Environment

A Small Town Perspective on City Growth

bo.white — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:44:54 -0700

A May 2007 article from the Economist still seems like one of the better surveys of urban growth that I have read.

With that said, let me give a bit of a personal perspective and see if this resonates with anyone. Until I was 17 years old, I lived in a town of less than 5000 people in Northern Illinois. No one asked what school I went to, there was only one option. The only major fast food chain was Hardee's and Main Street was truly the main street. Over the years, I have seen the exodus of people my age and younger leave to head to Chicago, the nearest big city or to the four cornes of the earth. Why? First, two major factories shut down. The General Electric and Ethan Allen factories, which used to employ about a third of the town, each closed. Secondly, the surrounding areas were also hit with not lack of people, but lack of opportunity. Cities kept changing; small towns, well, did not. And it's this dynamic that haunts my hometown.

What makes any small town fun to be from is the fact that not much changes. It's reliable and in my case, it's home. Parades down Main Street display the homecoming queen and returning Veterans from international wars. Most of the town still shows up for high school football games and the pace of life is still more in line with the farm community than any of the local doctors or lawyers. In the morning, you can see restaurants packed with farmers discussing politics, religion, and the town gossip over coffee and some kind of biscuit drenched in gravy. That's important, by the way, both the coffee (because farm work starts way too early for most sane people) and the biscuit drenched in gravy (what else is going to soak up the sausage grease after the hash browns are gone?).

In a recent trip to see my parents, some of the Main Street shops are boarded up and the small businesses are struggling. I can still catch up on most of the town news by lingering at the front of the only grocery store in town, but life is getting to be more and more difficult. The hope of youth is not as prevalent and the security of living one's whole life in familiar territory is also fading. The relational beauty of a small town is being tested by the economic realities of our globalizing culture. Interestingly, I find that many people in cities want to be connected as if they were in a small town. They want predictable, reliable relationships and a culture that embraces them from day one. They want to come 'home' and not simply be one of the millions that walk the streets in search of a home. Yet, no city will return to former days. No, we're on the fast paced track of heading toward the future, whatever that future may be.

Small towns, though, are not in a rush toward anything, rather they often resemble a long walk with friends where the journey is more fun than the arrival. And to me, small towns are being left behind not simply because of business decisions to outsource or relocate, but because a certain pace, a certain lifestyle is also being left behind. It's not enough to be a thriving farm community that produces a good crop, today you must raise chickens who have been accelerated way beyond what any normal bird should endure and you must produce enough corn, not simply to eat, but to utilize for corn syrup, ethanol, and a host of other, well, convenient uses. Are their problems in a thriving small town? Sure. When my parents divorced it took no time at all for news to travel and the awkwardness with some neighborhoods still lingers for all involved. Some friends have never left, nor will they ever leave, so to try to explain why I have moved around a bit and have traveled to over 15 countries is sometimes irrelevant.

City growth is here to stay and it's doubtful that there will be any flight to return to small town life or a slower pace of life, unless, of course, that becomes prosperous or economically advantageous. Of course, I am part of the engine that drives this change or at least I have temporarily bought into the lie that progress is more urban than a small town. I do wonder, though, if urban growth can truly sustain our relational need to know and be known? Will we take the time to truly be present with one another and not simply walk on by on the way to somewhere else? Surely, only time will tell. How much time you have? Well, that's probably up to you.

thanks...

Would Jesus Use a Plastic Water Bottle?

Christian Buckley — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:35:12 -0700

Would Jesus Use a Plastic Water Bottle?

(I know -- not possible – but just go along with me…)

One of my good friends runs the Surfrider Foundation (Jim Moriarty – you can find interviews with him on this blog) and he has been on the disposable water bottle issue for years. In fact, ever since I met him he has been an advocate for stopping the use of single use plastics. I agree. Surfrider recently published this page that gives a pretty good explanation of why.

But I got to thinking about whether Jesus would have used a plastic water bottle or a snazzy SIGG aluminum jug. The short answer is there is no way of knowing, but I had a couple of stray thoughts:

Jesus seemed to like nature (His nature) quite a bit. He lived in it, taught in it, and used it as the subject of many of his parables. He really did think a lot of it. Strike against single use water bottles that pretty much do nothing good for nature.
Jesus was a minimalist. He didn’t carry a heavy load around and it appears he may have been one of the first hyper-light backpackers. So a reusable bottle would probably have been a good thing. Why would he want to carry a case of water every day?
Jesus did like new wine skins. Not really on point, but kind of a funny thought.
Jesus was more interested in pure water (the living kind) than lots of water (see 40 days in the barren waste land).
Jesus never really supported the idea of destruction – except for himself as the temple.
Jesus did not like wasting his time and it seems like making lots of bottles to hold water and then making them over and over and over again because we use them once and toss them is a big waste of time.
Jesus cared more about people than stuff – even nature – so that probably cuts in favor of a single use bottle if that is all they had around.
Jesus walked on water – not an island of plastics in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.

So no answer – but when it comes to destructive, useless, consumptive, and wasteful uses of God’s resources….your call.

Thoughts on China

Brett McCracken — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:24:29 -0700

I just returned from 10 days in China (Shanghai and Beijing), which definitely isn’t near enough time to get any sort of grasp on this astoundingly large, complicated country. But over the course of my time there I definitely observed certain things, which I’ll summarize below in the form of somewhat fragmentary, just-me-and-my-initial-thoughts bullet points:

Scale: The most consistent theme of my experience in China was immensity. Everything was on such a huge scale. The crowds I experienced at the Shanghai World Expo (I just so happened to be there on the record-setting 1 million+ visitors day) redefined my paradigm for crowds. But it wasn’t the exception. On every subway ride, street corner, mall, market or museum, the reality of vast humanity (1.3 billion+ in China, and growing) was ever-present. But mind-boggling scale also showed itself in the country’s infrastructure and jaw-dropping architecture–both old (the Great Wall) and new (the CCTV Tower, Birds Nest, China Pavilion, etc.) Some of it is really impressive… Puts American skyscrapers to shame.

Red or Green? It’s hard to fathom the extent of China’s industrial boom and economic expansion over the past few decades, but the effects of it (more wealth, more consumption, crazy building boom and exploding cities) is wreaking havoc on the environment, as my smog-choked lungs can attest to. I didn’t see blue sky the entire time I was in China, nor the sun (except for as a faint orange fluorescent orb occasionally), and most of this was not because of cloudy weather. Meanwhile, most of the country pavilions at the World Expo ironically emphasized the importance of green development, and the U.S. Pavilion was almost entirely green-themed. The message from these countries to China seemed to be “get green or get left behind.” a hard case to make to an country that is poised to soon be the world’s biggest economy, green or not. Will China be convinced of the long-term importance of eco-friendly development? I hope so.Their growth, let alone the world’s health, will not be sustainable otherwise.

Appearances: China cares about how the world perceives it. This was made glaringly obvious in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, for which China spent untold billions (the published amount is $44 billion) in order to wow the world. China wants to present a western, democracy-friendly, open version of itself to world. Its why they spend $58 billion to host an extravagant, 21st century version of the World’s Fair which celebrates a utopian vision of the global future. Its why they enlist hordes of custodians to immediately pick up any visible trash in all tourist areas. Its why homeless people are whisked away to sight unseen, conspicuously absent from the streets of major urban areas. Its why during the Olympics, the government outlawed car use on certain days to reduce pollution and give visitors a falsely pleasant experience of air quality. But what China should realize is that presenting misleading appearances can sometimes do more PR harm than good, as in the case of the 2008 gymnastics cheating scandal, which confirmed many suspicions that China’s government was an ends-justify-means, cheating-is-necessary-for-success sort of body.

Capitalism and Conformity: Capitalism is alive and well in China. Street vendors sell fake watches at twice the price they bought them for. Outside my hotel in Shanghai, China’s nouveau riche shop at Hermes, Tom Ford, and Karl Lagerfeld stores. China has some of the biggest malls in the world, swarming with shoppers eager to adopt the latest trendy western fashions. Yet meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter are banned. The press is controlled. And the government has the ability to do whatever it wants to whoever it wishes, without any recourse or protection from the law. In China, you have the right to buy almost anything. You have the right to get extremely rich. Indeed, these “rights” are encouraged, because they serve the larger goals of a stronger China. What you don’t have is the right to dissent, at least not really. Freedom of expression, even of the politically subversive variety, is allowed in small measure. China recognizes the economic value in the “dissent” market, and thus there are art gallery districts and hipster neighborhoods where rebellion gets a controlled pressure release and high-end fashion and lucrative arts merchandise is birthed. But anything resembling real counterculture or antiestablishment revolution, more ideological than profit seeking, is frowned upon. So even while the Chinese people adopt the individualistic, rebellious fashions of Prada and Diesel, they largely avoid–or perhaps aren’t interested in–truly asserting individualistic identity against the grain of collectivist PRC national identity, where conformity is one of the highest virtues.

The Fragile Toleration of Christianity: The number of Christians in China continues to grow rapidly, despite or perhaps because of the illegal, forced underground nature of it. But even though the church is “underground” in China, it is certainly not unknown to the government. They are fully aware of almost everything that goes on, have extensive files on missionaries, etc. The question for the government is not whether this is happening as much as how it should be regulated. Should this vast, growing force of subversion be freely tolerated? Or should it be persecuted? Would the latter tactic cause Christianity to grow even more? Right now the relationship is tenuous. At any moment, the government could shut down churches or expel foreign missionaries, and Christians would have no recourse of action to fight it. Such was the recent unfortunate case of the government deciding at the last minute to not let the Chinese delegation attend the Lausanne conference in Cape Town. Such actions are the government saying, “We know what you’re up to, and we can stop you at any moment.” It’ll be interesting to see how the government will proceed with respect to Christianity; though ultimately it doesn’t seem like any official government policy will be able to halt the advance of the faith–a faith which has a history of thriving both inside and outside realms of approval.

Does the Earth Care What We Do To It?

Mark Russell — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:38:12 -0700

One of my most favorite social commentators is George Will. Recently I read an article from him that said that the earth doesn't care what is done to it or for it. His main point is that over "geologic" time (i.e. extended time millenniums, millions of years, etc..) what we do to the earth is so minimal as to barely register. He notes the amount of rain that falls on the earth to illustrate that we should all be flooded out yet we are not drowning on a global scale.

The article raises some good points when one thinks about the big picture and that is necessary from time to time. Comparing our present few generations to geologic time, George Will is right (i believe) that whatever happens will just be a blip and the earth will survive. After all the earth survived ice ages. We can be so short-term near future focused that we forget to look at history or into the future 20,30 even 1000 years.

This can work in two ways. One way it works is that we become alarmist and think that everything will fall apart in the very near term. While things can go array, a more balanced perspective is to realize that while there are bumps along the road, we can still make the trip.

A second way this works, however, is that we neglect responsible environmental stewardship because we don't look beyond our present situation to see the unintended consequences of our actions.

The earth did survive an ice age, but would it not be terrible for us all to go through another ice age? So I suppose it's really a decision of what is the issue: 1) altering the earth over geologic time or 2) having an unnecessary environmental impact that could seriously alter our lives in the near term future.

A lot of the environmental rhetoric tends to get fuzzy on what the goals are. Global warming is a complicated issue and I don't know what the remedy is. (But I do know of a book coming out in a couple of months that we should all read.)

Regardless of where you come down on global warming, there are numerous reasons why we need to reconsider our use of fossil fuels:

1) dependence on unstable regions of the world (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Angola, etc...),

2) complicated extraction methods which among other things lead to oil spills or the death of coal miners,

3) dirty air leading to respiratory illnesses and general unpleasentness,

4) social dependence on a non renewable and depleting resource, etc...

So for me global warming or the fear of altering the earth over geological times is not the issue as much as it is being a good steward of God's good creation and keeping the bigger picture in mind for our children's lives.

What are your thoughts on our current environmental situation and use of fossil fuels?

Where is God in Natural Disasters?

Carrie Nye — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:20:21 -0700

"The mature Christian rarely experiences God. The mature Christian simply knows He's present." I recently attended a 1/2 day spiritual retreat and was struck by that comment the leader made. There have been moments in my life when I feel as if my number one craving is to experience more of God. I have witnessed him act in mighty and tangible ways and I long for those experiences again. Like a child whose daddy is throwing her in the air and catching her back in his arms cries out in delight, "Do it again, daddy, do it again!" I find myself praying those same words often. And when I don't see him act - which I translate into experience - I think he's being silent or not active in my life.

The comment above has really caused me to stop and think. In 1 Kings 19 the radical Prophet Elijah finds himself in the presence of the living God on the same mountain top Moses stood before him also in the Lord's awesome presence. The elements swirling around him as well as with Moses. But God was not in the elements with Elijah contrary to what I would have expected and I think contrary to what Elijah wanted having just witnessed God in the elements before this. Check out 1 Kings 18 for that story.

¹¹ The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

I live in California. I was here during the 7.2 Northridge quake - which some believed was the wrath of God on the porn industry prevalant in that area - in the early 1990's and have felt many earthquakes on a smaller scale since. We've had a handful recently as a result of an active fault line near the CA / Mexico boarder. I've experienced so many earthquakes now that I am no longer fearful of them but no matter how big the size and no matter the type of shake - some roll while others shake more violently - I almost always immediately end up praying. I know that God is in control of all creation and has the power and authority to cause his earth to move or to be still.

But does this mean that earthquakes, not excluding other natural disasters, are God's design and possibly his wrath on a broken, sinful and fallen world and creation?

One of the questions I get asked a lot from non-believer's is "how is it that a so-called loving and gracious, life-giving God allows such destruction and brutality among humanity?" Have you also been asked that question or a variation of it? It's an honest, valid question.

Janet Chismar of the Billy Graham Association recently interviewed pastor and author Erwin Lutzer on this very topic. The interview addresses the question where is God in natural disasters, what can be learned from them and do they point to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Lutzer also offers his own thought as to how we should respond to such questions about God's presence in the midst of chaos and disaster. I particularly liked the way he answered that point. He has this to say:

In a sense all death is the judgment of God because the soul that sins, it will die. All of death is really a judgment of God. What happens in natural disasters happens every day throughout the world. Tens of thousands of people die – often times in very drastic situations. The reason that we hear about natural disasters is because so many people die all at the same time. It is an intense occasion of what really is happening all the time.

But are they judgments of God? Yes in the sense that all death is the judgment of God, and in the sense that the earth is cursed. But what we need to understand about these judgments is that the righteous die along with the wicked.

Some people who knew Christ as Savior died in Haiti and in Katrina. We must be very clear that natural disasters do not distinguish between the righteous and those who do not know God.

Secondly, it’s not possible for us—we’re in no position—to look at one area of the world and say the reason it gets a natural disaster is because it is more wicked than some other area. For example, we’re not able to say that New Orleans is a more evil city than Las Vegas. That’s not within our ability to determine. It’s not for us to judge one area from another.

Have you been asked the question "Where is God is natural disasters?" How do you respond to those types of questions? How does Elijah's experience with God's presence challenge you or make you think differently about experiencing God in natural disasters? Do you believe God causes all natural disasters? How do you wrestle with this issue and what conclusions do you come to if any? Is expecting to experience God in a powerful, tangible way required of God in our lives or is it enough that he has promised to be with us always? Do you agree or disagree with the opening quote?

Interview with Jonathan Merritt

Dave Sterrett — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:39:57 -0700

Jonathan is a faith and culture writer who has published over 100 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post's “On Faith," BeliefNet, The Huffington Post, and Relevant magazine. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010). As a respected Christian voice, Jonathan has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Jonathan, you are very gifted writer. Briefly tell ConversantLife, why you wrote this book?

I felt compelled to write this book after having an epiphany in a theology class. It’s funny, really. I became an environmentalist at a Southern Baptist seminary. I was sitting in class and we were discussing the revelation of God, that God speaks to us through both the Bible (2 Pt 1) and nature (Rom 1). It occurred to me that most Christians don’t live a life of reverence towards God’s revelation in nature. For the next year, I scoured the scriptures writing down every time I read something about God’s plan for our planet. This became the beginnings of Green Like God.

Why do Christians, specifically need to read your book?

Because these things are rooted in the scriptures. Many Christians are completely oblivious to the creation care mandates throughout the Bible. We need to rediscover these forgotten truths. Additionally, we live in a world where people equate living an others-focused, sustainable life with being a good person. If Christians are seen treating the world and those who depend on earth’s resources in callous ways, it hurts our witness.

To the Christian, what are a couple significant passages in Scripture that speak of God’s love for creation?

In Genesis chapter 1, God created the earth. And we could just stop there. The fact that God made it is reason enough to care for it. But in the same chapter, God ascribes value to the planet by recognizing that it is “good.” In Genesis 2, God places Adam in the garden to “cultivate it and care for it.” In Genesis 7-9, God enters into a covenant “with every living thing…the whole earth.” In Psalm 19 and Romans 1, we see that the earth is here to declare God’s glory. Jesus asked us to love our neighbors and care for “the least of these,” and as we know, environmental problems disproportionately affect the poor. Finally, in Revelation 11 we find that God has set aside a time of judgment for “destroying those who have destroyed the earth.” And … this is just to name a few. We should never do anything that could be construed as worshipping the creation. But we should always honor the Creator who made a “good” creation and asked us to steward it.

For the most part, I agree with your ethical solutions. However, a page that caught me off guard, was page 66 that said in the margin, “The Bible doesn’t teach the sanctity of human life, but sanctity of all life.” You write, “Is human life sacred because it is human? No.” Jonathan, I disagree with this statement, but perhaps you could expound on your thoughts. I do agree with you that God is the creator of all life, but don’t believe that all life has intrinsic ‘sanctity’ (even though God did create it all). How do you define “sanctity of life?”

By sanctity, I mean sacredness imputed by a blessing from God. As we learn from the scriptures, God “loves all that he has made” (Ps 151). The Bible says he watches over deer and mountain goats during their pregnancy until they give birth. It says that he has given every star a name and he notices if a single sparrow falls from the sky. While we affirm that a human is worth more than many sparrows, we also realize that what makes something sacred is not “humanness” but rather that it has been created by God and is the object of his love.

On page 83, you say that one of the most common names you find in emails is ‘Al Gore.’ You provide a brief biography of Gore. What is your evaluation of Gore’s environmental philosophy of man made global warming?

I am not a scientist, and I have never done any research on climate change. I didn’t really address climate change in Green Like God except in an appendix. In that appendix, I build an approach to the issue based on Christians virtues (honesty, integrity, justice, and prudence). In the face of conflicting evidence like we are seeing on climate change, we should act prudently. As far as Gore, I believe he is probably a sincere person, but I happen to disagree with him on several things especially when it comes to some of his proposals to curb climate change.

How well has the Obama administration responded to the Oil Spill in the Gulf?

I’ve been disappointed at how the Obama administration has responded. The response was slow, foreign countries that offered assistance were turned down, and the willingness to meet with BP executives has been weak. I believe the American people are going to remember the administration’s failures for some time.

What are your thoughts on how churches could help this particular crises?

I think we should begin with mourning and prayer. Then we need to begin providing relief for the hurting people of the Gulf region. Finally, we need to require government officials to make sure the proper regulations are in place that will keep this type of problem from recurring. The eyes of America are focused on this tragedy. We have a great opportunity to turn their gaze on the Creator who stands behind the creation. I hope we do.

To what extent, do you believe the role of government should play in the protection of the environment?

I like what Russell Moore, Dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently said in response to the oil spill:

“Because we believe in free markets, we’ve acted as though this means we should trust corporations to protect the natural resources and habitats. But a laissez-faire view of government regulation of corporations is akin to the youth minister who lets the teenage girl and boy sleep in the same sleeping bag at church camp because he 'believes in young people.'”

The government exists, in part, to restrain humans from doing evil. At the same time, we have to remember that over-regulation or over-taxation is not an appropriate use of governmental power. There is a fine line between proper regulation and governmental overreach. I am not a policy expert, but we need some good Christian political minds helping us think through this.

Chopping Wood Will Save The Earth - All Hail the Axe

Christian Buckley — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:40:33 -0700

I am not sure about this, but I think chopping wood might help us save the earth. Follow the bouncing ball:

1. We live in San Diego and have a nice chunk of land behind our house thanks to the power line that runs over it and the power pole that is in the middle of it. Once a year, the power company comes out to trim all our trees in the back area so that they don’t touch the power lines. This year, they cut down a 50 foot eucalyptus tree and left the trunk and big branches in 2 foot sections on the ground. 2. Enter me, last Saturday, to the back yard with an axe, VERY VERY frustrated by the US v. England result in the World Cup (yes I love the World Cup and yes we need a new coach and yes I tried to cheer for the US instead of England and ended up frustrated with both sides).

3. Chop. Chop. Chop. Chop.

4. Two hours later I had chopped and stacked about half the fallen tree. Now, you should know, I love chopping wood with an axe. Maybe because I am a city boy and maybe because I have fantasies about a ranch sometime in my future where I raise sheep and corn, but I love chopping wood. It is great therapy for bad soccer or bad writing or bad children. But I digress.

5. While chopping said wood, I realized that wood makes paper (I know – not a big illumination) and a bunch of other stuff I use carelessly. I then wondered how much paper I would use if I had to chop all of the wood that went into my paper bags, printer paper, paper towels, paper napkins, paper airplanes…..and I decided that I would care for it more and use less.

At some point not so long ago most of the people in most of the places on this earth had to chop their own wood, grow their own food, build their own houses, etc. Now I am not arguing that things aren’t better now or that we would be better off as hunter-gatherers. But, I think, at least to some degree, if I slowed down and chopped wood more often, I would better see the value of the world around me and use it more accordingly. My pace of life and my failure to touch and feel the source of so much that I use clearly clouds my perspective on value, consumption, and use.

So. Find a tree. Cut it down. Chop the wood. And Save the Earth. The logic is infallible! (not really)

Christy and Lausanne

Christy Tennant — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:03:36 -0700

In October of this year, if the Lord does not prevent it, I will fly to Cape Town, South Africa, to participate as a US delegate at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Sounds pretty intense, huh? Well, it is.

In January, I travelled to Dallas for my first meeting in preparation of this event. I have been part of two meetings since then - one in NYC and one in Boston - and I will be participating via webstream next week in a meeting taking place in California, at Saddleback, pastored by Rick Warren, who prayed at President Obama's inauguration.

The closer I get to this event, and the more of my time, money and through I invest in it, the more deeply I care about it - what it represents, what it stands for, and what it means for Christians and the world at large.

For the next little while on my blog, I plan to wrestle publically with the questions, issues and topics I'll face as a delegate. To give you an idea of the scope of this honor, there will be 4,000 delegates in Cape Town from over 200 nations. From the US, only 400 of the 2,000 + applicants were chosen. As I consider this, I am increasingly realizing what a privilege it is to go.

And I really, really want it to count.

So I am reading, praying, talking, listening, studying, writing and, oh yes, did I mention praying?! I invite you to do all of the above with me. Please stick with me through this and share your input. As we were reminded in Boston recently, Cape Town's Lausanne Congress is a beginning, or at least a continuation; it's not the end goal.

Let the conversation commence.

"Green Like God?" Interview With Jonathan Merritt

Brett McCracken — Fri, 21 May 2010 08:34:36 -0700

As the BP oil pipeline continues to uncontrollably gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening ecosystems, coastal communities, fishing industries, and all sorts of other living things, the conversation about protecting the environment continues–and perhaps is more relevant than ever.

Christians (particularly evangelicals) have been sadly absent from this conversation in the past, for reasons more political than theological. But that has started to change in the past decade, and one of the leading voices in the evangelical movement for “Creation Care” is my friend Jonathan Merritt, who just released his first book, Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet.

In the last couple years, Jonathan has organized a national coalition of Christian leaders who care about creation, and founded the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative. He writes for numerous newspapers and magazines, has been interviewed by the likes of NPR and The New York Times, and has emerged as a strong young voice representing the next generation of evangelical leadership.

I recently interviewed Jonathan about his book, the issues at play in the idea of “Creation care,” and why this is such an important thing for Christians to think about. Here is part of the interview:

What was God’s intended purpose for Adam in Eden?

I have a friend who says, “God’s original plan was to hang out in a garden with some naked vegetarians.” It’s funny, but it underscores that the original intent for everything we see was radically different than what we now live. Humanity’s history began in a good garden where nature flourished. God placed Adam there to preserve, work, and care for nature (Gen 2:15). This is a task we’ve all been given, and it is one that has never been revoked.

After Jesus came and achieved victory over sin and death, how does (or should) that change our approach to things like nature and the environment?

Colossians 1 says that everything was redeemed by Christ’s blood on the cross–both things in heaven and things on earth. The cross began a process of cosmic redemption that includes, but is not limited to, human redemption. Because of the cross of Christ, we can see humans restored to a right relationship with God, nature, and each other. This is the power of Jesus Christ, the one who “makes ALL things new.”

Why do you think this issue is an important one for Christians?

It is important for many reasons. First, it is important because our witness partially depends on it. When people see Christians responding with ignorance or callousness to the world’s problems, our gospel suddenly has less credibility. Second, because they are important to God. He took the time to speak about the earth over and over from Genesis 1 to Revelation 11. If they are important to God and we love God, then they will be important to us. Third, because people are dying. This year, for example, three million people (mostly children) will die from preventable, water related diseases. How can we claim to serve the one who asked us to love our neighbors and care “for the least of these” if we ignore such things?

In the book you say things like “The Bible doesn’t teach the sanctity of human life, but the sanctity of all life.” Are you trying to sway the conservative pro-lifers to start fighting to protect whales as well as unborn babies?

The one thing I don’t want to communicate is that human lives and animal lives are equivalent. But we need to recognize that what makes life sacred is not that it is human. What makes life sacred is that God created it, has placed value on it, and it is the object of His love. The Psalms tell us that God loves “all that he has made.” Although plants and animals—from flowers to frogs—are not equivalents to humans, they remain creations of a God who loves them and has placed value on them. If we love the Creator, we’ll love what the Creator loves. Like God, we should love and value all life.

What does it mean that the world is “God’s apologetic about himself?”

God has revealed himself in nature. Psalm 19 says “the heavens declare the glory of God”; Romans 1 says that God’s attributes are clearly seen “through the things He has made.” The world is a divine soundtrack, and I think God wants us to listen in.

Are there any theologians or other Christian writers that have influenced you on this issue?

Yes. I was especially influenced by Francis Schaeffer, Alister McGrath, N.T. Wright, John Stott, Matthew Sleeth, and Christopher J.H. Wright.

How does or should one’s eschatology influence their view of creation care? If I’m a pre-trib premillenialist, why should I care if the ozone layer gets bigger?

I am often asked, “Why should we worry about the future of an earth that has no future?” I struggled with this when I first started investigating creation care, but then I read the Parable of the Talents. Here we find a master who entrusts his servants with some money before going away on a long trip. When he returns, the very first thing he asks is, “What did you do with all that stuff I left in your care while I was gone?” The point is that the knowledge of a returning master does not free us from our earthly obligations; it calls us to them. When my Lord returns, I want to be caught in the act of loving others, spreading the gospel, and stewarding all the things he has entrusted to my care.

Surfrider CEO Jim Moriarty - 5 Questions On Faith & Oil

Christian Buckley — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:45:38 -0700

Jim Moriarty (Surfrider CEO) Talks About Faith & Oil

I have known Jim Moriarty for over five years now and I consider him a good friend. He and I don’t always see eye to eye on every issue, but we do see eye to eye on Christ. As the CEO of Surfrider Foundation, one of the biggest coastal environmental organizations on earth, Jim agreed to be a part of Humanitarian Jesus (one of only two secular non-profit leaders who are in the book) and I will share that interview later this month. But, given the media coverage that the current oil spill is getting I asked him if he would answer 5 Questions on the topic. He did and the answers are worth reading:

1. What was your immediate reaction to the spill as someone that cares deeply about our oceans?

When I see disasters like the one currently happening in the Gulf, which is very similar to one that took place last year off the coast of Western Australia, I wonder if we truly understand the trajectory we're on. Many people were surprised at this spill, I was not. I wasn't surprised because oil spills happen all the time and the government plays games with definitions of things like what constitutes a "major spill." The government said no major oil spills happened when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf, what they didn't share was that the Coast Guard estimated that more than 7 million gallons of oil spilled from various sources during that storm event. This oil spill isn't unique; it's just well positioned for TV coverage.

2. What does the average person not understand about the implications of the spill?

That we cannot drill our way to lower gas prices or national security, the math on those simply does not work. Offshore drilling is not the answer.We use over 20% of the world's oil and have access to less than 4% of the worlds’ oil (including places we haven't drilled yet). Why would you tie something as important as national security to something you have so little control over? People don't understand that the oil we have (and are currently drilling) doesn't all even stay here, we EXPORT about 300 million barrels of oil and refined products per year. Further the "savings at the pump" is a myth. Drilling might... might offer a few pennies of savings in two decades at the pump. The might on that is very important as it's not a "if we drill, savings are passed on" equation. Exxon had revenues of $400 Billion in 2007; they don't have a business plan that passes savings on to customers. They have a business plan that passes profits on to stockholders. Perhaps the largest thing people don't understand is that we're putting the health and wealth of our coastlines at stake. Our coastlines drive the tourism engine of this country, the Gulf produces 20% of the seafood for this country. We're putting all that at risk, all fishing over an area of 24,000 square miles has been ceased as I type this due to the toxic nature of oil in the waters.

3. Is it fair to call what has happened an "accident"?

This is corporate accident. We may never know what happened, what processes were shortened that yielded emergency shut-off tools and procedures that didn't work. What's crystal clear is that we are in new territory; we're drilling in very, very deep water for a tiny amount of return and putting massive amounts of our livelihoods and ecosystems at risk. It's not a good return on investment for the American people. The millions of gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf is simply a crisp, visual metaphor for how much we're giving up for the tiny amount we gain. We're watching a bad return on investment equation, playing out day after day.

4. What are the long term consequences of oil spills like this one on our beaches?

Decades of impact. They are literally still trying to clean oil from the shores of Alaska that resulted from the Exxon Valdez oil spill that happened 21 years ago. Now, please don't assume that BP and other involved parties won't do everything they can to clean up the visuals. If it looks clean that doesn't mean it is clean, healthy or natural. For example they are using dispersants right now to take the oil off the surface of the water and make it sink. That doesn't "clean up" the oil, it moves the oil to somewhere we can't see it. Further, the dispersants are toxic chemicals that damage sea life and the surrounding ecosystems. We are pouring oil into our oceans, setting the oceans on fire to burn it, pushing garbage into the hole where the oil is coming out, pouring toxic chemicals to make the oil sink... the list goes on and on. We, mankind, are ruining God's creation.

5. If you could get the average Christian to do one thing about the destruction of our oceans and beaches what would it be?

Send our president a note to ask him to restore the Federal Offshore Oil Drilling Moratorium, it was put in place by George Bush (I) and it expired under his son, George Bush (II). Barack Obama has let that expiration hold. We need this moratorium back so the one single thing for Christians to do is to engage and ask our government to do that. You can do that in 3 minutes here:

http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1727

A Christian should do more than appreciate God's creation and the Bible offers a context for this. How would Jesus react to the complete annihilation of ecosystems by man? The First thing the Bible addresses is creation. How can we, Christians, justify destroying that creation? I believe that Christians have a duty to act and you can do that by joining me asking President Obama to restore the moratorium.

jim moriarty is the ceo of surfrider foundation.

To find out more go to:

blog: oceanswavesbeaches.com

twitter: jimmoriarty

video: surfrider.org/510