A theology for the 21st century needs to take seriously our context. I am reading Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World by Richard Heinberg.
This is the sequel to his earlier book, The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies. Both are sobering works. I recommend reading his latest book first. He summarizes The Party's Over in the first chapter of Powerdown and offers options for responding to this reality.His thesis is that we have reached or will reach within the next few years, peak oil. I have discussed this in an earlier post. In Powerdown, he writes that we have four options:
1) Last One Standing: the path of competition for remaining resources. (This appears to be our current administration's plan to control the remaining oil reserves militarily).
2) Powerdown: the path of cooperation, conservation, and sharing. (This would require all nations of the world to name the issue, change drastically our way of living, and work for justice so that all people of Earth may have access to basic needs).
3) Waiting for a Magic Elixir: wishful thinking, false hopes, and denial. (This appears to be the option of most of our population. We think that in the nick of time we will find some magic technological advance to replace fossil fuels and be able to continue our way of life).
4) Building Lifeboats: the path of community solidarity and preservation. (This involves working with our neighbors to sustain small communities (gardens, energy sharing, etc.)
Heinberg suggests that a combination of Powerdown and Building Lifeboats are the best options for our survival. This book is an important read. It is a book for those who are not afraid to learn the truth about what we are facing.
What does this mean theologically? Where is God in all of this? My prediction is that when we begin to feel the crunch most theology will revert to option three: Waiting for a Magic Elixir.
That will take the form similar to the Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.
In this scenario, our crisis will lead to the magic return of Jesus who will save us (at least save the true believers).
Throughout history, this type of theology has emerged during times of crises only to leave the believers disappointed. It is in my opinion, less than adequate theology, to put it mildly.
I believe there are other options. There are other ways to conceive of God's activity in the world and our response to God that are more realistic and more healthy and hopeful for Earth and its inhabitants. Options two and four, powerdown and building lifeboats need to be understood theologically as the way the Holy Spirit can prepare humanity for a sustainable and peaceful future.
This is at the heart of my theological project. I don't pretend to have the answers. I am simply one voice among many calling for us to wake up and respond.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI just saw your post on FOE3 (the yahoo group) and then read the post on the blog. I've had very similar thoughts except I'm a buddhist so don't see our spiritual struggle at this time of change in relation to gods, but to our place in the network of living beings that make up our environment.
I've posted about it on my blog (a few months back: http://tziteras.blogspot.com/2006/05/equilibrium-epiphany.html ) talking about the reasons at length but to summarise, I think we're at a very important crossroads where we've grown too big and can't use the same philosophies as before to do with striving to attain our dreams or at least to maintain what we might have already. I think it's a time when we have to really take responsibility for the equilibrium rather than the gathering of resources and increase of happiness in our close environment. I don't know if it's the same in Christianity but I think a lot of the teachings were first practiced in a time when progress was always going to be slow and you had to work really hard even to just keep what you had.
Hope that gets some dialogue started!
About the lifeboats/last man standing options for survival, I think it's important to understand we are never going to be within a world that's entirely in one or another option: we need to understand that all options will be going on alongside each other and that situations will be different to different people around the world (for example, people/societies that are less oil dependant will be better off according to some!), so the thing for me is to get them to be able to function in parallel rather than figuring out the best and condemning the rest...
Again, hope to see more postings on this, and if we can start an interfaith peak oil web ring then the more the merrier!
Ale
Hi Ale,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response and welcome! Your url didn't come through as well, but I found it here
http://tziteras.blogspot.com/2006/05/equilibrium-epiphany.html
You said: "I think we're at a very important crossroads where we've grown too big and can't use the same philosophies as before to do with striving to attain our dreams or at least to maintain what we might have already. I think it's a time when we have to really take responsibility for the equilibrium rather than the gathering of resources and increase of happiness in our close environment."
In Christianity, our doctrines about God, Jesus, etc. came from a conception of the Universe which is no longer meaningful (ie. three-tiered earth at the center heaven above). That is only part of our problem. What does it mean to live on Earth in which there is no "end" (meaning that Earth will spin for millions of more years whether humans are aboard or not).
Anyway, our congregation hosts a meditation group that uses insights from Buddhism and Hinduism. I think the process of learning from one another will be helpful as we find a way to live in harmony or equilibrium with Earth.
Thanks for your thoughts on different strategies and how they may be used in tandem.
The point Heinberg was making though is that the strategy of denial or simply conquering all others for remaining resources cannot be good for any of us.
Thanks again! I like the idea of an interfaith peak oil webring. Perhaps one already exists?
John
Oops, I didn't have any more success publishing your site.
ReplyDeletehttp://tziteras.blogspot.com/2006/05/
equilibrium-epiphany.html