A couple of years ago, Dan and I were watching Jesus Camp (which needs its own separate review, and which I have neither the stamina nor the strength to review here…there are so many astonishingly appalling things said in that movie…I wouldn’t know where to begin!) when there was a scene of a mother and son sitting at a breakfast table.  This was a home schooling family (kudos to those who do this!).  The mother was quizzing her son about global warming.  “One popular thing to do in American politics is to note that the summers in the United States over the past few years have been very warm.  As a result, global warming must be real.  What’s wrong with this reasoning?”  Her son answers, “It’s only gone up 0.6 degrees.”  His mom answers, “Yeah, it’s not really a big problem, is it?”  “No,” says her son.

I will allow you to view the same clip, so you know what I’m talking about.  In particular, watch for the disparaging remarks made about those who believe otherwise.  There is no tolerance or kindness being taught here.  That’s what concerns me.  I don’t know the woman or her son, and I’m sure they’re nice people, but I would like to hear kindness and not spitefulness, if they’re touting themselves as Christians.  Isn’t that what Jesus would have wanted?  [Of course, I realize they’re saying these things in the comfort of their own home, but isn’t that where kindness starts?]

I’ve been flummoxed on this issue for a long time.  How did global warming become a religious issue?  I’ve read lots of angry letters from Christians who think those who believe in global warming are close to the burning flames of hell.  Why?  I don’t get it.  Scientists have studied oscillations both in the Arctic and Antarctic for some time now (as well as other areas), and have shown that drastic changes are occurring.  So what if they are temporary or long-lasting?  How does that affect your faith?  I’m not being antagonistic here; I really want to know.  I really, truly, do not understand the animosity toward science.  I think you can have both–faith and science.

On another note, before I get to the fantastic resource book I’ve highlighted above, I was just on Facebook and saw this as someone’s “status”: “I guess I’m racist.  I hate all the greenie’s [sic] (those who believe in global warming).”  Why, I want to ask.  What’s wrong with them?  I’m one of them.  And again, what does this have to do with faith?  [Because I happen to know the man is a Christian.]

About the book in the picture above–Making Kind Choices by Ingrid Newkirk.  I read it several years ago.  It’s written by the President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)–another hot topic for some people.  I don’t want to discuss PETA.  I do, however, want to say that this book meant something to me when I read it.  I had just finished John Robbins’s book The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Live and the World, that details among other things the horrible things that happen in the food industry, and how you, as a consumer, can work to alter our planet, one decision at a time.  Of course, he encourages vegetarianism, and after you read the book, you’ll be BEGGING to be a vegetarian.  After all, the pictures are enough to turn anyone’s stomach.

I’m not a vegetarian today, but I have cut out drastic portions of meat in our diet.  I use beans and grains more now.  I’ve discovered our local health food store.  I’ve discovered tempeh and seitan and tofu.  We’ve always eaten fruits and vegetables, but now I try to buy organic…and locally (as much as we can, because, as you know, MN winters are harsh to lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers).  I signed us up last summer for a CSA (community-sustained agriculture) delivery every week.  We received fresh vegetables and fruits, just picked and in season, along with a newsletter of recipes to try.  All in all, it was a great experience, but I think we can do better.  This year, we’re going to try to do it ourselves.  [I would highly recommend supporting a local CSA if you’ve never tried it; it really is fabulous!]

The issue is that kindness–in all areas–is important.  I think it’s innate in kids, and we teach them otherwise.  I will give you an example.  Dan and Liliana and I were on a walk the other day, and Liliana was wandering off the path to feel everything.  Imagine my delight.  I’m all about experiencing things.  I caught the next two events on camera.  In the first one, unbidden by me, she’s kissing the branches of a bush!  In the second, she’s trying to return a fallen piece of bark to a tree.

Back to the book.  Wow, I’m really getting off topic here, aren’t I?

You know, the whole being-green thing can seem overwhelming.  I know.  I’ve tried to focus on the things I can do.  The book provides lots of these ideas, along with lists of businesses who can help.  I’m talking down to the nitty-gritty of being kind to the earth we’re living in–choosing cleaning products, creating butterfly gardens, choosing candles, dealing kindly with mice (okay, this is stretching it for me!), treating your lawns, selecting cosmetics, choosing shoes (oh, stab me in the heart right now!), going organic, buying fair trade coffees, steering clear of circuses and marine parks (I don’t know if I can do this…see how hard this is?), investing in green companies, loving rescued animals, volunteering in the community.  The list goes on.

If you treat this book as a resource, then you’ll do fine.  No one can do it all.  But all of us can do at least one thing, don’t you think?

I’ll end with a section of a poem by Christina Rossetti, “To What Purpose This Waste?”  You can read the entire poem here.

And other eyes than ours
Were made to look on flowers,
Eyes of small birds and insects small:
The deep sun-blushing rose
Round which the prickles close
Opens her bosom to them all.
The tiniest living thing
That soars on feathered wing,
Or crawls among the long grass
Out of sight
Has just as good a right
To its appointed portion of delight
As any king.