Comments on: Environmental Stewardship and Virtue http://rustypritchard.com/2009/12/11/environmental-stewardship-and-virtue/ Creation, ecology and economics, families and communities Tue, 11 May 2010 05:30:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: rustypritchard http://rustypritchard.com/2009/12/11/environmental-stewardship-and-virtue/#comment-92 rustypritchard Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:54:45 +0000 http://rustypritchard.com/?p=176#comment-92 Aaron, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I am so entrained as an economist to look with approval on specialization, without considering the corrupting side-effects. But before that I was an ecologist, studying with H.T. Odum, one of the fathers of systems ecology, who taught his students to be rigorous generalists. I'm relearning from my children the joy of wanting to know how to do everything. They love to cook, to build things out of wood, to write poetry, to catch fish, to fight, and to sing. They're not disintegrated, yet. I guess our job as parents is to keep them from disintegrating! Aaron, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I am so entrained as an economist to look with approval on specialization, without considering the corrupting side-effects. But before that I was an ecologist, studying with H.T. Odum, one of the fathers of systems ecology, who taught his students to be rigorous generalists. I’m relearning from my children the joy of wanting to know how to do everything. They love to cook, to build things out of wood, to write poetry, to catch fish, to fight, and to sing. They’re not disintegrated, yet. I guess our job as parents is to keep them from disintegrating!

]]> By: Aaron James http://rustypritchard.com/2009/12/11/environmental-stewardship-and-virtue/#comment-91 Aaron James Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:52:28 +0000 http://rustypritchard.com/?p=176#comment-91 "The Ecological Crisis as a Crisis of Character" is the title of the first chapter of Wendel Berry's book, "The Unsettling Of America." In that chapter he argues that the disease of character is modern specialization. He notes that from the perspective of the social system there might be some advantages to specialization, but that with respect to the person it leads to fragmentation, to a deep disconnect from what we say and what we do. Specialization ultimately leads as well to the disintegration of communities: "What happens under the rule of specialization is that, though society becomes more and more intricate, it has less and less structure. It becomes more and more organized, but less and less orderly. The community disintegrates because it loses the necessary understandings, forms, and enactments of the relations between materials and processes, principles and actions, ideals and realities, past and present, present and future, men and women, body and spirit, city and country, civilization and wilderness, growth and decay, life and death--just as the individual character loses the sense of a responsible involvement in these relations. No longer does human life rise from the earth like a pyramid, broadly and considerately founded upon its sources. Now it scatters itself out in a reckless horizontal sprawl, like a disorderly city whose suburbs and pavements destroy the fields" (21). Specialization in this sense is very much a vice (if not a 'classical' one), because it trains us (little by little over long periods of time) to overlook or ignore the relations Berry names above, and this becomes, then, our settled habit of interpretation. This is one of the reasons why (I suspect) the ecological crisis is simply a non-issue for many Christians--we have been trained by modernity to ignore the connections between our bodies and the earth, and the earth and our communities; and we ignore these connections because (for all of our insistence to the contrary) we dis-integrate faith from life. And also why when we think of 'environmentalism' we tend to think of recycling, and not the reshaping of the very patterns that constitute our modern, environmentally-destructive life--patterns of life in the suburbs that require us to drive and have big, energy intensive homes, and so on. “The Ecological Crisis as a Crisis of Character” is the title of the first chapter of Wendel Berry’s book, “The Unsettling Of America.” In that chapter he argues that the disease of character is modern specialization. He notes that from the perspective of the social system there might be some advantages to specialization, but that with respect to the person it leads to fragmentation, to a deep disconnect from what we say and what we do. Specialization ultimately leads as well to the disintegration of communities: “What happens under the rule of specialization is that, though society becomes more and more intricate, it has less and less structure. It becomes more and more organized, but less and less orderly. The community disintegrates because it loses the necessary understandings, forms, and enactments of the relations between materials and processes, principles and actions, ideals and realities, past and present, present and future, men and women, body and spirit, city and country, civilization and wilderness, growth and decay, life and death–just as the individual character loses the sense of a responsible involvement in these relations. No longer does human life rise from the earth like a pyramid, broadly and considerately founded upon its sources. Now it scatters itself out in a reckless horizontal sprawl, like a disorderly city whose suburbs and pavements destroy the fields” (21).

Specialization in this sense is very much a vice (if not a ‘classical’ one), because it trains us (little by little over long periods of time) to overlook or ignore the relations Berry names above, and this becomes, then, our settled habit of interpretation. This is one of the reasons why (I suspect) the ecological crisis is simply a non-issue for many Christians–we have been trained by modernity to ignore the connections between our bodies and the earth, and the earth and our communities; and we ignore these connections because (for all of our insistence to the contrary) we dis-integrate faith from life. And also why when we think of ‘environmentalism’ we tend to think of recycling, and not the reshaping of the very patterns that constitute our modern, environmentally-destructive life–patterns of life in the suburbs that require us to drive and have big, energy intensive homes, and so on.

]]> By: rustypritchard http://rustypritchard.com/2009/12/11/environmental-stewardship-and-virtue/#comment-90 rustypritchard Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:03:58 +0000 http://rustypritchard.com/?p=176#comment-90 Amen, John. I like especially what you say about the health of families and communities, and I think if our policies were to emphasize these things, that we'd probably get healthier ecosystems as a side-effect. Amen, John. I like especially what you say about the health of families and communities, and I think if our policies were to emphasize these things, that we’d probably get healthier ecosystems as a side-effect.

]]> By: John Silvius http://rustypritchard.com/2009/12/11/environmental-stewardship-and-virtue/#comment-89 John Silvius Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:46:16 +0000 http://rustypritchard.com/?p=176#comment-89 Thanks, Rusty, for your thoughts on the importance of character development and virtues that ought to be the focus of developing our character. In my estimation, your focus on virtues is extremely pertinent to the progress of biblical environmental stewardship. As we depend upon science and the media to inform us of environmental issues, it is easy to adopt the views of those who speak the loudest or are the most widely published. Often, we become, as you noted, "either uncritically accepting or unreasonably dismissive of claims of environmental crisis." We fall into the trend toward "groupthink" and our focus is upon keeping our oar in rhythm others who are "rowing the boat" either with the current or against it. But, as I reflect on your blog, I believe that the health of our democratic society and the resultant proper care of creation depend upon each of us taking individual responsibility first to regularly examine our own character and values, and to pray for discernment during times of meditation in both the Scriptural revelation and the natural revelation. A culture that learns to exercise environmental stewardship would seem to depend upon the leadership and example of individuals who have the strength of character to "use their oar" in a rhythm that is different from the group if necessary-- rowing in such a way that reflects a heart of discernment based on careful examination of both the scientific data (how the world works) and the ethical principles (what ought to be). Such leadership would resist the temptation to support policy that simply grabs for more power or a larger constituency of supportive voters. Instead, virtuous leadership recommends what is best for both our culture and for the Earth; and, would press for policies that encourage the development of character qualities and the virtues of temperance and prudence that are fundamental to spiritual and physical health, the health of families and communities, and along with these, healthy ecosystems. Thanks, Rusty, for your thoughts on the importance of character development and virtues that ought to be the focus of developing our character. In my estimation, your focus on virtues is extremely pertinent to the progress of biblical environmental stewardship. As we depend upon science and the media to inform us of environmental issues, it is easy to adopt the views of those who speak the loudest or are the most widely published. Often, we become, as you noted, “either uncritically accepting or unreasonably dismissive of claims of environmental crisis.” We fall into the trend toward “groupthink” and our focus is upon keeping our oar in rhythm others who are “rowing the boat” either with the current or against it.

But, as I reflect on your blog, I believe that the health of our democratic society and the resultant proper care of creation depend upon each of us taking individual responsibility first to regularly examine our own character and values, and to pray for discernment during times of meditation in both the Scriptural revelation and the natural revelation. A culture that learns to exercise environmental stewardship would seem to depend upon the leadership and example of individuals who have the strength of character to “use their oar” in a rhythm that is different from the group if necessary– rowing in such a way that reflects a heart of discernment based on careful examination of both the scientific data (how the world works) and the ethical principles (what ought to be). Such leadership would resist the temptation to support policy that simply grabs for more power or a larger constituency of supportive voters. Instead, virtuous leadership recommends what is best for both our culture and for the Earth; and, would press for policies that encourage the development of character qualities and the virtues of temperance and prudence that are fundamental to spiritual and physical health, the health of families and communities, and along with these, healthy ecosystems.

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