We are counting the days now: the 49th day of the oil spill, the 50th, the 51st. We now know more every day, too. BP has not only lied, but it has likely behaved in a criminal way, and it is now being investigated for it. The keys to government regulation had long since been turned over to the oil companies themselves, and the cozy oil/government relationship led to this disaster. BP is not making good on its pay promises for the clean-up, perhaps because it is spending millions on desperate public relations advertising. President Obama is being criticized by some for not responding strongly enough, soon enough, or empathetically enough.
When I appeared on a cable news shows last week to discuss the oil spill, Chris Matthews responded to the things I was saying about our oil addiction by replying, "Well, you're going farther and deeper than we normally get on this show." Right, and that's the problem. It is indeed time to go deeper. And if we don't turn this "teachable moment" into decisions to fundamentally change the ways that we energize our economy, we may never make these necessary changes in our lifetimes.
So how do we go deeper? Maybe by listening more deeply and not just watching. When we listen, we are moved to sacrifice; and when we sacrifice, we are transformed. To whitewash a tomb is change, but it is not transformation. To bill yourself as "Beyond Petroleum" instead of just plain old "British Petroleum" might be change, but it certainly isn't transformation. To name a new head to the regulatory agency overseeing BP and its oil rigs is change, but it's not transformation. Without corporate responsibility to the public good and without the government rooting out the regulators who have forgotten what their job is, it's all just greenwashing. It's cleaning the outside of the cup while leaving the inside dirty; it's straining out the gnat while swallowing the camel whole.
At the heart of the Christian tradition lies the belief that transformation requires sacrifice. In fact, I would say that the difference between real movements and mere events is the sacrifice. Deep and abiding change is hard. When we experience conversion, we not only turn toward something new but away from something old. We can look down the road and recognize that in the long run our sacrifice is worth the cost, but it still does not make it easy or comfortable to sell all we have to buy the pearl of great price.
At the root of the crisis today is that BP learned exactly the lesson it was taught by our culture and our government through the Exxon-Valdez spill. Change is easy, quick, and cheap. Americans are hooked on oil, they aren't going to kick the habit anytime soon, and they have short memories -- so slap on another new coat of paint and then get back to business as usual.
Transformation is not easy, quick, or cheap. Bonhoeffer taught us all to be wary of anyone who would peddle to us easy change, especially in the form of cheap grace. This past weekend, Christians from more than 10 different cities across this country came to Sojourners in groups of three or more to attend Conspire, a faith and justice training conference. I had the pleasure of speaking to and meeting with this small group of Christian activists committed to forming faith and justice networks in their cities across the country. They struggled through the fact that while sending emails to Congress can be effective, they wanted to do more. When they looked around at their neighborhoods and their cities, they could see promise and potential but were not sure how to discern their calling to see God's spirit breaking through in those places. But most of all, they were ready to sacrifice what was comfortable and easy for what was hard but true. They trained for social change.
Sacrifice starts in the humblest of all places -- with listening. It is in taking the time and creating the space to listen for the leading of the spirit and hear the voices of those who are not always heard that the stage is set for sacrifice. We see and hear from the Gulf Coast more than is comfortable, but have we begun to listen? More information is available than ever before through cable news, blogs, and networking sites, but are we still deaf to what is being said?
I believe it is time for churches to listen to sister churches along the coast that are being assaulted with the contamination of our oil addiction. It's time to listen to the people in churches we met along the Gulf Coast when Hurricane Katrina brought us to them. It's time for denominations to listen and respond to the needs of their member churches that are experiencing the trauma of fear, depression, disruption, and destruction of livelihoods.
This week, Sojourners is emailing our readers along the Gulf Coast to hear directly from Christians who are being affected every day by the oil spill. For those of you who feel overwhelmed by the images you see and the stories you hear, I want to challenge you to participate in the spiritual act of listening and discernment. Take an image of the contamination of creation and meditate on it. Romans 8:22 says the whole earth groans. Can you hear it? Read or listen to the story of a person whose livelihood has been destroyed or who died on the oil rig. In 1 Corinthians 12:26, we read that if one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it. Can you feel the suffering? Listen and pray. Act and sacrifice. Change and be transformed. First we listen, then we decide what we will sacrifice in service, action, and even lifestyle. And only then will we change.
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street -- A Moral Compass for the New Economy, CEO of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.
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Jim Wallis: Testifying in the Gulf (PHOTOS)
are you still driving?
I despise George Bush's phrase "oil addiction." As usual in a crisis, corporations and the media blame us citizens for the problems they created. NPR loves to say that Americans "have a love affair with the automobile." What a fatuous, inane thing to say. We Americans use oil and gas to heat our homes and fuel our cars. It is not a vice. We are not addicted, and it's not for love; it's to stay warm and to get from here to there. If there's any "addiction" involved it's corporate addiction to profits, no matter the collateral damage.
If conscientious christians care deeply about environmental protection want to do some good, they should stop making their voting about condemning gays and abortion and start voting for politicians who will oversee and regulate industry so as to protect our natural resources and American lives. All the kind intentions and prayers in the world won't put the oil back in the hole.
We should care as a matter of both collective and self-interest.
Its relationship to socialism is somewhat coincidental and more informed by the faith of early Baptists and Mennonites whose concentration on the scriptures long preceded the existence of Karl Marx and worked well within evangelical teleology without any reference to Hegelian thought.
Consider this great hymn and how it motivates us to action on the gulf
This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.
Why must we NOT destroy the enviroment? That would never be asked about locusts eating up all the plants for miles. Or piranhas stripping a carcass. They just do what they evolved to do. Same for humans. Our behavior is natural for us.
Deciding this behavior is bad is an emotional reaction, not an objective, scientific observation. Competition for ecological niches, for food, for reproduction, determines the survival of the fittest for any species. That there are now billions of humans and less diversified ecosystems are both products of evolution.
There can be no appeal to sneaky theological "meaning" or "ethics." Giving a damn means some sort of judgment based on likes or dislikes. An irrelevant indulgence by mostly hairless apes who think of themselves as self-determined individuals instead of the outcome of impersonal physical forces. An implied criticism of evolution.
Regardless, this process over time will determine the biological outcomes-- no matter what a few humans think logical. Or may wish. Or pray for.
If the environment is undermined, thereby deeply disrupting the food chain, shock waves will travel right on up to the top, which is where we humans like to place ourselves.
Hunter-gatherers lived within the constraints of nature. And as one person stated recently, the birth of agriculture turned that balance into a raping and exploitation of the Earth.
It's unsustainable. So if we wish to survive, we have to change our behavior and our relationship with the Earth.
Saying such behavior is "natural" is ridiculous. It isn't natural: it's ignorant and willfully malicious.
Nihilism and apathy aren't synonymous.
"It is part of the church's office of guardianship that she shall call sin by its name and that she shall warn against sin; If the church did not do this, she would be incurring part of the guilt for the blood of the wicked. (Ezek 3:17)."
This Christian-Anarchist Buddhist with a dose of dervish; comprehends that there is only one sin: SELFISHNESS!
And it is SELFISHNESS as expressed in GREED that is tearing our world apart!
Dominion never meant to rape and plunder; but to nurture, care and love!