Inaugural
Address at the launch of the Global online course
On Eco Justice at
the United Theological College (UTC)
Introduction:
i.
Congratulate the principal
Rev. Dr. John Samuel Raj for supporting the proposal to initiate an online
course on Eco Justice. UTC is setting a trend in this regard. I wish the
institution and the course facilitators the very best and God’s blessings.
ii.
Thank Dr. Alan S. Palanna for
the invitation to be at the inaugural and deliver the inaugural address. I am
no expert on the subject. However over the last three decades I have been associated
with several people struggles and attempted to facilitate a theological
reflection of the same. I bring you greetings from Dr. Udaykumar whose
inspiration and life style led to the people’s movement in koodunkulam against
the illegal nuke plant. I had invited Uday to write a brief message for this
occasion but he is quite ill and apologised. Even as we launch this programme,
let us thank God for women and men like Dr. Udaykumar. I wish to make mention,
for the record, Rev. Y. David. Y. David Annan was a pioneer in the anti nuke
struggle three decades ago. The lives of such person’s are a living
text. In this text lies the truth. Their truth is one of the promise of life for the entire
cosmos: human and all other life forms.
iii.
It is indeed a welcome sign
to have the Council for World Mission (CWM) partner with UTC. Let us hope this
will not be the first and last programme partnership. It is promising to have
Dr. Sudipta Singh with us. Over the years that I have known him, he is a person
overflowing with ideas and encouraging the church to be dynamic in her
obedience to the Mission of God. Once
again I congratulate Dr. Alan S. Palanna and Dr. George Zecharaiah for this
fine initiative and pray God’s blessings.
Frame
work for the Reflection
1.
Let me set a frame for my
talk by reading texts from the Bible and the Earth Charter and drawing from an
Eco Cultural Festival.
a.
There is a time for
everything and a reason for every activity under the heavens. Eccl. 31
b. The
earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens
languish together with the earth. The earth lies polluted under its
inhabitants, for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes. Is.244-6
c. We
stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose
its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the
future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must
recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life
forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We
must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on
respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of
peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth,
declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life,
and to future generations. Preamble
to the Earth Charter
d. They
shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full
of knowledge of the lord. Is.119
2. Greetings
of Pongal and Makkara Shankranti. An auspicious setting for the launch of the
course on Eco Justice at UTC. The Image is one of the pot over flowing. Abundance of the yield of the land to be
shared by all. I pray that UTC will be authentic in their labour, of inspiring theological
imagination to see earth as neighbour, earth as subject
and yearn for the abundant blessings of God like the pot that overflows. Pongal O Pongal.
The selection of the
texts reflects my proposal that the Global On line course be simultaneously
rooted in three independent and yet related areas. They are Christian Scripture
(to start with but not excluding other religious texts), folk traditions especially
its liberative dimensions and the volume of work on international conventions
such as The Earth Charter and peoples struggles (yet to be authentically
documented).
Groaning
of the neighbour.
While we celebrate Pongal; reflecting on the earth,
peoples labour and the bounty of earth as God’s blessing, we must remind
ourselves that the ground reality is not as romantic and rosy as portrayed in
our cinema. Lush green paddy fields, colourful sarees, songs and dance. This
kind of portrayal takes us away from the harsh realities of unfair land
distribution, wanton chemical use in the land, feminisation of labour, child
and bonded labour. Come travel with me to Mandur, a site that made big news
last year. Mandur is about 10 kms from our campus (Visthar Academy of Justice
and Peace). The land and its people are our neighbours.
Mandur is groaning
like a woman in labour. (Romans 824) Mandur is groaning because of human sin. The pollutants in
Mandur comes from our society’s consumptive practice and our ignorance of the
rights of poor people and the earth. This of course is compounded by poor
governance. Our inability to see the earth as subject and as a neighbour,
prevents us from listening to her groaning. The earth and I owe our life to
God.
Invitation to earth
healing
Let me return to the Pongal celebrations. On day one, as
part of the celebration, the community will dig out things from their house,
things that have been accumulated and considered worthless. This will be piled
up and set on fire. The on line course that is being inaugurated is an
invitation for us to examine our accumulated theological positions: Perhaps
that which has come from Euro centred,
Powerful and ‘male ist’ and ‘statusquoist’ positions, which make the earth as object and that which
is perishable and not eternal. We
must cast this out and set it to the flames with humility. We must discern
in the blaze of the Holy Spirit, fresh theological imagination and embark on a theological
enterprise such as this course.
The concept note to launch this course sets a context. The
context as presented by the Course Coordinators is one of the colonization of
the earth, distress of the earth (from the Vantage of marginalised community), faced
with an ecological crisis, presented as a crisis of faith. Hence the need to
enable and equip women and men to become conscious and contribute towards a
creation of intentional communities of creation care.
This
is exactly the context and goal of the
Earth Bible Project. The Earth Bible project is a programme associated with the
Centre for Science, Theology and Culture at Flinders University of South
Australia. Dr. Norman Habel lays out 6 principles of the Earth Bible.
1.
The
Principle of Intrinsic Worth:
The Universe, Earth, and all its components have intrinsic worth/value.
2.
The
Principle of Interconnectedness:
Earth is a community of inter-connected
living things that are mutually dependent
on each other for life and survival.
3.
The
Principle of Voice:
Earth is a living entity capable of raising
its voice in celebration and against injustice.
4.
The
Principle of Purpose:
The universe, Earth and all its components
are a part of a dynamic cosmic design within which each piece has a place in
the overall design.
5.
The Principle of Mutual Custodianship:
Earth
is a balanced and diverse domain where responsible custodians can function as
partners with, rather than rulers over, Earth to sustain its balance and a
diverse Earth community.
6.
The
Principle of Resistance:
Earth and its components not only suffer from
human injustices but actively resist them in the struggle for justice.
The
principles laid out by Dr Habel is primarily based on a critique. A critique of
an anthropocentric world view. A world view that makes the earth an object and
not integral to God’s creation as we ought to read it in Christian scripture.
Lyn
White is forthright in his observation when he
says “especially in its western form, Christianity
is the most anthropocentric religion the world is seen”. Mcfae, yet another contributor to the
Earth Bible Project says “it is very much an open question whether a theology
based on a fundamentally anthropocentric scripture can bring us to the
awareness that we live on the earth”.
This
should resonate with the world view that we have uncritically accepted – an
anthropocentric world view and hence the reading of scriptures from this lens.
Echoes of Earth
healing principles
The Earth Charter is a Civil Society initiative with the
help, primary of the Government of the Netherlands. The Earth Charter, is an
international declaration of fundamental values and principles towards the
design and building of “a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the
21st century”. Historically the origin goes back to 1968 and ‘The
Club of Rome’ when the United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development (UNWCED) called for principles and practice of Sustainable
Development.
The Earth Charter has four major pillars and sixteen
principles. The former includes.
·
Respect
and care for the community of life
·
Ecological
integrity
·
Social
and Economic Justice and
·
Democracy,
Non violence and Peace
Clearly
the principles of the Earth Bible and Earth Charter resonate with each other. Significantly
both are set in a framework of relationships; not merely that of humans alone. Relationship
of sharing, caring and respect for each other. This symbiotic relationship is
also the goal of the creation narrative. The Earth Charter in more ways than one, goes beyond the Earth Bible. More
specifically by including Socio Economic Justice and a working towards
democracy and peace.
Multiple
Applications in Ministry and Mission
As I conclude, I wish to draw your attention to the
following.
Existing Courses on Eco Justice that are being
offered by seminaries around the world. The one I found to be particularly
helpful is the Ethics course at Bangor Theological Seminary, Portland campus.
Secondly, a significant work carried out by the faith based advocacy
organisation, Bread for the World Washington DC, USA. The three volume,
lectionary reflections on Food and
Justice titled “Hunger for the
word” is an excellent resource for the churches. Thirdly and in
continuation with the earlier point, I hope and pray that the Global Online
Course on Eco Justice will also inspire fresh liturgy and music. The text below
is an example and can be sung to the traditional music of Amazing Grace. Lastly while the course is designed to be an online
learning programme, I do not think there is any substitute for a practical
immersion of learners in people’s struggles for Justice and Peace the world
over. This should be a path to an alternate pilgrimage.
The COSMIC CHRIST
The hidden Christ sustains for us
the blue print of the skies,
The window in each fragile form,
The Soul that lights the eyes.
The cosmic Christ moves deep below
To heal the wounds within,
When all creation groans in pain
Because of human sin.
As Christ unites the universe,
Restores this Earth once more,
A cosmic song reverberates,
A rich symphonic score.
Conclusion
The earth is the Lords and we are called to be in
partnership, in a process of Gods healing of ourselves and indeed the whole cosmos.
I pray that the launch of this course will aid this process.
Rev. David Selvaraj
Visthar Academy of Justice and Peace
Bangalore
