Recently I received two
emails containing a link to the same video. Produced by an organization offering
“Free Courses for Free Minds,” the video addressed the issue of climate change.
Apparently, to be classified as a Free
Mind, one must adopt, among other things, a “skeptical” stance with regard
to climate change.
Free
mindedness offered a thin olive branch to credentialed scientists who interpret
the data differently, but dismissed all others as selfish, greedy “alarmists.”
In fairness,
those of us who find climate change science not only believable but compelling
often dismiss the skeptics with equal or even greater contempt.
I am
no climate scientist. I do, however, claim some aptitude for observation. And
it seems to me that as long as the climate change “debate” rages on as a war
between competing analyses, we will accomplish little. We will vilify opponents
rather than work together with neighbors. And none of us will have free minds. We will all be bound to a
side, a faction, and we will have to champion our absolute cause toward an
all-or-nothing, terminal conclusion.
Here’s
the thing: The climate is changing. The earth is warming. Even the video’s
skeptical narrator acknowledges that reality – to a point. The controversy revolves
around the role of humankind’s consumption of fossil fuels in climate change,
and the potential extent of the damage.
Yes,
I would very much like to see governments across the planet take seriously not
just the potential threats of climate change, but the potential benefits of concerted
global efforts to act more responsibly. I also think that addressing any polarizing issue begins best at
local levels, with neighbors working shoulder-to-shoulder to make their own
communities cleaner, safer, more pleasant places to live. (A good example: While
the “sides” attack each other with data, the people of south Florida, who are
experiencing change now, and who stand to lose everything, are working together
to make a difference. See http://www.1000friendsofflorida.org/)
So, I
say, bring on the climate change! Bring on the transformation of our cultural
climates of fear, resentment, vengeance. Take a Jesus-risk. Risk tension, disappointment,
and rejection by seeking mutual relationships with people with whom we disagree
on significant issues. Listen to their stories, and share ours. Re-humanize those
whom we have reviled as idiots and fiends.
And
global warming? Bring that on, too. It can be a cold world out there – people
more connected to hand-held devices than the hands and hearts just inches away
from them. At a recent conference, I heard Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Leonard
Pitts observe that we have “seceded from each other emotionally.” How painfully
true. So, let’s warm things up for God’s sake! Re-connect with civility in
neighborhoods and wildness in nature.
“The first question for any convocation,” says my dad, “is,
‘Do we wish to live together?’” This is not an argument to win or lose. This is
a call to live in Well-Spirited Love as an expression of our gratitude to God
for the gift of life, and as an act of solidarity with the earth and all who
live on it, past, present, and future.
I’m
not saying to refrain from involvement on the wider scale. I’m just saying
start where we live. Right here. Right now. Regardless
of opinions on climate change, gracious neighboring is always a win-win – for all things.
By this everyone will
know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)
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