Shutdown trash
Overflowing trash is one of the environmental hazards of keeping national parks open during a government shutdown when park employees are fuloughed from work. (Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash )
A United Methodist Insight Column
If you, as I do, cringe every time a climate crisis denier quotes Genesis 1:28 – "have dominion over the earth" – then you'll appreciate this observation from The Washington Post's "Climate Coach," Michael Coren.
In his Sept. 28 column, Coren describes his musings over what our Jewish siblings call The Days of Awe -- the 10-day period from Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, through Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which just concluded. Coren writes that if one only considers Genesis 1:28 out of its full context, it's easy to see how the idea of "owning" the Earth and its resources, such as extractive industries like fossil fuels, became part of the dominant human culture.
Digging deeper, Coren finds, "But read the Torah even a bit further, and it’s clear how wrong this understanding of nature is for any religion claiming to follow the words of the Old Testament."
Coren continues: "Later, after placing humans in the Garden of Eden, God tells them 'to till it and to guard it,' and warns them that the earth, and everything in it belongs to the divine, not to them. 'Pay attention that you should not corrupt it and destroy My world for if you corrupt it, there is no one to fix it after you.'”
Coren reports that he consulted Rabbi Beth Singer, a senior rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, about why the fuller interpretation has been overlooked. Rabbi Singer said the more correct Hebrew translation refers to "stewardship," not "ownership," but the interpretation has been lost through the centuries. Today there is a "growing awareness among biblical interpreters in understanding this (passage) as a partnership with the divine."
The rabbi concludes: “Human beings have a responsibility and obligation to steward the earth, not dominate it. They are supposed to be in balance.”
Let's think about this as we proceed through resistance to creation care. Personally, I'm going to get the recyclables out of my desk-side trash basket before I forget.
Some good news on climate change
Here are a couple of encouraging items I gleaned from the many email newsletters I get:
NPR First Up newsletter: "When it comes to climate change, it's not often that you hear good news. But countries are setting records deploying climate-friendly technology, and there could be a path toward net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The hopeful message is more optimistic than the agency's 2021 report. However, it also shows that the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy will have to speed up even more in the coming decade."
Reuters News Service: "Six young people from areas in Portugal ravaged by wildfires and heatwaves took 32 European governments to court, arguing their failure to act on climate change is a violation of their human rights. It is the largest climate case ever to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg." Sounds like these Portuguese young folks are taking a cue from the Montana youths who successfully sued their state this summer for not upholding their rights to a clean future as provided by the state's constitution.
The environmental cost of a government shutdown
While most U.S. citizens fear the economic harm to humans from a looming federal government shutdown, two climate-focused newsletters – Washington Post's The Climate 202 and the Guardian's Down to Earth -- this week took stock of how a shutdown will damage the environment across the United States.
Both newsletters point to past shutdowns as evidence that halting federal funding is a "lose-lose" situation for the environment. U.S. national parks, one of the crown jewels of American society, will be hurt whether they stay open or they close during a shutdown.
Under the Obama administration, closing national parks led to $414 million in lost revenue for the gateway towns that rely on park tourism for their economies. In the Trump Administration, keeping some parks open resulted in "chaotic conditions" including overflowing trash cans, overflowing portable toilets that leaked human waste into watersheds, and ecosystems damaged from poaching and unofficial visitors such as off-roaders.
No one is sanguine about how much damage could be done to national parks by a long shutdown. The Washington Post quotes Anthony Licata, a spokesman for Montana Conservation Voters, saying “it’s a lose-lose situation,” and former National Park Service executive Jon Jarvis agreeing “there’s no happy answer.” However, Jarvis came down on the side of closing the parks, citing the greater damage to the environment.
In some cases, state governments have pledged to fill the gap. Republican leaders in Utah and Democratic leaders in Arizona have both pledged to use state resources to keep parks open and protected if a federal shutdown occurs – which is looking ever more likely.
When we feel our small efforts don't matter ...
I continue to be mightily impressed with the work of the Rev. Derek C. Weber, who curates the daily anti-racism prayer series for Discipleship Ministries. Derek's reflection for Sept. 28 seems particularly apt for these days:
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong … 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 NRSV
"Who am I? God of the cosmos, my single voice, my small deeds barely make a ripple in the vast ocean of sound and fury about in the world right now. Who am I to carry a banner of antiracism when so many scoff or dismiss or diminish? Who am I to envision a kingdom of unity and of peace, when some say that doesn’t work these days; we need power, they say; we need force. Who am I to stand against an unchanging tide of history and exclusion?
"I am a fool, but a fool for Christ. As such, I stand in the company of fools who seek to turn the tide. My prayers will continue, my confessions will go on, and my small actions on behalf of a beloved community of justice that sees all as equally loved and honored and respected will still drop like grains of sand in an hourglass counting up to a world I may not see in this life but for which I hope in faith. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. – Derek Weber, September 2023"
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Media Mentions as of Sept. 28, 2023
Pastors Wonder About Church Members Who Never Came Back Post-Pandemic – Christianity Today
St. Paul's UMC worship leader comes from opera background - Navarre Press
The Striking Trinity United Methodist Church Is A Treasure Trove Of History And Beauty – Secret Denver
Sears church to host celebration 100 years in the making | News | cadillacnews.com
UMC's bagged lunch feeds guests - and its own causes - The Sun Newspapers
Building Bridges of Unity: A Christian's Call to Stand Against Antisemitism - Algemeiner.com
Bishop Fairley's fall meeting series launches - Kentucky Annual Conference
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An award-winning religion journalist who has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels for 35 years, Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011. "Crisis Watch" forms part of Insight's participation in Covering Climate Now, an international collaboration of some 500 news outlets around the world committed to enhance climate coverage. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please email Insight for permission.