ISBN: 9781933392011 Year Added to Catalog: 2006 Book Format: Hardcover Book Art: Index Number of Pages: 6 x 9, 232 pages Book Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Old ISBN: 1933392010 Release Date: April 27, 2006 Web Product ID: 289
In 15 years as an emergency room doctor, I saw thousands of patients. I gave each one the very best care I could. But there were some patients I could never get out of my mind. You could say they’ve haunted me. Almost every day I think about one little girl I met early in my medical training. It was a “triple H” summer day: hot, hazy and humid. “Elderly people and people with illnesses should stay indoors,” the TV weatherman had warned that morning. A few hours later, I started my shift in the pediatric ER at a big city hospital.
A rescue unit radioed ahead to tell us that they were on their way. “Eight-year-old female. Severe asthma attack,” the EMT said. In the small area reserved for asthma cases, there were already 15 children—and only eight beds. A nurse prepped the trauma room for the arrival.
The ambulance crew burst through the ER’s double doors with the patient. A paramedic transferred the little girl to a trauma gurney and quickly put a mask over her mouth and nose to force air into her lungs from an Ambu bag. Her airways were so tight it was nearly impossible to compress the bag. “Matthew,” the team leader called to me, “go ahead and intubate.”
I glanced at the paperwork. The girl’s name was Etta. She and her brother had gone to their neighborhood playground to run through a sprinkler and cool off. But as soon as she started to exert herself, she had the attack. “Etta,” I whispered, leaning down so I could look right into her frightened eyes, “I’m Dr. Matt. I’m going to put a tube in your mouth and get you breathing right.” Her left hand rested in mine. I felt a weak squeeze. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, sweetheart,” I promised.
“Quiet!” the team leader yelled. He held his stethoscope to Etta’s chest. “Give her a breath, Matthew.” I squeezed down on the bag. Etta had on a bright green bathing suit. On its front was a smiling appliquéd whale, blowing a spout of water. I wanted to watch that whale lift up as soon as I forced air into her lungs. But the whale stayed put. Despite the intubation and the efforts of the whole pediatric emergency department, Etta died. I had broken my promise to her.
It took a long time before I grasped what had killed Etta: air pollution. Her asthma was probably controllable otherwise. By then, I ran an ER in a small seaside town in New England. I imagined the air there was as clean as you’d find anywhere. But something was terribly wrong. I read up on the statistics. A single power plant in Massachusetts caused 1,200 ER visits, 3,000 asthma attacks and 110 deaths a year. In my own small community, more and more people were coming to the emergency room with asthma and other chronic illnesses. Despite all our advances in medicine, my patients were sicker than ever. And I wasn’t doing enough to help them.
One night, although I was drained after a 24-hour shift, I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned. I couldn’t get the patients I’d seen that day out of my mind. My thoughts shifted back more than a decade, to Etta. “Matthew, what’s wrong?” my wife, Nancy, asked.
“All this asthma and chronic disease,” I said. “It’s not the patients. It’s the environment. The air we breathe is making us sick.”
I needed guidance. I found myself praying more intensely than ever. I thought about the Psalms, where I’d read, as a child, that God makes the rain fall, that he hears the cry of a hungry blackbird. That he sends the snow and wind, and knows each star by name. One of my greatest joys as a dad is going outside at night with my kids, Clark and Emma, and looking at the stars with them. I pray that they’ll be able to share that joy with their children someday. But I know that bright starry skies—and fewer cases of asthma—will only be seen in the future if the air is less polluted. Lord, how can I do more to help people? I prayed. How can I be a better servant? The answer surprised me: I had to start looking at the planet as though it were my patient too. To be a good doctor, I had to be a good steward.
WEIGH IN.
The first step in treating my new patient planet Earth, was for me to take more responsibility for the way I lived. When my patients go on diets to improve their health, we start with a weigh-in. So my family started with a weigh-in too: an energy audit. We had a big house and a couple of nice cars, but I thought we were pretty “green.”
We weren’t. Looking at our most recent electricity, oil and gas bills and adding the quantities of gasoline we used in our cars and other means of transportation to calculate our usage, we were shocked by what we discovered. The average Italian household uses about 1,800 gallons of gas a year. The average American household uses 4,483 gallons a year. My family wasn’t using much less. We needed to make some basic changes as energy consumers.
KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Learning how much energy our family used came as a surprise. But just as big a surprise was the realization that green values weren’t anything new. In a way, I grew up with those values on a Maryland farm, surrounded by fields and low rolling hills that seemed to go on forever. I can still summon up the blissful feeling of lying in the cool, soft grass and looking up to watch birds flying south overhead in the fall. Life’s pleasures were simple, but deep. So was my grandmother’s advice: Whenever I said I wanted to buy something—a new toy, usually—she’d urge me to wait a month. “By the end,” she predicted, “you’ll have forgotten it, or you’ll no longer want it.” She was right. I didn’t think of Grandma as an environmentalist (I didn’t know what the word meant back then), but she understood one of the core values of stewardship: Surrounding ourselves with stuff we don’t need wastes the planet’s resources and doesn’t make us any happier.
Our audit made it clear: We had too much stuff. We hardly ever used most of the long-forgotten sporting goods, outgrown clothing, hastily purchased cleaning products and electric gadgets around us—and all of it could wind up in a landfill someday. We matched up many of these things with people who would use them. We gave away more than half of what we owned, and we don’t miss a thing. Now, whenever I’m tempted to buy something, I wait a month, just like Grandma suggested. I also ask myself: “Will buying this bring me closer to God?” The answer is usually, no.
Does a family of four need 3,500 square feet and four bathrooms? I wondered. Our audit prompted us to move into a place less than half the size. We had reservations: What about comfort and privacy? Turns out, living in closer quarters has made our family closer. While Nancy grades essays at the kitchen table, I read and the kids do homework. Quietly, but together. Huge living spaces literally keep people apart. Simplifying means having and wanting less. It doesn’t mean feeling dissatisfied or unfulfilled. My greatest treasures—my family, my faith—are not my possessions. Real treasures don’t rust or rack up credit card debt.
CUT BACK.
Next, we looked for ways to cut back on fuel consumption. Finding the most energy-efficient appliances helped. So did switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones. The whole family got into the habit of turning off the lights whenever we left a room. You might not think that would make a difference, but it all adds up. Our electric bill—only twenty dollars a month—is proof. We were shocked to learn how much energy the dishwasher and dryer eat up. We wash dishes by hand now and hang laundry on a clothesline (not only does this use much less energy, it also makes our clothes last longer). Does this take more time? Of course. But when we do these chores as a family, they don’t feel like chores because they give us more time together.
REST UP.
I grew up with a “no work” Sabbath. I enjoyed it, and then I lost it. Today, I’ve reclaimed it. Sundays in our family are now reserved for rest, reflection and prayer. Nancy takes long prayer walks. Clark and Emma finish their homework the day before. We save so much energy—no last-minute trips to the store, no mad dashes to the movies —and we gain so much peace. When we, as a family, changed our habits, we wanted the environment to benefit. We didn’t realize how much we would benefit. Nancy and I came home from work recently and found Clark and Emma deep in conversation while hanging laundry. They don’t just take pride in their energy- saving duties; they also
ENJOY THEM.
My patients taught me that my work as a caregiver cannot stop at the ER doors. It has to extend to the Earth itself. We’re all connected, and the Earth is our common bond. Our actions, great and small, really can make a difference. If I can help make a cleaner, healthier world, it’s not just for me, my wife or my kids. It’s also for God. And for that eight-year-old girl whose hand I held in mine that summer day all those years ago.
Dalls-Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
by J. Matthew Sleeth
October 18, 2006
On Thursday, Texans will gather in front of the Governor's Mansion and throughout the state to pray about the issue of 17 new coal-burning power plants. This is not the first state to be struggling with foul air, but it may be the first to go to the Lord in prayer about it.
Why not decide this issue on the basis of statistics? Statistics have nothing to do with what makes us human.
In the final analysis, the question of whether to build the coal plants is not a logical one. It is a spiritual one. How many more mountains full of coal should we level in order to run our multiple televisions and refrigerators?
Thursday's statewide prayer vigil will include some prayer veterans; others might be praying for the first time in years -- or ever. Individuals who care about God's earth no longer fit into convenient compartments -- Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. What they share is a common concern for their neighbors.
Power plants come with an unavoidable side effect: pollution. It does not respect demographic boundaries. Diseases caused by breathing smog befall rich and poor, white and black, believers and nonbelievers. When the Rev. Billy Graham says, "The possibility of destroying ourselves and the world with our own neglect and excess is tragic and very real," he speaks a warning to all mankind.
As a physician and an evangelical Christian, I would like to offer some thoughts for those who will be praying about the coal plants. God listens to our prayers. God wants us to approach him with a humble and thankful heart.
We need to give thanks for everything that sustains us. Many of us say grace before we begin a meal, but how many of us give thanks at the gas pumps that we rely on to fuel our way of life? If we have not said a prayer of thanksgiving at the gas pump, is it because we feel entitled?
Both my head and my heart tell me that we should not build the dozens and dozens of coal plants that are being "fast-tracked" into production nationwide. The drive behind this unprecedented push is not to meet current demand, nor is it to meet the needs of the next decade. This rush to build coal-fired plants is motivated by the desire to "grandfather in" these plants before stricter emissions requirements go into effect.
As a physician, I have witnessed the rate of breast cancer soar from one in 19 to one in nine. I've seen increases in asthma and diseases exacerbated by the sea of chemicals in which we live. We cannot afford the human toll of looking only for cures -- we must prevent the causes of these maladies.
Which brings me to my last thought on prayer: The transforming power of prayer happens not when we try to change God but when we ask the Lord to change us.
The surest way to stop the building of power plants is to cut back on electricity usage. The politics of pollution are involved every time we leave a light switch or television on when we exit a room.
According to the U.S. government, if every household in the country changed its five most-used light bulbs to energy-efficient ones, 21 power plants could be shut down tomorrow. This would have the same effect as taking 8 million cars off the road, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases dumped into the air by 1 trillion pounds annually, and would save 4,000 lives.
Jesus left us with the commandment that we love one another. Two thousand years ago, his followers gave their lives in the most gruesome ways to demonstrate their love for others. If I cannot change light bulbs or even pray for others, am I worthy of his mercy?
Christians and non-Christians alike should attend the upcoming prayer vigils on coal-fired plants. But don't just pray that others will change -- pray that your own heart will be moved. Then you will not only be talking but acting on your love.
Atlanta Journal Constitution
J. Matthew Sleeth
July 29, 2006
"What do you make of Al Gore's movie?" I've been asked. "Is 'An Inconvenient Truth' a political ploy? Unproven science? Another Y2K scare?" Last night I saw the movie and can now answer a few of those questions. But first, a disclosure: I'm a born-again evangelical Christian, as well as a physician and a scientist who believes that Christ truly walked on water.
As a scientist, I agree with Gore's conclusions about the causes and effects of global warming. The Earth is heating up. As a result, we will face more heat waves, hurricanes, droughts, flooding and severe weather. Gore's travels to obtain first-hand information require massive resources; however, all of us have two free sources of data available that will confirm his findings --- our own memories of decades' worth of summers and winters, and the experiences of others. No one I've spoken to can find a single person who claims that their town, city, or country is becoming cooler. No one.
People of faith have another reason to accept the signs of global warming. This reason supersedes personal, economic and political considerations. We are charged with spreading the good news of the Gospel. We who identify ourselves as evangelicals hold this commissioning near and dear. It is how and why we got our title.
History teaches Christendom the cost of denying scientific truth. At one time, the church clung to a false belief that the Earth was the center of the celestial movements. We do not wish to add "remember Christians denying global warming" to "remember the church's persecution of Galileo."
Moreover, the Bible repeatedly tells us that the Earth belongs to the Lord,and that we are to love what God loves --- including all of his creation. God specifically commands: "You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell."
Gore is correct in saying that caring for the Earth is a moral issue, but morality alone will not save us. First, we must serve God.
Without God, the needle of the moral compass always comes to rest in a self-serving direction. History is replete with moral causes gone awry --- such as the French and Russian revolutions --- because their leaders lacked God.
Before I learned this lesson, I considered myself an ardent environmentalist. I lectured everyone I met about their ecological footprint; I knew the companies, politicians and neighbors who were guilty of environmental damage. But when God was added to my life, I saw my own sin, hypocrisy, and failings. I had to re-examine every truth I had held.
Before I turned to God, I could justify a big house, car trips and vacations. Like other environmentalists, I biked down mountains and canoed from lake to lake so that I could "get in touch with nature," conveniently forgetting that my bike was ripping up natural habitats and my canoe was introducing dangerous, non-native microorganisms to the water. I could justify trips to the barrier islands for their educational value, or a vacation to a foreign country to broaden my cultural experiences. Only when I added God to morality did I see my poor, imprisoned and hungry neighbors all over the globe. I had to answer the question: "Are my wants more important than my neighbor's needs?"
God gave our family the power to go from awareness to meaningful changes. We moved to a smaller house, cut our electrical use by three-quarters, and reduced our fossil fuel use by two-thirds. We've gone from two barrels of trash a week to one a month. We are the poster family for the downwardly mobile.
It's about changing hearts
What we have gained, however, is a life richer in meaning than I could have imagined. Spiritual concerns have filled the void left by material ones. Owning fewer things has resulted in things no longer owning us.
Future generations cannot register our good intentions --- only the consequences of our actions.
I no longer try to change people's minds. Now I hope to change their hearts. When I share my message, people tell me that they are biking to work now, taking Sundays off, changing the lightbulbs in their houses, planting trees and exchanging the family van for a smaller car.
Politics, science and education all will be needed if we are to pass on a wholesome planet to our children's children. But if those who wish to save the planet do not enlist the aid of God, I see little hope.
God and religion can be powerful forces for change. In a self-centered society that says "you can have it all," the church is the only remaining institution that tells us not to live only for ourselves. It is the place where hundreds of millions of Americans gather regularly to mix God and morality. If any politician ignores this, they do so at all of our peril. And that's the truth.
We consider physical work ‘undignified,’ but at what cost to our health and spiritual well-being?
Beliefnet
By J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D.
June 28, 2006
Many of us have built lives in which we have neither rest nor work. Our jobs do not stress our muscles and joints. Our rest is a series of events in which we give our minds over to machines such as televisions, computers, and DVD players. We use machines to chop vegetables, brush teeth, wash our dishes, and record our thoughts. But what is the cost of saving ourselves work?
All laborsaving devices use electricity or gasoline, cost money, produce heat, and make noise. Why do we love them so? What happens when we stop using a manual lawn mower? The non-motorized variety is inexpensive and quiet and uses no fossil fuels. The push mower requires us to exert energy; thus, we obtain exercise and become healthier. By its very nature, the manual mower dictates a reasonably sized lawn. What happens when we decide to save labor and purchase a gas-powered lawn mower? It spews out poisonous fumes, which we inhale. The mower is loud and damages our hearing; mowing our lawn requires little effort, and our muscles atrophy.
Reason, restraint, and the virtue of temperance disappear. Our lawns grow to a size associated with a few megalomaniac old-world monarchs. We laze, sleep, eat, and drink more. Finally, when we gain too much weight, we drive a two-ton vehicle to a health club where we can pay to work against the resistance of a machine. Why not just back up and push our own mower?
Physical work gives us health and meaning. While the disciples sailed, Jesus walked across the Sea of Galilee to meet them. He picked grain. He washed his disciples’ feet. Work was not beneath him. He thought no physical labor was undignified. The washing of feet is a sign that God is willing to stoop low and to work to save us. For millennia, men and women have used simple manual labor as a way to connect with the divine qualities of Jesus.
We have unconsciously taken work out of our lives. If we want work back, we’re going to have to consciously reinstate it. Let’s use drying clothes as an example. The standard electric dryer consumes energy at a rate of 5000 watts, meaning that it takes five kilowatt-hours of energy to do one load of laundry. If your family dries one load of laundry a day using an electric dryer, you use 150 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. Back at the power plant, one ton of poisonous gases are created each year to run your family’s dryer.
When our family initially stopped using a clothes dryer, we did so because we no longer wanted to produce poisonous gases. Now, we live in a house with no dryer. Clothing dried in a machine lasts only half as long as line-dried garments. The "lint" you pull out of the trap consists of fibers shredded off your clothing. Now we save money, have clothes that last longer, and aren’t polluting as much. But those benefits are the minor benefits. What we discovered was the dignity of work, and the spiritual fruits of doing it in a monastic manner. What do I mean by this?
St. Anthony is cited as starting the monastic way of life in AD 270. He sold his belongings, gave the money to the poor, lived alone, read the Bible, and did manual labor. He did this in order to grow spiritually. When I hang the laundry, I make it a spiritual event. I pray, talk to God, and sing gospel songs. I pair a minor physical task that requires little thinking with a dialogue with the Creator of the universe. I may occasionally resent hanging laundry, but how can I regret time spent with God? The same goes for shoveling snow, hand-washing dishes, chopping vegetables, or biking to the post office.
All honest work can be done for the glory of God. As time passes and we grow in our understanding of God and the uniqueness of this planet, we reject more and more "laborsaving" machines. There is an old saying: If you are troubled, chop wood and carry water. This is wise advice. If you pray at the same time, so much the better. Begin to build an hour of work into your daily life. The result will be more life in your day. The flip side of work is rest. God commands all of us to take a day of rest each week, but how many of us take his advice? Imagine you’re at work on a busy day. You haven’t had a break all morning, and then your boss walks up and says, "I want you to take off the rest of the day."
"Are you sure?" you reply. "It’s pretty busy. Have you got someone to take my place?" you ask hesitantly.
"Don’t worry," the boss answers. "I’ll cover things for you."
"Are you sure?" you ask. "Because I can stay a while."
"No," the boss says, "I just want you to take the day off and relax."
You gather up your things and hurry out. As you exit the door, your boss calls to you. You knew this was too good to be true. "Just one more thing," he says.
You turn and reply, "What?"
"I want you to know that it’s not just today I’m talking about. I want you to take this day off every week. There’s only one condition," he adds.
Your stomach tenses. "What?" you query.
"I’ll give you this day off permanently. Just promise me you won’t work, not even around your house. Okay?"
You take a full nanosecond to think this through. "No problem! You’ve got a deal!" you shout as you head home to relax.
How many of us have a boss this generous? How many would turn down such an offer? We may not have a CEO this considerate, but our God is.
One of our country's greatest problems is our dependence on foreign oil. And despite what many think, global warming may not be the most harmful outcome of our oil habit. When people's lives become dependent on a substance, we call that addiction. The addictive potential of a substance does not necessarily correlate to the "high" it delivers. A more accurate way to judge addictive potential is to see how willing someone is to go without the substance, or how painful life becomes when it is suddenly withdrawn.
When we are addicted to something, we tend to start denying or overlooking things. We fail to question its side effects. We are willing to lower our standards. No one wants a drug dealer for a neighbor—unless, of course, you're an addict.
I'm a physician, and I'm an evangelical Christian, so I'm interested in the moral implications of our fossil fuel dependence as well as its health effects. What does devoting so much of our lives to obtaining and delivering oil do to us as a country and as individuals? The U.S. now sends more than two hundred billion dollars a year to distant lands in exchange for oil. That means that every man, woman, and child in America is sending about $700 a year to foreign countries just to feed our oil habit. One of those recipients officially forbids religious freedom. Its constitution mandates that the earth is flat. It declares democracy a capital crime. And this country is a major, not a minor, supplier of U.S. oil.
Ours is not the first generation to be morally blinded by building a lifestyle based upon energy from foreign shores. Slavery was the importation of cheap energy without regard to its moral cost. States that initially forbid slave energy, such as Georgia, eventually sanctioned it out of envy of the material wealth of their neighbors.
Upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, President Lincoln was purported to have said that it was nice to meet the woman who started the Civil War. Stowe's father was among the evangelical ministers who preached the cause of abolition. Other preachers penned eloquent pro-slavery sermons. The church, like the country, found itself split by the slavery controversy. How could church leaders come to such different conclusions while reading the same Bible? Can we draw lessons from this defining moment in our history, or are we doomed to repeat it?
The Golden Rule (do unto others as you wish others to do to you) allows us to see the moral side of the environmental issue. God and history teach us that we must love those least able to defend themselves, which includes the unborn generations of tomorrow.
I am not a political leader, but I do vigorously lobby for one special interest group. This group is neither liberal nor conservative. Its members can neither vote nor advocate. Their budget is zero, but their numbers are gigantic. I am speaking of "The Little Children of the World," described in my favorite Sunday school song.
Who will speak for these children, and generations yet unborn? Who will deal with the moral implications of our energy habit? Whoever it is, irrespective of party affiliation, most assuredly deserves our votes, and our prayers.
Dr. Sleeth is a guest blogger and a proud representative of the religious left.
The news of Greenland’s melting icecap is the latest in a long list of scientific warnings. In 1992, hundreds of the world’s leading scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates, signed a joint declaration titled “The World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” These 1,600 scientists accurately predicted the magnitude of global warming, species extinction, and destruction of the earth’s complex ecosystems. Their words went largely unheard and unheeded.
Fourteen years later, these predictions are becoming more and more evident and alarming. The earth is ill. It is literally running a fever. Global warming can be seen, felt, and heard by all of us, including the one billion people added to the earth’s population since 1992. In the past year a catastrophe occurred that should have galvanized all into action: the virtual destruction of New Orleans.
Incredibly, some smug self-interest groups dismissed the loss as unrelated to rising sea levels and global warming, rationalizing that New Orleans’ flooding was a fluke because it was built right on the ocean, below sea level, and it had lost most of its barrier islands. But a quick look at America’s prime real estate brings home a sobering fact: from Miami to New York City, dozens of cities are built on the ocean, their infrastructure is below sea level, and few have any barrier islands.
Recently, scientists tolled a new warning: the Greenland ice sheet is melting at double its previous rate. As a result, a volume of water equivalent to Lake Erie is being added to the North Atlantic annually. All mankind appears to be marching double time toward the edge of a cliff, blindfolded.
Now a group of Christians has issued a statement, “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action.” This declaration makes four fundamental points:
First, “Human-induced climate change is real.... Evangelicals must engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or humanity’s responsibility to address it.”
Second, “The consequences of climate change will be significant, and will hit the poorest hardest.” Millions of them will die as a result.
Third, Christians are commanded by God to care for each other and the planet. “Love of God, love of neighbor, and the demands of stewardship are more than enough reason for evangelical Christians to respond to the climate change problem with moral passion and concrete action.” Our responsibility for life is non-negotiable.
Fourth, the need for action is urgent. Governments, businesses, churches, and individuals must act now to reduce the burning of fossil fuels that are “the primary cause of human-induced climate change.”
The declaration is signed by 86 church leaders, including Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose-Driven Life"; Duane Litfin, President of Wheaton College; and Todd Bassett, National Commander of the Salvation Army. This group is not easy to ignore, but neither were those scientists who signed the warning in 1992. Do they have a prayer of succeeding in an arena where so many have failed?
I believe that they do. The light of hope can be seen in the statement’s conclusion. It declares, “We the undersigned pledge to act.” Rhetoric, no matter how true or poetically stated, will not solve our global crisis. It failed those scientists in 1992. Why? Because they did not pledge personal action. They did not hold themselves personally accountable.
When a person puts the needs of others ahead of his own, and when his words align with his actions, we call that person a moral leader. When a group of these people acts in concert, without regard to personal gain, there is the promise of a movement. The force of a movement eventually leads to societal change. The members of the Evangelical Climate Initiative have begun a moral movement. For their movement to succeed, they and their organizations must take real steps to lower their environmental impact. They must hold themselves personally accountable to the world and to God.
Two thousand years ago, a small group of Christians faced hungry lions in order to carry out Jesus’ command to “love one another.” Today, Christians and our leaders are called to action again. We must change our ways of living to assume the responsibility our Savior asks of each of us. Using only efficient light bulbs, driving less, buying hybrid cars, moving to smaller homes, consuming less, and spreading the good word about how to live in harmony with all of God’s creation may seem like minor actions, too little too late, but if all of us pitch in instead of tuning out, there may still be time to save our planet and ourselves.
As a scientist, physician, voting American and evangelical Christian, I concur with the leaders’ closing plea, “In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we urge all who read this declaration to join us in the effort.”
By J. Matthew Sleeth, MD
Op-Ed, September 16, 2005
Hurricane Katrina has come, and raged, and passed. Our nation faces a moment as crucial as July 4, 1776; December 7, 1941; or September 11, 2001. We are at a crossroads and have vitally important decisions to make. As a physician, evangelical Christian, and environmental lecturer and writer, I would like to explore the events that led up to where we are and the roads that lie ahead.
On November 2, PBS will air a documentary filmed over the past two years and produced by Stonehaven Productions and South Carolina ETV. Global Warming–The Signs and Science predicts with chilling accuracy the sinking of New Orleans. But that is not all. Because of constantly rising sea levels and dramatic increases in air and water temperature, scientists predict more frequent and more intense severe weather. This will place population centers such as Miami, New York, London, and Baltimore at similar risk for storm surges and flooding. Vast areas of the American Southwest will simultaneously experience drought.
The majority of climate scientists and meteorologists worldwide agree that global warming is a fact, not a theory. Still, there are a few who say there is no problem, or that the problem needs more study. As a physician, I cannot help but think back to those few scientists who for decades declared that there was no connection between cigarette smoking and disease. We can see for ourselves that cities are consistently warmer than nearby rural areas, and 80 percent of our population lives in greater metropolitan areas. We burn trillions of gallons of fossil fuels yearly and we are cutting down the world’s forests. Riding in a plane, we can see the extent of mankind’s reworking of the planet. From the air and from the ground, an ominous haze hangs overhead. Denial of the obvious is as old as Adam, yet no less dangerous today.
In general we are not good at reading obvious signs. We live on Chestnut or Elm Street and do not question why the elms and chestnuts are extinct. We live in Caribou, Maine, but the caribou are no more. We demand homes and golf courses in places formerly named Dry Gulch or Death Valley. We fear drinking the water or eating the fish from nearby lakes and streams because they contain dioxin and mercury. We may deny these signs and our connection to the natural world, but that does not mean they are not real. I can pull from my bookshelf two editions of the same medical textbook published only twenty-two years apart (the thirteenth and seventeenth printings of the Merck Manual). The earlier edition says that a woman’s risk of breast cancer is 1 in 15. The recent one says it is 1 in 8. A correct response to this medical fact is not to build more cancer treatment centers, just as the right response to global warming is not to buy everyone an air conditioner. It is time to think long-term. It is time to talk about diverting disasters and preventing diseases.
No one, scientist or otherwise, can say exactly which hurricanes, droughts, or floods are caused by global warming. Yet some of them are, and there will continue to be more. Rarely can science say which chemical, toxin, hormone, or food additive caused a particular cancer or other disease. Yet the links are well established. Conversely, if we as a country or as individuals make changes to lower our use of natural resources, we cannot point to the exact life that might be saved. We must do what is right for the future based on faith and trust. Faith and trust are not always synonymous with government or business. Answers and leadership in these areas must come from those who possess a moral compass—people who are able to read signs and make appropriate changes.
Increasingly, evangelical leaders such as the Reverends Richard Cizik, Jim Ball, and Rick Warren are calling believers to stop business as usual and to change their lifestyles as needed. They ask that we take individual responsibility for the care of the planet. The Bible declares that the earth is the Lord’s and that everything living belongs to Him (Psalm 24). When we read the Bible, we find that God likes—even loves—trees and flowers and whales. He takes note at the falling of the smallest sparrow. How can we as believers claim to love God and yet be oblivious or destructive to what He loves?
The Bible says that God created the earth to provide for all of humanity’s needs. It was not given to one or two generations of us to be exploited for our every want and whim. If we do not change our ways, our ways will be changed for us, and it will not be pleasant. All existing models predict that if we continue business as usual, we can expect dozens and dozens of Katrina-like events every decade.
Through His teachings and parables, Jesus stressed care not for the rich, powerful, politically connected, or famous, but rather for the most humble and lowly. By definition, no one is more powerless or dependent than today’s youth or those yet to be born. In order to save their planet, we will have to make changes. We cannot wait on governments to force us to do what is right. We must begin today.
Driving an average SUV puts six tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually; a small hybrid gives off one and one-half tons, and biking gives off none. Drying clothing in an electric dryer for a family of four makes one ton of greenhouse gases annually, while line drying gives off none. The U.S. Government’s Energy Star website says that if every family in America changed just five light bulbs to compact fluorescents, we could shut down twenty-one coal powered plants tomorrow; this would have the same effect as taking eight million cars off the road. It would prevent an estimated two thousand respiratory and other related deaths annually.
America does not suffer from what one cynical writer called "compassion fatigue." We will give our money, clothing, time, and homes to Katrina’s victims. What we must decide now is whether we have the courage and wisdom to make the changes needed to clean up our planet and halt global warming. Every time we drive less, carpool, turn off the lights, or move to a smaller home, we invest in the future of all creatures great and small, not to mention our own children. With God all things are possible.
Building Bridges Between Christians and
Environmentalists
By J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D.
Op-Ed, April 22, 2005
On April 22, we will celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day. This
year, all living things around the planet will have a new ally: Evangelical
Christians. What will this partner be like? Will Evangelicals collaborate with
traditionally secular environmentalists? Will they celebrate Earth Day?
Evangelicals have rediscovered the Biblical mandate to care for creation, but
will they go on to tackle issues such as overpopulation and global economic
injustices? Will they be hypocrites, or leaders?
Before I explore those questions, it is only fair to tell you where I'm coming
from. I believe that Jesus walked on water-and not because he didn't know how to
swim. I drive a hybrid car, live in a passive solar house, and use one-quarter of
the electricity and one-third of the fossil fuels that I did five years ago. These
changes came about when I opened my heart and mind to what God has to say about
environmentalism. Eventually I felt called to leave my work as an emergency-room
doctor to focus on the most pressing health issue of all time: Earth care.
We Evangelical Christians are beginning to acknowledge the plight of the planet.
The earth is ill. There are no elm trees left on Elm Street, no chestnut trees on
Chestnut Lane, and soon, there will be no maple trees left on Maple Avenue. The
clouds of birds that migrated in my youth are gone. Frogs are dying all over the
globe. Hourly, farmlands are being planted with malls and subdivisions and
fertilized by suburban sprawl. Our industrial way of life is literally giving the
earth a fever. As ancient polar ice caps and mountain glaciers melt, we are
increasingly pummeled by severe weather. Climatologists long ago predicted the
changes that are now happening; we do not need another study to restate what the
facts have shown us. It is time to act.
Those of us who take our Bible literally find that God not only made everything,
but that he loves his creation, enjoys it, and claims ownership of it. Yet for the
past two centuries Christians and non-Christians alike have taken God's creation
for granted-or worse, saw it as something to be exploited. We are waking up to
reality: The wages of sin are death.
We cannot claim to love God and not love what he loves. We will not get away
with it. It is true that God gave us dominion over the earth, but we must face the
meaning of this mandate. We give teachers "dominion" over our sons and daughters,
but we expect to find them better than we left them when we pick them up at the end
of the day-not find them harmed or dead.
Controversy exists concerning the collaboration between Evangelical Christians
and environmentalists. Should it? Both act out of a desire to protect those plants
and creatures that cannot speak for themselves. Both advocate for elements of life
over which mankind exercises "dominion". These include the most mute and vulnerable
of all creatures-the generations yet to be born. Thus, both groups are going about
work prescribed by the Bible. Arguing about who gets to save the planet is like two
passengers on a ship fighting over who should throw the life ring to the man who
fell overboard. For the drowning man, it does not matter whether a Hindu, a pagan,
an Evangelical or an environmentalist makes the toss. Do we care? Or do we rejoice
in saving a man? In my years as an ER doctor, I saw some 30,000 patients. Never did
I have a patient stop me during the course of treatment to question my religious
beliefs.
In a century a child in Africa or a penguin in Antarctica will not know the
identity of anyone who worked or sacrificed to make their world habitable. They can
never repay those who helped. This goes to the very heart of Jesus' teachings. The
Good Samaritan is not the first man who walks by, nor even the second who crosses
over to the mugged man and says; "Now that's too bad. The government ought to do
something about highway safety." It is the Samaritan traveling along on his donkey
that Jesus declares the ideal neighbor. Why? Because the Samaritan gets off his ass
to help.
The bible tells both Evangelicals and environmentalists to work with any group
concerned with saving the planet, and I believe serving God to save the planet will
forge unusual alliances. In the Old Testament God uses non-believers such as the
Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar to advance his plan. In the New Testament Jesus
rewards the Roman Centurion for his faith, even though the Centurion is a pagan.
When we are going about the Lord's work, we will find others there as well.
Christians are under strict instructions not to judge our co-workers.
Should Evangelical Christians celebrate Earth Day?
Yes!
The twenty-fourth psalm declares that the Earth is the Lord's and that all
creatures belong to him. Jesus said that we are to be a light on a hill giving hope
to the world. I have "preached" in churches and "lectured" in front of
environmental groups. I find it an honor to be with non-Christian or secular groups
and to serve as an ambassador for my faith. The call to action is one of love, hope
and personal responsibility. It transcends pink state/blue state labels and
artificial boundaries. I have found tolerance accorded me when I am talking about
God's living word.
A more germane question for us as Earth Day approaches is: Why aren't we
celebrating the Sabbath? The fourth commandment is a mental health prescription
followed by Christians for millennia. If Americans did no work, no shopping, and no
driving, we would instantly produce 14 percent fewer greenhouse gasses, use
billions of gallons less fuel, and be closer to sanity-and to God. The Sabbath is
God's gift to man, fifty-two times a year.
Among the most pressing dilemmas facing earth is over-crowding. Before
dismissing population control as a matter unworthy of Christian consideration,
reflect on the following. If we place all 10,000 years of human history (8000
BC-2000 AD) on a single calendar year, mankind goes from January through all twelve
months of the year before reaching a census of one billion late on December 24. One
billion more people are added to the planet on the December 29, and then again on
the 30th. We then add an astounding 3 billion to the population on December 31st.
Start the next year's calendar, and we pick up our seventh billion at 11 AM New
Year's Day. When we accepted the life prolonging fruits of science, we unbalanced
the natural human population equation. All Christians-all humans-must face this
explosive issue.
America is the third most populated country on the planet. According to our
government, we will surge from our current 296 million to 600 million in only 70
years. To whom do we wish to delegate responsibility for the earth's population?
The Bible says that the wise man perceives danger and takes steps to avoid it,
while the fool rushes toward peril without thought. Will Evangelical
environmentalists lead, or will we find ourselves mired in hypocrisy, materialism,
and finger pointing? I believe that we will lead, primarily because we can evoke
the four-letter word "Love," which it taboo in medicine, politics, academia, and
environmentalism.
To the extent that Evangelical environmentalists act on our beliefs and preserve
the gifts that God has entrusted us, we will become moral leaders and draw others
to the loving message of faith. Jesus describes the road to heaven as narrow. The
path may not accommodate a Hummer, but it surely has room for many a sister and
brother.
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