The idea is that today, Thursday 15 October 2009, over 7000 blogs around the world will cover the topic of climate change. Each blog will approach the topic from the perspective of its specialism and so mine will be from an ecumenical perspective. In addition it is anticipated over 10 million readers will participate in Blog Action Day 2009 .
Last week I helped lead a consultation for Methodist and Anglican Ecumenical Officers from across Britain. We were looking at the Edinburgh 2010 mission conference , which is to be held to commemorate the Edinburgh 1910 mission conference , usually recognised as the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement.
We were exploring the extent of the participation of new churches in ecumenism and the role of younger people in ecumenism . Young people no longer see ecumenism as radical or exciting. They are disappearing from traditional mainstream congregations although they are still involved in the new churches. Why? I believe climate change is a significant factor amongst many others.
Both the causes and solutions of climate change are not entirely or even mostly technical. Climate change is a massive spiritual crisis in its causes, its effects and in its solutions.
When I was in the sixth form, in the early seventies, I used to go for 'top corridor trundles' with my friend PHV (it was possible to walk round and round the top corridor of our school, which we did most lunchtimes). I was passionate about threats to the environment and PHV was sceptical. And so we argued. This was the time of the Limits to Growth by the Club of Rome.
The point is we knew our modern way of life was unsustainable in the early seventies. Many people knew we could not carry on in the way we were. In a way PHV was right, we all ignored it. I refused to drive until 1988 but in time I caved in, sticking to my principles over the decades was simply too difficult.
I don't blame PHV, his view was plain common sense. The problem is that common sense has not served my generation well. I have lived through a period of time, in a country, where the people have known wealth beyond the wildest dreams of previous generations and of less fortunate people elsewhere in the world. I do not believe my young niece and nephew will share this wealth far into their adult lives.
Young people know what is happening. Their parents and grandparents, the people they love more than anyone in the world, have betrayed them and in turn their children and grandchildren. So have the churches, perhaps especially the churches. Apart from small radical groups, the churches have swallowed the propaganda, baptising capitalism and then monetarism. Even today, most church leaders do not really appreciate how serious the problem is.
Theology which used to be the 'Queen of Sciences' held together and made sense of all academic disciplines. Today theologians, with notable rare exceptions, are at best ignorant of science. At worst they fear science or even make up their own. This has gone a long way to destroy the credibility of the Christian faith in the modern world. Of those who do believe too many believe the lies of fundamentalists, self-serving visions of the faith designed for personal enrichment, tacit rejections of salvation in any meaningful sense.
Why is this? We are all in denial. We can lose ourselves in the sort of church that specialises in emotional highs, or the moral high ground. We can turn our back on the churches altogether. The option of a return to the radical gospel, speaking truth to power is no longer an option for most Christians.
This superficial faith is not the only refuge for those in denial. Whilst many who face up to the truth about climate change do so without reference to the churches others choose a negative form of denial. J G Ballard is a modern prophet of dystopia. This is from an interview quoted in the New Statesman in April this year: I think the danger our children and grandchildren face lies in the decline and the collapse of the public realm. Politics, the Church. the monarchy are all sinking back into the swamp from which they rose in the first place ... Random acts of violence will break out in supermarkets and shopping malls where we pass our most contented hours. Surprisingly, we will deplore these meaningless crimes but feel energised by them.
The malaise is a spiritual one. Individuality has done us great harm. In a world where we have come to expect instant gratification, there can be no accountability. Our heroes are those who bend the world to their will not those who care for the planet or for the people who live on it.
What is accountability? The Methodist Churches' Ecumenical Officer defines it as 'gratitude structured by grace'. We need to rediscover prayer of contemplation, the ability to live in the moment, to appreciate things as they are. Through grace, God is able to act in the world and this action is through the humility of the contemplative, a humility that makes way for God to act. Accountability is not merely using law to make others accountable but all of us having the humility to see how we are contributing to climate change and with God's grace to make the changes we need to make.
I have written at greater length about climate change and ecumenism. If you are interested, try these three posts:
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