This week there was
a report that raised further concerns about global warming. A study
found that by 2047 the average country will experience temperatures
every year as hot as the hottest previous year on record. For some
countries, this will happen as early as 2020.
There is abundant
scientific evidence showing that man-made global warming is a very
grave problem. But a large fraction of the people in the US
population aren't scientifically literate. Many such people are a
lot more comfortable reading the Bible than reading the latest daily
update from www.sciencedaily.com.
But what if we could
find some passage in the Bible that helps with the fight against
global warming? That might help. It would do nothing to persuade
non-believers to reduce their carbon footprints, but it might help
persuade the orthodox to adopt a more green, low-carbon,
planet-friendly lifestyle.
So let's look for
such a passage, starting with the New Testament.
For this purpose we
must ignore all passages relating to eschatology or theology, as
there is no reason why any such passages would cause anyone to do
something such as refrain from buying an SUV or buy a smaller house
that uses less energy. The passages we should look for are those that
relate to morality or lifestyle.
What about the
famous adage: do unto others as you would have them do unto you?
This was stated in Matthew 7:12 as, “Therefore all things
whatsoever would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
This precept is known as the Golden Rule, and is found in one form or
another in the writings of several different religions.
Interpreted deeply
and with foresight, this moral rule would lead us to adapt a
lifestyle that helps reduce global warming. We would anticipate that
living an extravagant lifestyle helps increase global warming, which
will eventually cause great harm to our fellow man; so if we want to
do unto others as we would have them do unto us, we should live with
a lower carbon footprint. After all, if everyone were to live like
extravagant jet-setting millionaires with 4000 square foot houses,
the global warming problem would get much, much worse.
However, because
there is not a very simple and easy to understand relation between
living a carbon-intensive lifestyle and violating the Golden Rule, a
passage such as Matthew 7:12 isn't really what we are looking for,
which is a nice simple passage that will help people to live with a
lower carbon footprint.
But there is such a
passage in the Bible. In fact, there's one passage in the New
Testament, and another in the Old Testament.
The New Testament
passage is a statement by Jesus that is deeply antithetical to the
typical assumptions of the average American. The passage is Matthew
19:24, where Jesus says, “And again I say unto you, It is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God.”
This statement is,
of course, directly opposed to the thinking of the average US
citizen, who tends to believe that the most important thing in life
is to get rich.
What are the global
warming implications of Matthew 19:24? If people followed it, we
would not endure a stressful lifelong rat race struggling to end up
in life with a big house with two big gas-guzzling cars in the
garage. We would instead be happy living ecologically
friendly, low carbon, middle class lives, driving small cars, and
living in small homes or modest apartments. We would be like the happy green-living person shown below.
So Matthew 19:24
will serve as a good New Testament precept that helps fight global
warming. But what about the Old Testament? Can we find such a passage
there?
As it happens, there
is in the Old Testament a nice passage that can be quoted to help
fight global warming. It is an old precept that almost none of us
have followed, and almost all of us have forgotten about if we ever
learned it.
The passage is
Exodus 20:17, part of the Ten Commandments. In the King James Bible,
it is stated as follows (I'll use the American spelling of
'neighbor'):
Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox,
nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
The part about
coveting your neighbor's wife is not relevant to global warming, nor
is the archaic part about manservants, oxes, and asses. So we can
abridge this passage and state it as follows:
Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor's house … nor any thing that is thy
neighbor's.
Now this is
one heck of a potent precept to help fight global warming.
Think of it. Our
high-carbon consumption choices seem to largely derive from coveting
(that is, envying) the possessions of our fellow consumers. You see
on television that somebody else has got some slick new car or fancy
gadget, and you feel envy, thinking to yourself: I've got to have
that too. You hear or see that one of your friends or relatives has
acquired some big house with 2500 square feet or more, and you say to
yourself: I've got to have a house like that. They used to call
this “keeping up with the Joneses,” but it's all about coveting
the house or possessions of your neighbor.
But imagine if you
were to follow the biblical precept: “Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's house … nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.”
Then you would be perfectly happy living in some small little house
or apartment with a much lower carbon footprint. You would also not
feel envy at all when your Facebook friend posted an update that
included a picture of his big new gas-guzzling car. You would say to
yourself, “I'm perfectly happy taking the subway,” or “I'm
perfectly happy riding a bike,” or “I'm perfectly happy driving
that tiny little car of mine.”
So remember that
owning big houses and big cars may be part of the unofficial American
credo, but the Bible suggests a different lifestyle.
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