Week 3

Now that class discussion has shifted from ecological debates more toward theological and ethical debates, it is a lot more my taste.  I do not mean to say that talking about the wellness of the earth bores me, although it might; I only mean to say that there is a reason why I chose to major in ministry and not in biology.  That being said, particularly "The Dark Side of Chocolate" and chapter three of Steven Bouma-Prediger's For the Beauty of the Earth were both intriguing, to say the least.

"The Dark Side of Chocolate," strangely, was almost a sigh of relief for me.  Before you go assuming that I am a heartless, child-abusing heathen, hear me out.

So far in this class, the ecological and agricultural issues that we have discussed, for the most part, have been concerned with how our present way of life may or may not affect our future way of life.  We have debated how we will be able to feed nine billion people within the next thirty years, whether or not our levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have a lasting effect on climate, and other things of that nature.  "The Dark Side of Chocolate," on the other hand, presented an issue in agriculture and business that needs to be discussed and resolved immediately.  We do not need to discuss hypothetical dangers anymore.  We need not speak in potentialities.  We can focus our attention on the present reality.  Why spend so much time worrying about tomorrow when there are lives at stake today?  There is no debate as to whether or not child labor and trafficking are acceptable; the debate is how this problem needs to be solved and how soon we can start.  Hence, the sigh of relief was not a sigh of relief that children in Africa are being trafficked and abused; it was a sigh of relief that now we can discuss something of immediate importance.

That was where the sigh of relief stopped.  I finally found an issue that I find to be almost annoyingly pertinent with which I could finally get on board, but I still have no idea what to do now besides feel guilty for my lack of action.  Now I feel angry at the makers of that video for exposing us to a problem without presenting a solution.  Regardless, I have lost almost completely the desire to hash out the details of things like aquaculture while injustices like this continue.  Like I said earlier, there is a reason why I chose to pursue ministry instead of biology.

Bouma-Prediger's chapter also made me feel guilty.  This time, I felt guilty because of what I was doing, not because of what I was not.  I unfortunately had to agree with all of the points made against the Christian faith in regards to the preservation and destruction of the earth.  The ecological complaint against Christianity seems legitimate.  However, is it possible that Christianity is merely the scapegoat?

Let me pause for a moment.  Yes, I am probably a little defensive in this scenario because I am a Christian and certainly do not want to be charged with the destruction of our planet, and, yes, if Christians had a compelling case to blame pagans for destroying the earth, I am sure that we would use it against them.  It is only human nature.  Men will blame women, women will blame men, players will blame referees, students will blame teachers, and so on and so forth.  I understand that I am speaking in generalities, but people tend not to accept responsibility for their mistakes, especially if their mistake is destroying the earth in which we all live.

Ergo, my only wish is that the debate not be about who is to blame.  How about we all man up to our faults and admit that we, all theological and eschatological viewpoints aside, have not done our planet justice?  As mentioned in my previous post, humans, generally, have not polluted this world maliciously.  So why point the blame?  If Christians went about their lives with the intent of harming the earth, then I would understand ostracizing them.  However, from a lifetime of observation, I can attest that Christians do not lie awake at night and devise schemes as to how they can ruin the earth's water supply and pollute its atmosphere.  Thus, instead of deciding whether or not we are to blame, why not focus our energy on something productive, like actually saving the earth?