Sallie McFague Speaks at the University of Calgary

Humans urged to respect our planet
Change sense of entitlement, says theologian

GRAEME MORTON
Calgary Herald

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Canadians need to change the lightbulbs inside their minds as well
as those in their homes and churches when it comes to a new spiritual
approach to the environment.

Sallie McFague, distinguished theologian in residence at the
Vancouver School of Theology and the author of a number of books on
religion and ecology, is calling for a profound shift in the way
humans view our place in the natural world.

McFague will be in Calgary on Monday and Tuesday to deliver the
University of Calgary's Iwaasa Lectures in Christian Spirituality.

"The heart of the question is who do we think we are in the scheme
of things, and what do we have the right to do?" says McFague.

She notes while global warming and climate change are scientific
and economic issues, they are also deeply theological debates.

"Religions have traditionally been involved in helping to form the
basic assumptions about who we are and what we ought to be doing,"
McFague reasons. "In our market-driven system, we have the view that
we are individuals who deserve to get everything we can legally get
hold of without worrying too much about other people."

McFague says scientific research is painting a different scenario:
that we can't continue on our present course without destroying other
life forms.

"Sharing is not just a warm, fuzzy word; radical interdependence is
the law of the universe in terms of a just and sustainable living
situation."

McFague says changing such entrenched assumptions of individual
entitlement won't be easy, but people of faith can play an important
role.

"If we think of ourselves as the only 'subject' and the rest of the
world as an 'object,' then you look at a forest first as so many
board-feet of lumber -- it becomes merely a resource," she says.

McFague says many mainline Christian denominations have been
primarily inward-looking in recent years, focusing on issues such as
declining membership and sexuality.

But she senses a significant shift in the wake of the work of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore in bringing
global warming to the public's collective radar screen.

"It's a time of great openness and possibility for much more
serious analysis and action. Global warming is not a cosmetic issue;
this is very basic stuff for our survival," says McFague.

McFague says individuals and congregations doing green surveys of
their lives and facilities is a good first step in focusing on
climate change.

"It helps them raise their consciousness and embrace a different
attitude," McFague says. "But people realize pretty quickly that
personal changes are not enough. It doesn't matter how many times you
ride the bus if there aren't large systemic, political changes."

Rev. Meg Roberts of the Unitarian Church of Calgary says world
religions share common values of respect for other beings and for the
earth itself.

"To call us back to that foundation gives us inspiration," says
Roberts. "Both faith communities and environmental groups can offer
support to each other; that you're not alone when you despair over
the size of the challenge ahead of us.

"We all have to remember faith and values are connected to the
economic and political systems," Roberts says.

McFague's latest book, A New Climate for Theology: God, the World
and Global Warming, is due out in May.

gmorton@theherald.canwest.com© The Calgary Herald 2008