By Neil Earle
“Carbon emissions are central to our modern way of life,” theologian Richard Bauckham told an audience at Loma Linda University in California on February 9. “There is already little summer ice in the Arctic and dark water absorbs solar radiation easier, thus warming the oceans and changing climate.”
Bauckham knows that in 2007 the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time in recorded history and that the Arctic is usually cited as the bell-wether for climate change.
But…what is this? A noted theologian with a Green agenda?
Yes, indeed. Bauckham is the distinguished emeritus Professor of New Testament at St. Andrews University in Scotland. He is also author of the well-received “Theology of the Book of Revelation” and his interest in Revelation fuels his conviction that the book pictures a group of churches in spiritual resistance to the idolatries of the First Century A.D. (page 161).
Idolatry – there it is. Bauckham deplores the hubris of our modern energy-dependent society with its confident stance that nature can be circumvented. This he traces to two philosophical postures:
The Enlightenment Idea of Progress being undeniably good
The Technological Agenda
Bauckham sees, as do many critics of modern industrial society, how the fascination with the Scientific Method beginning around the time of Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who was its prophet, has led to the belief that the human species could effect a virtual independence from nature. The recent BP oil spill and the polluting effects inherent in China’s drive to build massive coal furnaces are warnings of where we are headed. “But the Genesis account, rightly read, shows that we humans are an intrinsic part of the natural world,” cites Bauckham. “God blessed all the creatures in Genesis One and we are part of that.”
This important Old Testament insight into biodiversity means that all creatures have a value in themselves and are not to be seen primarily as there for exploitation or plunder. “One third of the prescription medicines we depend upon are found in plants and fungi living especially in tropical zones.” (See Box). Bauckham cites Psalm 104:24,
“O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions – this great and wide sea in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great…and there is Leviathan which you have made to play there.”
For Bauckham, the God who delights in His creation – all of it – might have a hard time smiling on a technological drive that has hunted the great whales to near-extinction and literally scraped and scoured the ocean depth for protein.
But Bauckham is shrewd. He also worries that the same technological imperative that led to the ongoing ecological catastrophes – from the depletion of the Grand Banks fisheries to the assault on the rain forests – will hazard human attempts to correct the problem. Already scientists are speculating about shooting sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere in order to reflect the sun’s rays and lessen global warming. “This amounts yet again to transforming the very air we breathe,” says Bauckham. “And who decides what temperature would fit humanity best?” he asks perceptively. These issues make us realize that the “smart” solution could be worse than the disease.
For Bauckham, that disease, inherited from the Progress-at-all-costs heritage of Enlightenment philosophers aiming for a man-made Utopia and the unexpected consequences arising from breakneck technological innovation shows up most glaringly in the phenomenon of “consumerism.” In his talk Bauckham drew direct parallels between consumerism and what the Bible calls “idolatry.” The Biblical call to live within our limits, the call to moderate some of our unworthy desires, this begins to fashion the beginning of Bauckham’s Christian response to climate change. He sees four parallels between consumerism and idolatry that should motivate Christians to recover some of their “enough is enough” tradition, a worldview represented by such figures as Saint Francis and Mother Theresa.
First, Consumerism makes the Relative an Absolute. “I just gotta’ have this new Lexus, or ----------“ (fill in the blanks). Every moralist and economist seems to know that consumption only satisfies up to a point. But many Christian teachers understand that the “hook” in idolatry has always been trying to satisfy what are really spiritual desires through physical means. The sex rites that went along with the worship of Mighty Aphrodite or Ishtar were part of the appeal anciently for an “enhanced experience” (Jeremiah 5:7-8). Today we say “Sell the sizzle not the steak” – an advertising mantra that applies, perhaps, to our favorite coffee shop’s promise of friendship or the delirious freedom of new cars and the open road.
This is what Bauckham means when he calls consumerism, “misplaced transcendence.” Such adman’s scripts as the First Impression (Gillette ads), the Captivated Child (baby food), Civilization Redeemed (deodorant ads), and Taming Nature (menstrual products) are categorized in Roland Marchand’s Advertising the American Dream as “The Great Parables.” But such temporary fixes never work. So great is the appeal of idolatry, however, that it still beckons even after the first thrill wears off.
This leads Bauckham to wonder if the purpose of economic growth hasn’t become just economic growth itself. By contrast, rather than viewing men and women as targets for an endless array of products, Christianity at best offers a vision of what human life is for—“And Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst (John 6:35).”
This leads to parallel number two.
Consumerism seems to treat human desires as if they were unlimited. The constant offering of ever-new objects postpones the human consideration of what this life is all about. Revelation 18’s poetic depiction of an immense (and successful) trading system includes a catering to the almost insatiable “fruit that your soul longed for.” As a poet of the Gold Rush declaimed: “It wasn’t the gold that I longed for/as much as wanting the gold.” Human wants can be delivered by our sophisticated supply chains so fast that one commercial can claim “we take the waiting out of wanting” Yet flat-screen TVs make TV’s distracting powers even more attractive even though the programming quality seems to have flattened out long ago. Cop shows are endlessly repetitive so desires now have to be created. In the last decade, Bauckham surmises, we saw out vaunted marketplace haunted by the fear that needs might be underfinanced. Hence the reckless extension of credit which helped bring the financial system to its knees.
Thirdly, consumerism like idolatry is enslaving. Rather then giving bare information on products, says Bauckham, advertisers long ago started selling intangibles such as success, power, relaxation, status, excitement, personal attraction. These are qualities that begin to verge on the spiritual. “Idolatry is misplaced transcendence.” If a new after-shave or a new dress can get all these things for you – then who needs God? Yet the Bible revelation insists that a person’s life and real value doesn’t consist in the abundance of material goods (Luke 12:15).
Clever distractions blind people to the Biblical message of what life should really be about. A good part of such a life is the God-given mandate to guide and nurture the earth, what Christians call Stewardship (Genesis 1:26). This is opposed to the break-neck heedless exploitation which even some Christians have erroneously advocated.
Fourthly, consumerism is deceitful. The market is God and Advertising is its Prophet. We know the promises that advertising holds out are silly but we fall for them because “they outflank our sense and judgment.” They penetrate to places beyond the scrutinizing reason to play on our emotions. “See the USA in your Chevrolet.” You deserve a break today.” “Good to the very last drop.” “Have it your way.” “The Good Hands people.” “A new YOU in 60 Days.” More and more ads are presented in a gauzy dream-like state all too reminiscient of those drugs taken before the pagan rituals began which left the worshippers more open to suggestion from the god.
“A fixation with new objects postpones the proper orientation of human life,” argues Bauckham. What does he mean by that? What is the Christian orientation in a consumer culture that seems at times to have no purpose but perpetuate itself?
For Bauckham, tapping into the long tradition of Christian moderation and modesty would do much to beat back the forces of consumerism. Christian calls to call a time out against consumerism could get people over what he calls their “green fatigue” – to be so busy in the rat race as not to realize what is actually happening to our immediate environment. “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you…purify your hearts you double-minded…Come now you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you” (James 4:8, 5:1).
Such a “green time-out” could reorder our desires, refocus our priorities, says Bauckham. We might have time to ponder: Is the mining company really planning to level that mountain? What happened to that bike trail I used to like? Is that a waste plant setting up near the children’s playground? Such questions might help counteract green fatigue and mobilize support for Bauckham’s urgent call to fight for the planet itself. For Richard Bauckham and his allies definitely feel the hour is later than we think.