I was on a bus back from Penang to Kuala Lumpur when the driver told us that we were running out of diesel. We then made a detour to Ipoh to get fuel but all the stations we drove into were out. Until, after about a dozen stations, we found one with a 10-vehicle queue. What would usually be a 5-hour journey max took almost 12 hours. It seems Malaysia's diesel was dried up, putting out of action (for 2 days, I think) a third of diesel-dependent trucks in the country.
This was about a year ago.
The more I teach O-Level Geography, the more I suspect there's some God-hand influence behind it. I cannot doubt the converge of the topics in my lesson plans with the recent counter-empire theology I've been absorbing (e.g. Wright, Walsh, McClendon, etc), not to mention the church-challenging because world-caring flavour of Emergent as a whole.
We really should include a module like "Sustainable Ecology" into our confirmation, baptism and systematic theology classes. Christians, of all people, need to be more aware of daunting facts like the running out of our energy supplies,...
...how consumption habits and industrial pollution are really two sides of the same coin (spewing acid and shit into our lands, seas and skies), the stark reality of poverty and death in urban slums, the disappearance of our forests, etc.
Most importantly, we should have "What We Can Do NOW" sessions. And perhaps more sermons should include references to organisations like Greenpeace and websites like No Logo.
It's interesting to notice that the term, body of God, denotes the community of Jesus' disciplies AND ALSO creation (as per Sallie McFague's famous book).
Exxon-Valdez. Mirfield. The Amazon forest. The world's regimes should be shivering in the presence of God's people, shaking in fear of the theological Body of God and their imminent collapse (read: the Roman Empire!). But no. Today they're making money out of ignoring, disrespecting and ultimately violating this very same (B)body.
Posted at 11:19 am by alwynlau
 | Posted by DB @ 06/06/2006 09:05 PM PDT | |
| Al, that was the quota system imposed by the MY govt to reduce their liability for subsidies - blame good old memmon |
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| Posted by Alwyn @ 05/30/2006 03:47 PM PDT | |
Thanks for the input from ALCOE, Ghanakan et al. In fact ecology is one of those themes usually talked (well at least it's TALKED!) about among the Emergent USA writers (e.g. McLaren, Sweet, etc.).
Am reading this guy called McClendon right now and I look fwd to seeing you how he merges our 'private' faith with 'public' responsibility in a way less dichotomized than what we normally get nowadays.
Oh, and there's also this cool person called Sherman who's doing a series on Evangelicalism - looking fwd to that, too! :) |
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| Posted by SK @ 05/30/2006 01:53 PM PDT | |
I hear you, Al. It's disconcerting that our doctrine of creation has placed humankind at the centre of creation, and in so doing, subjected all of creation to our abusive exploits.
All of scripture is replete with environmental and ecological concerns. It's time for us to recover a doctrine of creation, immanence, and even salvation that finds an appropriate concern for the redemption of all creation.
In my recent participation in the ALCOE VI, I met with Dr Ken Gnanakan, an Asian theologian who has spent some decades championing the cause of environmental responsibility. I deeply admire the steadfastness with which he stands for this cause. |
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