You gotta serve somebody
Submitted by Richard Burden on August 21, 2008 - 4:12pm.
The good people over at Orion Magazine have asked several climate change experts to weigh-in on how they have personally been affected—call it eco-witness (?).
My favorite is the piece by Carl Safina called The Moral Climate
(which also happens to be similar to the title of one of my favorite, recently read, books A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming by Michael Northcott)
Safina reframes sacrifice in stark and memorable terms:
Of all the psychopathology in the climate issue, the most counterproductive thought is that solving the problem will require sacrifice. As though our wastefulness of energy and money is not sacrifice. As though war built around oil is not sacrifice. As though losing polar bears, ice-dependent penguins, coral reefs, and thousands of other living companions is not sacrifice. As though withered cropland is not a sacrifice, or letting the fresh water of cities dry up as glacier-fed rivers shrink. As though risking seawater inundation and the displacement of hundreds of millions of coastal people is not a sacrifice—and reckless risk. But don’t tell me to own a more efficient car; that would be a sacrifice!
All worship requires sacrifice, or as another prophet put it,
» Richard Burden's blogYou're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
sacrifice
Submitted by Anne Howard (not verified) on August 21, 2008 - 5:42pm.
But gee, it's so much nicer to be in icy air-conditioning, or crank the furnace up to 72 degrees, or drive at 75-80 mph!!
Where is that most moral of presidents when we need him?--Jimmy Carter was pilloried for asking us to wear sweaters indoors in the winter and lowering the speed limit to 55mph.
The common ground, and the next generation, always asks us to sacrifice.
» reply
Post new comment
Strengthening the progressive Christian network for justice, compassion, & peace
LOGIN | PRIVACY | SITE CREDITS | CONTACT
© Copyright 2006. Some Rights reserved.
Who do I serve?
Hi Richard. Thanks for this. The title of the blog really grabbed me. It made me ask myself "Who DO I serve?" Sadly, the answer for me is all too often "myself." And, of course, that's where the idea that solving the climate crisis will require Herculean sacrifice comes from. Thanks for the reminder that my heart's desire and my mightest efforts really MUST be directed to serving God and my fellow humans.
P.S. I'm looking forward to seeing you and Monica and Miles at the fundraiser on September 6th!