"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of
worlds." J. Robert
Oppenheimer, one of the key scientists involved in the Manhattan Project,
reflected on those words from the Bhagavad Gita as he
witnessed the detonation of the first atomic bomb during the Trinity test deep
in the New Mexican desert in 1945.
In
retrospect, Oppenheimer was too hard on himself. In practice, our automobiles,
coal-fired power plants and, more broadly, what Pope Francis terms our "throwaway
culture" have proven to be more destructive than our arsenals of
nuclear weapons.
Today,
we live under the shadow of a man-made existential threat of global proportions
- climate change. But climate change is only one piece of a larger
set of ecological, economic and social crises simultaneously facing humanity.
Later
this year, Pope Francis will release an encyclical
on ecology addressing climate change, other abuses of the environment
and their impact on the poor. The encyclical's release is intended to influence
international negotiations on emissions reductions being held at the end of the
year in Paris, and will occur before he delivers an address to world leaders at
the United Nations in September that will emphasize the urgent need for
agreement - and action.
Given
its subject matter, it is not surprising that the encyclical has already
sparked heated debate, with conservative Catholics, particularly in the United
States, expressing concerns about Francis's embrace of what they perceive to be
a radical environmentalist agenda. This, however, misses the true significance
of the encyclical - namely, its place within the broader context of Francis's
papacy and his understanding of the unique and decisive role that the Catholic
Church must play in safely navigating the precipice of the present.
The
encyclical will doubtless be far more radical and ambitious than its critics
fear, or its friends imagine.
In
this regard, the Church's key insight is that the seemingly separate social,
economic and environmental crises of modernity are related expressions of a
deeper spiritual problem. As Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI stated, "[t]he relationship between individuals
or communities and the environment ultimately stems from their relationship
with God." Today, that relationship is broken. This rupture "provokes
a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created
order."
"A
curse devours the earth"
Humanity's
turn away from God has thrown its other relationships into disorder. This is
particularly evident with respect to the environment. Today, we are bringing
the vision of the Prophet Isaiah into reality:
"The
earth is polluted because of its inhabitants, for they have transgressed laws,
violated statutes, broken the ancient covenant. Therefore a curse devours the
earth, and its inhabitants pay for their guilt." (Isaiah 24:5-6)
Human
behavior is having a devastating impact on the natural world. An economy that
kills also displays ecocidal tendencies. As Pope Francis has
observed, the "greedy exploitation of environmental resources" is
destroying ecosystems without concern for the long-term consequences or the
needs of future generations. Our throwaway culture is filling the oceans with
refuse - one of the largest human artefacts in the world is an immense garbage
patch adrift in the Pacific Ocean. And our behavior is fuelling a new mass
extinction that threatens to cut a swath through the biological diversity of
the planet.
Among
all these things, however, nothing is more controversial, or potentially more
catastrophic, than climate change.
Within
the scientific community, there is broad agreement that the world is warming,
that human activity plays a significant role, and that this process poses a
danger to our species. According to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) report, "[i]t is extremely likely that human
influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mind-20th century."
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences agrees, as does every other major scientific
academy or organization. Indeed, the so-called "debate" on climate
change is almost exclusively confined to commentary by non-experts - it is
absent from the peer-reviewed literature.
It
is difficult to overstate the severity of the threat we are facing. The gravity
of the danger was made plain last year by both the IPCC and the National
Climate Assessment in the United States. According
to the IPCC, our refusal to curb greenhouse gas emissions has created a
risk of "severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and
ecosystems" on a global scale.
For
many years, scientists have identified warming of 2Co above
preindustrial levels as a significant red line. Much of the international
effort to curb emissions has been focused on keeping temperature increases
below this threshold. Today, the world has already warmed by about 1Co.
In order to stay below the red line, most of the world's known reserves of oil,
natural gas and coal must remain exactly where they are - buried in the ground.
The
Paris negotiations Pope Francis is seeking to influence by means of his
forthcoming encyclical represent the last chance for the international
community to agree on meaningful emissions reductions. If the Paris talks fail,
then the world may be headed for warming of 3Co or more by the
end of the century.
Uncertainty
lurks beyond the 2Co red line. Indeed, there is evidence that
we may be systematically underestimating
the severity of the threat posed by even 2Co of
warming - after all, complex natural systems do not follow neat linear
equations. However, at a minimum, crossing the red line will result in
significant sea-level rise, disruptions to existing weather patterns, more
frequent extreme droughts, more powerful storms, the collapse of coral reefs
and other ecosystems, the extinction of many species, and even disease
pandemics. As a practical matter, these impacts - the plagues of fires, famines
and floods - will destabilize societies and impose potentially severe economic
and social costs. In an extreme worst-case scenario, they might even be
catastrophic, bringing an end to civilization itself.
These
costs, at least initially, will be disproportionately borne by the world's
poor, who have contributed the least to the crisis, because they are
concentrated in more vulnerable marginal areas and in less resilient nations.
Longer term, however, the great weight of the burden for our actions will fall
upon another group of innocents - future generations.
Human
ecology: A revolution of the heart
Addressing
climate change is a moral imperative, and the success of the Paris negotiations
to establish an international treaty placing curbs on emissions is, in the
words of Pope
Francis, "a grave ethical and moral responsibility." However, as
other commentators have noted with respect to reducing emissions, there is a
vast difference between doing something, and doing enough.
If,
however as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI taught in Caritas
in Veritate, "[t]he deterioration of nature is in fact closely
connected to the culture that shapes human existence," then only pursuing
technical solutions (such as emissions caps, carbon credits, improving
efficiency and investments in renewable energy) is a flawed approach because
such solutions leave the ambient culture unchanged. The world, for all intents
and purposes, simply carries on as before - albeit in a cleaner and slightly
more sustainable way.
To
believe that this is a possible solution is to harbor a dangerous delusion. It
is akin to treating a symptom rather than the disease. In truth, technology has
become just another false messiah promising deliverance; but it cannot save us
from ourselves. Neither can environmentalism. Thus, we can say that technical
solutions, such as the emissions reductions being pursued in Paris, are essential but inadequate responses
to the crisis - they are elements of a more comprehensive solution, not the
solution themselves.
Real
reform requires digging down to the roots of the problem, and those roots lay
buried in our hearts. This, I suspect, is exactly what Pope Francis will do. He
recognizes that the illness is spiritual in nature, and so must be its cure.
This should not surprise us - after all, he is writing an encyclical, not a
policy paper for an NGO.
In
order to avoid the looming catastrophe facing our planet, insists Benedict, we
must reform "the very
foundations of our culture" and change the "overall
moral tenor of [our] society." Helpfully, the Church has already
identified these foundations for us: greed, selfishness, indifference,
utilitarianism and what Pope
Francis has described as an exploitative "economic system centred
on the god of money" that "needs to plunder nature to sustain the
frenetic rhythm of consumption that is inherent to it."
Such
sweeping reform is inconceivable without a revolution of the heart. In this
regard, there is nothing more subversive to the powers and principalities of
this world than Matthew 25:31-46 and the Beatitudes. And there is no program
more revolutionary than the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. This is the
context of Pope Francis's forthcoming encyclical and his papacy - he is
detonating what Peter
Maurin once termed the "dynamite" of the Church.
It
will take a revolution of the heart in order for us to grasp that the "goods
of creation belong to humanity as a whole" and that "every
economic decision has a moral consequence." It will take a revolution
of the heart in order for us to develop the sense of fraternity and solidarity
with the poor and future generations that is required to heed the call issued
by the Synod of Bishops in 1971, to "accept a less material way of life,
with less waste." It will take a revolution of the heart in order for us
to find the moral courage to live out Pope
St. John Paul II's challenge to adopt an ethic of "simplicity,
moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, [as] part of
everyday life." It will take a revolution of the heart in order for us to
recognize that our waste and excessive consumption is akin to theft from the
poor. It will take a revolution of the heart in order for us to welcome the
stranger that arrives at our door fleeing conflicts exacerbated by climate
change. It will take a revolution of the heart in order for us to see that
contempt for human beings marches in lock step with contempt for nature, and
that a world marred by abortion will bear the physical scars of pollution and
exploitation as well. It will take a revolution of the heart in order for us to
experience the abuse of creation as Pope
Francis does - like the pain caused by an illness or injury. And it
will take a revolution of the heart in order for us to become faithful stewards
tending the gift of creation for the common good of all humanity.
Love
militates against dissembling. Without penitence and faith, such a revolution
of the heart is impossible. Faith is the foundation of an authentic human
ecology, and an authentic human ecology is essential for a revolution of the
heart that protects creation by transforming society. Only faith can bring
peace and healing to the world. Without faith, activists and reformers, no
matter how pure their intentions, labor in vain.
Our
choice
Our
tragedy is that the one thing that can save us is something very few people are
willing to countenance. Many will cling to the dichotomies between secular and
sacred, public and private, even at the cost of the world. Others will say that
the Church's program is impractical, or that it is too difficult. But in the
words of Peter Maurin, we "have tried everything except Christianity. And
everything that [we] have tried has failed."
Today,
it is becoming apparent that the consequences of failure are enormous. Benedict
understood this and, in Caritas
in Veritate, explicitly linked the Church's efforts to care for
creation and develop a human ecology with its duty to "protect mankind
from self-destruction." As a result, our understanding of failure must be
framed in eschatological terms.
Of
course, God does not will the apocalypse - humanity chooses it. And we choose
it by rejecting God. Waves of disorder radiate out from this decision, throwing
all our other relationships - with the economy, with society, with creation -
into disarray. The chaos escalates in intensity, becoming progressively more
violent and destructive, "and then the end will come" (Matthew
24:14).
We
do not face a choice, but rather the choice,
and it cannot be put off. The two paths, "life and good, death and
evil" (Deuteronomy 30:15), are set out before us. Pope Francis's
encyclical cry for creation will be yet another reminder to humanity that we
will either emerge from the ordeal of modernity with our faith renewed, or we
will not emerge at all.
—Michael Stafford
Michael Stafford works as an attorney in Wilmington,
Delaware. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
This article previously appeared at ABC.