrote to recommend a book, not rant. And I should note that the tone of Eaarth is cautiously hopeful. But it does not flinch from looking squarely at the dreadful state our world is in.
Blessings on the work of the OSJ--and wisdom as you seek to lead the CRC in these difficult times.
David Schelhaas
I wonder if any of you at the OSJ have read Bill McKibben's new book Eaarth. McKibben, you may remember, wrote one of the most significant books on global warming, The End of Nature, about 20 years ago--and of course many other fine books on creation/science issues, but Eaarth absolutely knocked me off my feet. In it McKibben paints a picture not of what might happen if we don't act, but of what already has happened: "The planet on which our civilization evolved no longer exists. . . . We may, with commitment and luck, yet be able to maintain a planet that will sustain some kind of civilization, but it won't be the same planet, and hence it can't be the same civilization. The earth that we knew--the only earth that we ever knew--is gone."
Now I suppose any of us who has been paying attention, had some sense of this, but his description of what has happened, a summary loaded with documented scientific evidence, almost makes me despair. And the sad thing is that most Christians I know, people who acknowledge that they are called to be stewards of the creation, don't really care that we have failed utterly to do our job. I remember a presentation on Climate Change you (at least I think it was the OSJ) sponsored at Dordt College a year or so ago in which the tenor of the audiences response to the presentation was challenge and argument. Most people in my neck of the woods don't care that the woods are burning--no, they don't believe the woods are burning because they can't smell the smoke.
So, I got the OSJ email this morning and without forethought starting typing this email. What does the CRC do in the face of overwhelming evidence and overwhelming indifference about climate change? How does the church prepare for the radical transformation of civilization that McKibben describes--if he's right (and there are lots of scientists, NASA's James Hansen among them, who support what he says)? Is the church ever so bold and prophetic as to take a stand on an issue like climate change? What would Jesus do in the face of the scientific evidence we have on Climate Change? Do any normal people really care enough about the earth to radically change their life style? (As I write it is minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit and my furnace is busy heating my 3 storey, 10 room house, and I am planning to drive to Florida in a week.)
Climate Change seems to me to be the single most important issue facing the world today. Does that sound sacrilegious? Last night while sitting at a basketball game (bread and circuses will keep us all sedated), I mentioned my concern about global warming to a friend and he said, "Well, I'm much more concerned about moral issues." Only as I was going home did it occur to me that I should have said, "Well this is a moral issue."
Enough. I really wrote to recommend a book, not rant. And I should note that the tone of Eaarth is cautiously hopeful. But it does not flinch from looking squarely at the dreadful state our world is in.
Blessings on the work of the OSJ--and wisdom as you seek to lead the CRC in these difficult times.
David Schelhaas
David, I just saw this after being alerted by a job applicant of all things! What a great letter. I too have read McKibben's book - and things have not gotten any more hopeful. As you know, the CRC will have a chance to speak directly to the issues he and you raise at synod this year. Your open letter is an encouragement in the face of all the negative stuff generated by the report so far. Pray for Cal DeWitt and Tom Ackerman as they present this report to synod.
ReplyDeletePeace, Peter VM