Christian Musings on Going Green

October 15, 2007 in Global Warming

Back in the Seventies in the UK when I experienced the three day week , the Miners Strike of 1974 and Coal was King  concern about the environment was a very different beast to that of today as far as I can remember . This is not going to be a treatise on the topic but a gentle ramble.
In those days I listened to my eldest brother talking about nuclear power and the dangers surrounding its use in electricity generation.  John  was a good speaker from my recollection.
Fast forward to 2007 the resurgence of the green debate has come with it a degree of being fashionable and often, in the UK, almost a corporate badge of pride in some circles.

But where should I be positioned in all this I ask , speaking as a Christian? “The earth is Lord’s and the fullness thereof ” the Bible says and it seems to me that all too often that approaches from Christians to the environment have focused on the iminent return of Christ so why bother about this earth ? Others have expressed concerns about  the agnostic and humanistic views of some of the greenies or the Mother Earth type of envronmentalists.

I have been on and off intellectually wrestling with these concerns so to speak. The more and more I look at the green issues the more I realise that one of the best things I could do if I want to reduce my Carbon Footprint is to be more organised. I suspect I am not alone on this one. Take for example recycling household waste. More household recycling needs more plannng. So it was with a mixture of pleasure and angst that I realised that several more things could be recycled at the council run Cheltenham Recycling Centre last time armed with my bins of things to  recycle on my way to the Supermarket to ensure the mental justification of my recycling trip no doubt to myself. I expect  I struggled with whether  I should  purchase Air Freighted “Fine Beans”  in Tesco from Zimbabwe. Much Intellectual food for thought in that possible purchase there is!

But should I try and behave in a Greener Way as a Christian ? The arguments are complex and many and varied, but I am continually drawn to the issue that on one topic of the debate there is a powerful argument. The argument is this. If global climate is caused or exascerbated by man then what are the consequences for the poor of unfettered global growth of the manner we have been acustomed to? I believe that the concern and love for the poor is a very Jesus like thing to try and be like in our everyday lives. It is the potential rapid ( in geological terms least ) change of the climate that will  affect the poor of the world more than the rich. 

So in my faltering inconsistent way I will continue to try and be more Green as part of my love for God and my love for my fellow man.