Green Ole Opry

Skies of blue and fields of green, waterfalls of Atrazine
Hundred acres to explore, acres of Alachlor
Hey, hey, ho, ho, mom and dad how could they know
Ho, ho, hey, hey, herbicides done made me gay.

This is the chorus of a tongue-in-cheek song by singer songwriter Susan Werner who is the subject of a piece in Grist called Green Ole Opry. Werner has an old-time country feel with an eye to the realities of a planet under stress. Some of you may remember me attending a conference in Colorado under the auspices of Presbyterians for Earth Care in which one of the speakers was Tyrone Hayes from Berkeley University whose research on the herbicide Atrazine concludes that it contributes to the development of hermaphrodite frogs, meaning that they can't reproduce.

Music has often been the medium to call for justice, including in the church. and its always fun to discover another voice. Werner has done an album called Gospel Truth which is both a critique and homage to Christian music. She grew up in the Catholic church herself. Have a listen at both the NPR and Grist sites. As always, I invite comments. Really. Please.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10515061

http://grist.org/climate-energy/green-ole-opry-susan-werner-sings-sweet-songs-of-sustainability/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=socialflow

Can Disobedience be Civil?

This week a group of Bridge St. UC folk went to see the film The Butler. We were reminded of the cost of the Civil Rights Movement for those who participated in protests. Often they were beaten, attacked by dogs, jailed, even killed. Why were they willing to pay this price? They believed in the cause of justice and equality for all.

I have asked before whether readers have ever been involved in protest walks or demonstrations and a number had. I have been part of quite low-key demonstrations for peace, and against war (Iraq), an incinerator, violence against women. An introvert, I have felt rather awkward and on display, but these were hardly occasions of civil disobedience. I was never even remotely in danger and I certainly wasn't arrested.

The film and a couple of thought-provoking pieces in Orion magazine caused me to wonder if I would ever "go the distance" for my planet home. The integrity and health of the environment are in grave danger because of human activity, thereby also threatening human wellbeing, but would I be willing to be incarcerated for a better outcome?

Sandra Steingraber went to jail for ten days for trespassing at a natural gas compressor station site near her home. She is hardly a wild-eyed radical but she isn't willing to be passive when it comes to issues of health. She has written books such as Living Downstream. About her arrest and jail time she offers:

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE is like planned parenthood. The second word in the phrase doesn’t exactly align with the first one. You search your conscience. You reach a decision. You make preparations. You talk about your decision and your preparations in meaningful ways to all concerned. And then comes the time for action. You leave the condom in the drawer.

Or you refuse the deputy’s third order to get off the driveway. (The one owned by the nation’s largest natural-gas storage and transport company. The one the truck with the massive drill head strapped to its flatbed wants to drive on. Right now.)

The other article wonders aloud whether religious types are more willing to chain themselves to fences for causes such as pipelines and climate change while scientists are more inclined to study the data and report.

Would and has your faith motivated you to engage in risky "unprotected" behaviour as a protester? Would you ever be willing to cool your heels in the hoosgow for a few days in order to protect an endangered creature or space? Is Christianity rooted in the non-violent civil disobedience of Jesus? If so, why are we so well behaved?

Free Tilly

After taking in the Ai Weiwei exhibit at the AGO on Saturday morning we zipped on over to the TIFF Bell Lightbox for a noonish screening of the documentary Blackfish (so many acronyms, so little time!)

This film was released a few weeks ago and it explores the ethics and tragic consequences of capturing 'Blackfish" the First Nations name for Orcas or Killer Whales. As we know these magnificent mammals are employed as entertainers in the various aquatic theme parks around the world. Although they are now bred in captivity many of the stars in the industry were snatched from their pods in the wild when they were young. Often the crude methods of capture killed others in the matriarchal families, not to mention removing young whales from these highly social pods. When the newcomers are put into close proximity with other
orcas they are often attacked and injured.

 



The doc includes interviews with several former trainers, all of whom admitted that they knew next to nothing about orcas before they began their work. They are ashamed that they simply spouted the company propaganda about the health and wellbeing of these creatures, ignoring what they were witnessing every day in their close relationships with them. The theme parks claim that the orcas live longer in captivity which is entirely untrue. In captivity they live 25 to 35 years while in the wild females can live to be 100. We listen to the assurance that the curved over dorsal fin of males is common in the wild when in fact it is rare in the open seas but 100%  in captivity. We see and hear a mother orca vocalizing her distress when her four-year-old calf is taken from her and sold to another aquarium.

The feature whale is Tillicum, a massive male who has ended up killing three people through the years including two trainers. Yet these deaths are characterized as accidents by the operators of the different parks where he has lived, a characterization the former trainers disagree with strongly. This aggressive "killer" whale is a primary source of semen for the captive breeding program. The trainers view his aggression as the outcome of lifelong imprisonment. Today Tillicum alone and performs briefly without exposure to other whales or in proximity to trainers.

One of the former trainers wonders whether 50 years from now we will look back and wonder how humans could be so barbaric. But isn't this the way with racism, and sexism, and, yes, specism?

Is this a sin? I wonder if the day will come when religious groups will be as vocal about this as they have been about slavery in the past, or more recently, homophobia?

What are you thoughts? Does the film intrigue you, or would it be too unsettling?

Greenfaith

I am regularly impressed to discover those who make the connection between faith and cherishing the good earth, God's creation. It affirms for me that we don't have to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. I have come across two resources recently, interviews on Things Not Seen Radio http://www.thingsnotseenradio.com/with an Episcopalian (Anglican) priest in the States, named Fletcher Harper, as well as Rev. Harper's website http://greenfaith.org/.

Listen and look and tell me what you think.

Body and Soul

Yesterday afternoon I drove home from the church with Ruth, my wife, who was there to help with the Kid's Camp. She mused about supper and said that we had corn-on-the-cob and tomatoes and...what meat would we eat?. I'm glad she didn't veer off the road when I suggested that we didn't need meat at all. I am an incorrigible carnivore and efforts to go veggie, even occasionally never seem to go well. But I had eaten eggs for breakfast and there was meat in my lunch so why would I expect to eat meat again?

I have found of late that I can enjoy less meat in a meal, or none at all. And there have never been better or tastier options. There are vegetable samosas at the Farmer's Market that I could probably eat daily, they're that good.

I felt guiltily smug when I heard of the Attack of the Cronut Burger at the CNE. It was the meat that made those poor souls sick, we're told, but the entire concoction sounds disgusting. Actually the KFC Double Down is probably a better example of excess, with slabs of chicken subbing for bread.

We can assume that Jesus was okay with the Mediterranean diet, with very little meat, and cultures around the world do just fine without all that animal protein. I know I would be heart-healthier if I could continue the recent trend. It would be better for body and soul.

How are you when it comes to eating meat? Is it a sin to consume too much in a world of limited resources? Have you got in touch with your inner chick pea?

Leave No Child Inside

I received an email invitation to pre-order the book pictured above with the title Leave No Child Inside. It is riffing on the Leave No Child Behind  act signed into law for the education system in the United States back in 2001. I hope and pray that the notion of giving every child a meaningful education and awareness of the outdoors is more successful than LNCB. From what I can see this collection of essays has gathered the thoughts and actions of some of the best writers in this important field (no pun intended.) One of them, Richard Louv, wrote the best-selling book Last Child in the Woods This new book does intrigue me:

“If we were to create communities and schools that educate children and youth to love the earth, know their place in the web of life, and act responsibly, what would they look like?” —Louise Chawla, from the Foreword

Nearly every environmental change-maker in history was shaped by a strong connection to the particular place or landscape he or she called home. But many children today are glued to screens or stuck prepping for another standardized exam, while nature education and unstructured time outdoors have fallen by the wayside. If children are not given opportunities to connect with the natural world, who will be the stewards of the future?

So many eco-theologians, those I deeply admire for their intellectual rigour, take the opportunity to share with the reader their connection with creation which was nurtured in childhood. Often they were allowed to ramble and explore with abandon. Today their parents would surely be charged with neglect. Instead they learned to love the planet in all its glory. They grew up to consider the theological foundations of that love, but many of them still splash and root around and explore.

What do you think about this book? Does it scare you as a parent? Did you explore as a child? How about today?

Acceptance

While at St. Paul's United Church, my former congregation, I watched as the mother of two autistic boys worked diligently and passionately to give them a meaningful life. Her desire was and is to include them in the community of faith which was so important to her. There was nothing easy about this goal. More than once she got as far as the parking lot with the boys, only to have one of them make it impossible to walk through the doors of the church. The hope was to have them do something as simple as come forward for the children's time. But even sitting in a pew means restlessness and sounds which make mom nervous because it affects the rest of the congregation. One Sunday one of the boys did come forward, with the help of an attentive older brother. It happened that I was talking to the kids about acceptance that morning, in God's wonderful timing. Fortunately the congregation has been tremendously supportive, but how many parents have this level of challenge to just get to church with their family on a Sunday?

We've all heard about an incident just down the road from Bowmanville in Newcastle. An angry, cruel letter was written to a grandmother who looks after a thirteen-year-old autistic grandson from time to time in her home. The neighbour offered that the grandson is nothing more than a nuisance and that be euthanized --killed-- to control his noise. We can understand that the writer may not be aware of what autism is about, and honestly the vocal outbursts can be unsettling. But the cruelty and cowardice are totally unacceptable. Why not begin with a conversation rather than a cruel letter? The police have decided that the letter doesn't constitute hate mail, but it is hateful just the same.

Fortunately others in the community have been very supportive of the grandmother and family but it is shocking reminder of what autistic families face on a regular basis. We can only hope that the public attention  to what has happened will shame the letter writer. I' m not holding my breath. More importantly, it may promote greater awareness of autism.

All through Jesus' ministry he literally and figuratively touched the outcasts and the lowly. He lifted them up and healed them in many ways, including their sense of being children of God.

What do you think about the Newcastle incident? What about what we do in our congregations? Is there a place for those who may seem to be on the edges or outside?

Feisty Sisters

Two months since my last Groundling blog entry. That's what a new congregation, moving, and vacationing will do to the patterns of life. I have kept up with my Lion Lamb blog but this one has suffered from neglect despite the importance of the eco-faith discussion.

I return with the story of some old but mighty nuns in the States, the Sisters of Loretto in Kentucky. They have decided that there won't be an oil pipeline built across their 800-acre campus. Read this from Mother Jones magazine:

Down the road from the Maker's Mark bourbon distillery in the central Kentucky town of Loretto, a feisty cadre of nuns has been tending crops and praying since the early 1800s. An order founded on social justice, the Sisters of Loretto are quickly becoming the face of a new grassroots campaign against what they see as a threat to holy land: the Bluegrass Pipeline. The 1,100-mile pipeline will carry natural gas liquids from the Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia fracking fields, and will pass through Kentucky—eventually connecting with an existing pipeline that runs all the way to the Gulf Coast.

The sisters go to public meetings and declare that God is the creator and that they will care for creation. And they sing about it! http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/08/nuns-bluegrass-pipeline-loretto

What do you think about the singing nuns? Have you ever "taken up the torch" for an environmental cause? Was your faith in the Creator part of your motivation?