"Earth Day
Revisited"
by Rev. Kimi Riegel
April 18, 2004
Sustainability, that which can be maintained or held indefinitely, is the only
kind of true justice. The word sustained, to describe production methods, came
into use in the early 1900s as a way of describing production of timber or fish
that insured the replacement or reproduction of the resource before the next
harvest. We understand that sustainable means that which can be kept up, that
which does not deplete resources. Mathew Fox, who spoke a couple weeks ago at
the Annual meeting, described sustainability as justice. He uses the two words
synonymously. That which is sustainable is just, that which is just is
sustainable.
This is not a new idea. Immanuel Kant, whose 280th birthday we celebrate this
week, suggested it in his Universal Law formulation: [That we must] "Act
only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it
should become a universal law." In other words we must behave in ways that
it would be OK if everyone did that same. Kant considered it immoral when a
person attempts to set a different standard for himself then for the rest of
humanity. In today’s world we understand that we are not just a part of all of
humanity but in fact a part of the entire universe. It is immoral,
unsustainable, for us to act in ways that set a different standard for ourselves
than for other living creatures.
But Kant was not the first, early every world religion dating from hundreds of
years before Kant has a similar statement that we have come to know as the
Golden Rule. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them," from the Gospel of Mathew. From Confucianism
we hear "One should not behave towards others in a way which is
disagreeable to oneself” From Judaism "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself.", from Leviticus. My personal favorite from the Yoruba religion of
If we behave in ways that set us apart, that make us different or special we
will continue to have an unjust world. When we behave in ways that consider the
impact of our actions on everyone we are creating a more sustainable world.
Much of the degradation of our world comes from the sense that humans and
especially white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, Americans are special and as
such can behave in ways that set us apart. We do not have to follow the rules
that govern nature because we are above all that. We do not have to be careful
with what we use because we are separate from all that. We don’t have to clean
up our own messes, watch what we eat or even be nice to one another because we
are all separate special individuals that needn’t worry about anyone else.
The problem of course with this attitude is it is not sustainable; it is unjust.
Like our seventh principle states we are all connected to a very interdependent
web that is our existence. What we do to one part is what we do to the whole and
eventually to ourselves.
This is not rocket science. It is rational and reasonable to see that setting
ourselves as separate and above all that has done immense damage. What we have
done to the planet is being done to us. We can’t pollute the rivers without
having to drink it eventually. We can’t treat our neighbors as second-class
citizens without having them treat us the same. We can’t use up all the
resources of the planet without eventually finding ourselves wanting.
The cure for all of this seems to be to return to the Moral Imperative as stated
by Kant. We must behave in ways that if made a universal behavior would be life
sustaining. Which of course is a huge struggle especially for Americans. We are
the special ones. I have the Ram Dass quote, “we are in training to be nobody
special,” on my desk at home and here. Many people have commented on how sad
that seems. Of course we are special and unique in all of creation, but we have
lost the balance to that; for we are also all a part of a much bigger very
special system. We are special but
not above the laws and rules of nature. Our “specialness” has gotten out of
control. Children need to feel they are special and unique at least as our own
culture understands developing personalities, but they also need the corollary
understanding that they are a part of something in which their behavior has an
effect; positive and negative.
For earth day this year we could each adopt the Kantian view of our behavior. I
offer it to my kids all the time. What if every body did that? What if every
body threw their candy wrapper out the window? What if every one left their
dishes on the sink? What if everyone cut each other off and swore on the
highway? What if everyone left the church windows open and the lights on? And of
course, What if everyone treated each other with respect? What if we all used
only what we need? What if for every tree we cut down we planted one? What if
for every crop we grew we replenished the soil? What if we all picked up after
ourselves and cared for the planet?
And although I present it to my kids as clear-cut I am aware it’s not easy. As
I sit using a great deal of electricity to create this sermon I realize that I
am doing nothing to put that energy back. It is not sustainable. It is not just.
So I too know I have a long way to go in adopting Kantian morality. If everyone
in the world used electricity the way I do there would soon be none. But it is
certainly a place to start. For even in our daily interactions with one another
if we considered the universality of our behavior we might at the very least be
encouraged to do one more good thing, recycle one more can, buy one more organic
vegetable, turn off one more light, be kind to one more person.
The earth flag has become a symbol of the Earth Day movement. When I look on the
picture of the world as seen from the moon I am transported. We are a beautiful,
yet small, fragile, little ball in a huge and growing universe. Our patriotism
to our even smaller American flag can keep us from seeing ourselves as part of
the whole. It keeps us thinking we are somehow special and separate from the
fragility of it all. If instead we keep the image of that ball in our minds and
remember that every action of ours has the potential to become universal, every
action could become what all people do; we come closer to what is sustainable
and what is justice. May it be so.