Friday, April 17, 2009

Life Unplugged

Of those who know me, when it comes to music, I am a bit of a fanatic. I admit to having almost 4,000 songs on my IPOD, and the number is always growing. I hoard music like one would photographs, each song brings back a different memory, an emotion, a feeling associated with it. For example, every time I hear Sublime, I remember the entire summer I spent listening to it; a summer with fond memories of skateboarding and jumping off reservoir bridges with three good friends. Those friends were only there for the summer, and when they left I kept their memory and the times we had in that music, and it returns to me every time I hear it. My entire life seems to have a soundtrack. My earphones are in so often that I might as well have them surgically attached. Lately though something interesting has begun; throughout the course of this semester I have change my taste in music.
Our discussions in class, the articles, and the books I have read concerning the environment have fortified many of my own personal convictions, and they have also helped me look at things from new perspectives, which has been of great value. But the most vital part of this engagement, has been the desire to once again reacquaint myself with the peaceful sound of nature, a genre often forgotten.
Think about it, just to start a conversation with someone walking from one class to the next often requires some form of sign language to get their attention, in order for them to take the headphones off. Its as if life is just a station on the radio that you listen to in between your favorite songs. For me it has not just been the memories that music can bring back, but I can also relate with the its message or the feelings it invokes. Some lyrics seem to tell your story, or share your feelings, and that can be comforting. For others, a steady and rhythmic beat helps to form a barrier from an unpredictable world; to know the words, to sing along, to tune out of reality. It can be akin to the lulling comfort of the lotus leafs described in Homers "Odyssey", which caused anyone who ate the flower or seeds to forget who they were, and their only interest was to eat more.
Odysseus had to carry his crew back to the ship, to remind them of their journey-which was ...to return home.
Living life "unplugged," has helped me "return home" ...by listening to the world around me; the sound of birds, of leafs, of the wind, and rain; a symphony-created by my Heavenly Father, a hymn that reminds me of his love and his omnipresence.
In one of my favorite films, the main character is going though a midlife crisis of sorts; he seems to be overwhelmed with his lot in life, and he is tired of going through the motions; he feels disconnected. In the end he finds peace, when he stops to appreciate the world around him. He concludes the film with these words, stated in calm resolution:
"there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax... and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude... for every single moment..." (American Beauty)

I invite everyone who reads this blog to stop... unplug... disconnect, to reconnect and tune in to the beautiful sound of the wondrous elements that surrounds us,... and if you do, you will feel this same gratitude. If we are grateful for what we have, we will treat it as our Father intends.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A change of heart

I must admit, I originally signed up for this class because I needed two more credit hours to fulfill my full-time student quota. However, as I have come to class and participated in the discussions and made a few discoveries of my own, I have to say I have found myself drawn in more and more. This was the one class this semester that I can honestly say I think I learned something valuable. Not to say that my other classes failed to teach me anything, but 5 years from now or 10, will I remember everything that was taught? Probably not. In religion and the environment though, there were issues brought up and opinions shared that I will not easily forget. Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned over this semester was that of hope. I remember being 7 years old and painted a shirt with a world on it that said “Earth day is every day”. Sounds cheesy, but I did it on my own accord and I was only seven years old. In my third grade class we raised money to ‘adopt’ an acre of rainforest in the Amazon. Basically I am just saying that I have been aware of our environment for a long time and I have also been aware of the issues that plague it. While I am always looking for ways to improve the environment, I have been very negative about it. I felt that there was just too much wrong in the world and that there was no way humans would stop it. They didn’t want too. Everywhere I looked humans were too selfish to be concerned with things that didn’t immediately effect them. I still feel that way sometimes. When we were talking about animals, we were discussing what consciousness and reason are and if animals have it. It blows my mind that humans are so proud and snobbish to think of themselves as mortally different then an animal. We both bleed, we both need air…we are animals (as much as some people get offended by that, it is true) We have spirit that makes us different, but our bodies are made from the same crude matter. When people stop thinking of themselves as superior to everything else, then we can expect a change. That is how the Native Americans lived and Eskimos and so forth, these civilizations lived in harmony with the environment. But even though I am human and still get irked by many things, I have learned about hope. Hope is as necessary to make a change as is knowledge. Reading Jane Goodall’s book, A Reason for Hope, really opened my mind to the power of hope. It is important to realize that there are many people out there who are aware of the issues that we face, are abhorred at the conditions of certain animals and are actively trying to make a difference. These are not environmental extremists but everyday people who are making a difference step by step. These people are opening humane animal shelters, volunteering at food banks or soup lines, they are volunteers in Africa who are building modest houses for wanting people and the vast amount of people who live in remote areas and love their forests and lands and are actively taking a stand to protect them. Instead of sitting on my butt and judging others, I need to be more supportive of the good things that are going on around me and participate in making the world a better place. Not only will it be better for the world, but it will be better for my soul. I will be happier. Thank you for the opportunity to sit and listen to all of your thoughts and opinions this semester. I have really been touched. God Bless.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Save the Planet, Spare the People

Moderation, acceptance, open-mindedness; all these have been the themes of our discussion. Wherever our discussions have taken us these three themes reoccur. When we spoke about evolution we talked about reconciling science and religion, when we spoke about different religions we talked about accepting differences, opening our minds to new ideas, and being willing to accept the truth of different faiths. These three things seem to have been the answer to all of the conflicts of opinion we’ve run into in our discussions. Why? They’re the solution because they solve human animosity, they don’t feed it, they don’t try to repress it. Moderation, acceptance, and open-mindedness calmly and effectively neutralize human animosity.
When Francis Bacon justified tormenting the earth he was neither moderate, accepting nor open-minded. When other men said that what they wanted was more important than the earth that provided those means weren't moderate, accepting or open-minded. It’s important that people get what they need to live, but brutalizing the earth we were given stewardship over in the name of want is another thing entirely.
Moderation: as the people of this planet learn to be content with getting what they need, maybe a few luxuries, and are content with that, the waste of earth’s resources will plummet. Eating until you’re gorged, or the gallon challenge illustrate wasteful practices of the American people. We’re so used to having so much that we’ve become almost indifferent to wasting it. I’m not blameless, but I’m working on changing my ways, and I hope that as I change I can help others change too. By being moderate in thought and consumption we’ll not only be more content, but be more willing to give to our earth and others.
Acceptance: People are starving in African, as well as in America. People are starving no matter where you go, but this doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t do anything about it. In accepting something you commit yourself to taking action, or at least encouraging action. When I accept money from someone else I’m committing to using it. When people become willing to accept differences in the human race they become committed to doing something about those differences – in a constructive way. When we learn to accept each other we become able to work together.
Open-minded: When people are excessive and not willing to accept different views they become like an idea quarantine. Nothing goes in or out. While this preserves what they have, they lose more than they gain. Just as eliminating the wolves of Yellowstone caused dramatic effects in the ecosystem, getting rid of all ideas we see as not being directly beneficial cause the ecosystem of thought to degenerate. We need to keep an open-mind, a cautious open-mind, but an open mind.
As the human race learns moderation , acceptance, and to be open-minded, we’ll be able to live peaceably with one another, which will lead us to being able to live peaceably with the earth we’ve been given to live on.

So now what??

This semester we have talked a lot about the differences between different religions and their views of the environment and how they interact with nature. We almost always have compared these religions with our own and how they differ and are the same. It has been interesting to see that for the most part we share the same beliefs and ideas as the rest of the world. There obviously was one religion on the earth at one time at the beginning and different ideas have sprung up as the years have past by but they all share many similarities. If you were to put the ideas of different religions on paper without labeling them and try to compare them I think that you would have a hard time differentiating between them. I think that the reason for this is that truth is truth and the main religions in the world today all have large portions of truth with them and that is why people over generations of time have stayed with these religions and practice them today. We all believe that people have an innate ability to recognize truth and have a desire to follow truth. Many small churches will try to rise and become relevant but unless they teach truth and practice it they will not last like the major religions of the world today. We can become an example of truth to those around us as we practice truth and live it.

Another interesting theme that we didn’t talk about in class much but was talked about much more in this blog is the need for balance. We all recognize that the earth is being abused at a rate never seen before in its history and things aren’t getting any better. We all want to help and do better than we are currently doing but I think we all realize that chaining ourselves to trees or breaking into animal labs or becoming a vegetarian isn’t a reality for us. (except for our teacher) I wonder what our level of commitment is to the environment and because we don’t value nature we use the crutch of “balance”. Now before anybody gets offended I am probably more guilty than anybody when it comes to this. I am probably the most selfish in this group when it comes to the environment as I like to live in a society that always tries to better my situation without thought of the consequences that I might have on the environment. I would be yelling louder than anyone that we can’t protect everything in the world so we should focus more on other things and balance our lives. I’m just saying that maybe, although most of us think it is crazy to chain ourselves to trees and free animals in labs, we just aren’t committed enough to take action. I’m not proposing anything radical but maybe we can individually decide on things that we are going to do better. Not ideas but actions that we can take individually or show to others that will make a difference. As I write this I am probably the last one who is going to actually take some action and change my lifestyle because I like how my life is but I recognize that I can do better. And although I can promise our teacher that I will never go vegetarian because I love love love meat there are other things that I can do that will make a difference.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Can We Strive to Become like Christ and Still be Ecologically Aware

Can we live our lives sympathetic to the needs of the environment in which we live while our eyes look to heaven?
Gordon D Kaufman’s article, wherein he seems to blame Christianity for a lack of awareness of ecological matters, due to some false sense of entitlement that we receive through the knowledge that we are formed in the image of God, states “the traditional Christian understanding of humanity in relation to God, with its powerfully anthropomorphic God-image, tends to obscure and dilute, in Christian faith and theology, ecological ways of thinking about our human place in the world.” He further argues that nature becomes an enemy of God when evolutionary and ecological issues come to the forefront. These ideas seem to stem from some notion that we cannot become one with God and the environment, but rather the closer we come to connecting with God, the more ‘idolatrous’ we become. He believes that Christian religion is more focused on the human problems, such as “despair, anxiety, guilt, death, meaninglessness, sin, injustice, and so forth.”(Kaufman 149, 155)
In class last Monday Dr. Peck brought up the subject solipsism, which is exactly what I believe is the essence of Kaufman’s argument.
So I ask myself, can we strive to become like Christ and still be ecologically aware?
I share Thomas Berry’s view that “if we lose the environment, we will lose our sense of God as well”.(Haught 276) Joseph F Smith is quoted as saying “men cannot worship the Creator and look with careless indifference upon his creatures…. Love of nature is akin to the love of God; the two are inseparable.” And in Mosiah we learn, “how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”(Smith 201)
I cannot imagine a God of love and mercy, who would turn his back on his creations. Thus it is in my opinion that if we strive to become more like Christ, who is one with his father, we must reverence his creations. I also believe that we are truly in preparation of becoming creators ourselves, and thus it is important that we learn what it means to be righteous stewards.
The Lord has put forth many symbolic rituals to help us understand the important covenants that we make. He does them in a way that we can relate with, or in other words he speaks to us in “our own language”. In order to do this, he must understand the human nature. So if we are to be stewards, we too should learn to understand and be sympathetic with the elements of nature so that we can execute righteous dominion.
While I will agree that it is often our inclination to be anthropomorphic in our perceptions of the world around us, and that that may lead us to be insensitive to the eccentricities of the natural world; I cannot conclude that in our efforts to become like God, that we will be turning our backs on the environment.

"all things unto [the Lord] are spiritual" (D&C 29:34; see also v. 35)

References
(Haught, John F."Christianity and Ecology" Reprinted from The Promise of Nature. pg 276)
(Smith, Joseph F, cited in George B. Handley, "The Environmental Ethics of Mormon Belief," BYU Studies 40, no. 2(2001): 201.)
(Kaufman, Gordon D. "The Theological Structure of Christian Faith and the Feasibility of a Global Ecological Ethic" Board of Zyon.pg 148-161)
The Book of Mormon

Monday, April 6, 2009

Applying Current Revelation

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints179th Annual General Conference was replete with messages of hope and endurance through our trials, but underlying these central messages was an admonition to us all: prudence. More specifically, I would like to center my comments in conjunction with the messages given to us by Elder Robert D. Hales and Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Elder Hales’ message was one riddled with the reproach to avoid excess, and Elder Oaks pleaded with the Saints to extend service.

Throughout the semester, we have discussed the concept of stewardship. We have established the fact that God never intended us, His children, to do whatever we want with anything we can get our hands on. In truth, God has given us the responsibility, much like that of men and the priesthood, to take care of all things within our circle of influence and this includes the land that we live on, the people we interact with, and the other various forms of life. I personally do not think that the truths we learn in the temple being centered on the Creation is happenstantial. There is something centrally important in this setting: things that hold eternal significance and truth never change and never will. This teaching can be applied to the LDS perspective of avoiding excess. Like Elder Hales said, excess can be in the areas of food, debt, and addictions. When we choose to let ourselves focus on satiating or gorging the natural man, we are essentially trading in a portion of our agency for these items- we are exchanging our own divine worth, how sad. This can be, and should be applied to how we treat the wonderful earth God has provided for us to live on. It is in this frame of mind that I now ask myself and others to think about this: “Do I magnify my existence by giving more than I take from the earth, or do I chose to trade in my time and talents for things which have no eternal value and take away the chance for others to enjoy the necessities I enjoy?” The earth is not only our mortal, temporal home but it is also our eternal destination- we need to care.

In the spirit of Elder Oaks talk, I now turn to the cause of our wasteful and excessive sickness of consumption- entitlement and lack of service. Entitlement presupposes that whatever that “right” is that we are entitled to is owed to us regardless of what we have done or don’t do to “deserve” it. Something does not come from nothing. It is in the prideful supposition of entitlement that people ravage the earth in search of shiny things and supporting excessive diets. Service is the cure. When we spend time serving others we are able to more appropriately view our own current circumstances, to see how blessed we truly are and to be grateful. Our gratitude enables us to find joy in our daily lives and we tend to turn less to satiating exhorbant wants of the natural man that may deplete our beautiful home.

I have a long way to go, and I know that nothing will happen unless I start today and continually try to improve each and every day after that. We all make a difference, and in the end it is all that we do that determines not only who we are, but where we will be- I want to stay with the earth.

MY LAST BLOG ENTRY!!!

As the title of the blog denotes this is my last blog entry. I have enjoyed writing my views on religion and the environment and reading everyone’s blogs as well. Thank you for taking the time to read my blogs and writing your comments in support or disagreement. Like Dr. Peck says heated discussion is healthy. I have struggled on what to write about in this concluding blog. I want to share my views on the class and our discussions in class and how it has made me a better person. I have enjoyed the episodes of Star Trekk and the Simpsons. As a quick side note I think we should end the semester by watching Ferngully the movie. Anyways, It has been interesting to listen to the different viewpoints of individuals in our class. I am glade that individuals spoke up about what they believe in and have passion for. I do not think that there is ever a clean cut answers to questions regarding the environment or religion. Studying the different religions has shown me that the environment is a part of all the different beliefs in the world. This tells me that the environment should be well taken care of if everyone practiced what they preached. To me sometimes it is the extreme religions that care most about nature and the environment. I do not think that it is the healthiest to be extreme but some time extreme situation require extreme measures of treatment. I try to reflect back to many lessons learned from all the different religions. Sometimes the primitive religions show a great appreciation for nature then do the more affluent religions. It might be because primitive religions were so infused with their surroundings that there is not difference. I feel that we have to make an effort to while primitive religions no effort is made because it is ingrained in the society. I am happy to see that the LDS community is really making an effort to step up our policies on the environment. I was listening to the news in my car and a report come on about our advances in the downtown salt lake construction and how we are implementing dramatic environmentally conscious practices. It saddens me to know that the world does not think that the LDS community is environmentally friendly. We should be the most environment conscious people because we know the truth about the future of the earth and its state in the eternities. I think that individuals can make differences and we should one person at a time try to change our bad habits or in better words make our weakness become strengths. Thanks again for the blogs and opinions. It has been great.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Finding balance with the book "Life Is a Miracle"

A Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey

I chose to read the book "Reason for Hope", authored by Jane Goodall with Philip Berman. Ever since Gary Larsen came out with his famous Jane Goodall cartoon in the Far Side, I've been interested in her work. However, the source of all my Goodall knowledge came from a National Geographic special. Therefore I found it fascinating to read her autobiography.
Goodall chronicles the stages of her life, from her beginnings in middle-class England to her present-day status as a world-famous scientist. She talks of her time as a secretary with Louis Leakey, her family life, and her interactions with the chimps. I found some facts of her life quite surprising. For example, Goodall was not trained as a scientist when she first began to study the chimpanzees. I was also surprised to find that her mother assisted her in the first expedition to Gombe, Tanzania.
Interlaced with the story of her life is a focus on the spiritual aspect. I appreciated this mode of story-telling. The focus on the spiritual gave her story a thread that ran throughout the book without dominating it. Goodall lays out her spiritual evolution in simple, direct terms and allows us to see the events that shaped her spirituality. I particularly related to her story of visiting the Cathedral of Notre Dame. She refers to this experience as “a suddenly captured moment of eternity”. I, too, have felt like at moments I’ve been outside of time communing with God. She also spoke of how God and other moments like the time in Notre Dame had helped her to overcome the death of her second husband. This struck a particular chord in me. As I’ve dealt with the death of loved ones, I’ve realized that you can either turn away from God or turn towards God. It’s difficult to trust Him after death, but as Goodall discovered, a reliance on God is the best way to overcome death.
Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the poetry that she included. As I’ve taken this class and studied the book, “The Two Cultures”, I’ve thought of the divide between science and the humanities. I feel like I’m often too focused on my studies to study the works of writers and artists. And it seems that Humanities majors will extol the beauties of the English language without recognizing the beauty inherent in evolution. Goodalll shows a balanced nature in her book. She has both an analytical and creative side to her and provides an example for all scientists.
The biggest weakness in the book was that it focused too much on Goodall herself. This is one common weakness in an autobiographical work, and Goodall is not able to avoid it. Other than Goodall, there are few characters in her story that capture the imagination. I wanted to know more about her mother Vanne or her son Grub. They must have influenced her life greatly, yet they remain two dimensional characters. Goodall speaks of how relationships are an important part of our lives and our spirituality, and yet she only allows us a cursory glance into her own relationships. Her first marriage and its failure is documented but not detailed, and even her second husband, Derek, remains somewhat flat, even though his story occupies much of the latter half of the book. Goodall denies us the full richness of her life by not allowing us to understand her feelings towards other people.
I found the title of Goodall’s book “A Reason to Hope” somewhat of a paradox at first. She describes the desperate plight of the chimpanzees and their struggle against extinction. She also elaborates on the dangerous future our world faces. She has a whole chapter dedicated to the discovery of war and other acts of aggression among the chimpanzees, and she believes that violence is somewhat instinctual. Honestly, when I finished the book, I wasn’t sure what was the reason to hope. But Goodall’s tone is continuously optimistic throughout the book. I believe it is her faith in God that allows her to hope. “A Reason to Hope” reinforced my belief that we cannot take God out of environmentalism. It made me realize that if we believe in God, we can have hope that humanity will survive and so will the rich diversity of species that He has created. By understanding the love of God and the interconnectedness between all organisms, we will not wantonly destroy our natural environs. One of the definitions of hope is to wait for. We are waiting for a better world, and if we have faith in God, we can act, motivated by our belief, to make that better world come to be.
I read this book the whole way through.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place(Of which I have read in full)
Terry Tempest Williams
Vintage books

Terry Tempest Williams, a Mormon naturalist, women’s rights activist, and author of An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field; Desert Quartet; Leap; Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert; The Open Space of Democracy; Mosaic: Finding Beauty in a broken World; and of course her classic work Refuge.
She received the Robert Marshall Award from the wilderness society, which is considered their highest honor for an American citizen. In addition to this she has received various other awards for her literary prowess.
In this classic work Refuge, Williams chronicles the events surrounding the flooding of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, due to the record-level rising of Great Salt Lake, reaching a historic high of 3,300 square miles in 1987. At one time State St. in Salt Lake City was a man made river way, in order to channel or reroute the destructive power of the flood. Fish literally swam where cars once drove, and there are accounts of men catching trout as they sat on the banks of piled sand bags.
As the water levels rose and the lake swelled, flooding America’s first water-fowl sanctuary, Williams simultaneously documents another tragedy, which seemed to grow at the same pace as the water ... her mother’s cancer.
Williams, reasons in her prologue that she was telling this story “in an attempt to heal herself, to confront what she did not know, and to create a path for herself, with the idea that a ‘memory is the only way home.’” And then she states, “I have been in retreat. This is my return.” This is truly an accurate statement, as she seeks not to persuade or attempt to make any convincing argument to the reader, but rather, her voice and incites are more fluid. Her accounts are more like journal entries that have been well thought out, as only a person with the patience and attention to detail as a bird watcher can. Rather, she seems more to be attempting to make sense of how “that which is within, relates to that to which is without”, pulling the reader into a journey of self actualization in a world of uncertainty, tragedy, but also beauty in the mysticism, and the strength of the human will.
It is a pleasure to look through her eyes, as she possesses an artistic eloquence in her perceptions of the natural and supernatural world surrounding her. She shows a great reverence for the environment, and relates many of its natural processes and cycles to that of her own life. She struggles to come to terms with the loss of both places she calls home; the beauty, diversity and peace of the bird refuge, and the assuring arms and wisdom of her mother. She slowly comes to grips with the process that can be most difficult to all of us, which is death; she states, “I am slowly, painfully discovering that my refuge is not found in my mother, my grandmother, or even the birds of Bear River. My refuge exists in my capacity to love. If I learn to love death then I can begin to find refuge in change.”
Reading this book has left me captivated in its philosophy, and it has also provided me a sense of solace as well because it hit very close to home. My own mother had breast cancer ten years ago and we had hoped its flood of pain and uncertainty had passed us by, but its dark clouds have reappeared and threaten our family once again from losing part our home ... our ‘refuge.’ She stated it accurately when she stated: “an individual doesn’t get cancer, a family does.”
It was an unfortunate, reoccurring theme for the women in her family, an occurrence she later discovered may not have been merely a case of unexplainable bad genes, but rather the effect of nuclear bomb testing that was taking place during the life of her grandmother, her mother, and even the author's own personal youth; recounting memories of seeing flashes of light and mushroom clouds from the rear window of her parents car as they traveled through Nevada, when she was but a child; ashes falling from the sky like gray snowflakes, an eerie sight; one which would come back to haunt her in more ways than one.
She finally came to the conclusion that her refuge was not a place outside herself ... “like the lone heron that walks the shores of Great Salt Lake,” as she puts it, but rather “adapting as the world is adapting”.
Although she learns to adapt to the things she could not change, she also made the decision to begin fighting for the things she could. Williams-fighting cancer herself-and others similarly affected by the US Army's above ground nuclear bomb testing during the Vietnam war; rallied together and marched onto the restrictive bomb facility; in an act that seemed less in protest than of closer, much like a child confronting the murderer of her parent, as if to say, although you have taken so much from me, I will no longer allow you to determine my capacity to love, to have peace, and to enjoy happiness.
This book has helped me to search new avenues of thought, and also taught me that “dying doesn’t cause suffering, resistance to it does”. I would recommend this book to others who are trying to come to terms with the uncertainty of an ever changing world. I end with a poem referenced by Williams; written by Wendell Berry:

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Finding Beauty in a Broken World, by Terry Tempest Williams

Finding Beauty in a Broken World
By: Terry Tempest Williams

“A mosaic is a conversation between what is broken” (pp. 6). In the very beginning of the book, Williams introduces the topic of mosaic art. She gives a brief history, citing many famous mosaics such as the mosaic located in Pompeii. This particular mosaic richly shows the local flora, fauna and animal life of Roman occupied Egypt in 30 BC. She discusses the evolution from paganism to Christianity and how the mosaics became “everyman’s Bible; one didn’t have to rely on words, only the shimmering stories told though images above, meant to overwhelm the viewer as one would be in the presence of God” (pp. 1).

Terry Tempest Williams uses the imagery of the mosaic, a beautiful compilation of broken and irregular pieces of stone and marble, to represent the earth and how we can find beauty in all of its imperfections. She said, “There is perfection in imperfection. The interstices or gaps between the tesserae [broken pieces of marble that make up mosaics] speak their own language in mosaic” (pp.35). Two of the examples that I found most engaging were the example of the prairie dog and genocide in Rwanda.

For the first several chapters, TTW discusses the habits, anatomy, and evolution of prairie dogs, and the impact that they have on the Earth. Based on her research, she concluded that, “nine vertebrate species may drop in population or disappear completely if prairie dogs are eliminated from glassland ecosystems” (pp.35). This is a startling statistic considering that Niles Eldredge of the New York Times published that the Utah Prairie Dog is one of the species that is most likely to become extinct in the twenty-first century. As it stands right now, approximately 98% of prairie dogs in Colorado have already been eliminated, and often in cruel and inhumane ways.

However, TTW points out that if you talk to farmers and agriculturalists in the west, prairie dogs are considered to be nuisances. They burrow holes in which horses and cattle can stumble and break their legs, they also cause other damage to crop and grazing lands. Many believe that the government should compensate farmers whose lands have been destroyed from the existence of prairie dogs (pp. 43). However, to date, there has not been a bill that has passed enacting such a law.

From the book, you can tell that TTW is sympathetic to the plight of the prairie dog. She points out that the prairie dogs, in addition to providing biodiversity, also have other redeeming qualities. She says, “The hunger of prairie dogs shocks the landscape into greater productivity. Their digging and scratching stimulates the soil, creating more opportunities for seeds to germinate. With heightened water drainage as a result of their tunnels, plants grow. Plant diversity follows. Animal diversity follows the plants” (pp. 56-57). Like the broken mosaic pieces that look like nothing more than pretty, tattered stones up close, from a distance they create a beautiful work of art. So are the prairie dogs a seemingly insignificant player in the mosaic of the world, but when viewed from a distance, they contribute to the beauty and productivity that is our Earth.

She then discusses what it actually means to care, and where our priorities lie. TTW gives a vivid description of many of the ways that civilians exterminate these prairie dogs, and to be honest, many of them made me sick to my stomach. It was terrible to think that somebody would set fire to the burrows and extinguish anything that laid therein. She then pointed out something that really stuck with me. She said,
“To regard any animal as something lesser than we are, not equal to our own vitality and adaptation as a species, is to begin a deadly descent into the dark abyss of arrogance where cruelty is nurtured in the corners of certitude. Daily acts of destruction and brutality are committed because we fail to see the dignity of Other” (pp. 127).

She applied this principle to the genocide in Rwanda. Terry Tempest Williams travelled there to study genocide and happened to be there for some interviews when the planning and execution for the genocide memorial was being put up. She was struck by the frailty of human nature, and our patternistic lifestyles. After the Holocaust, we said, “Never again”, and yet this sort of thing continues to happen again and again. The world is full of broken shards, and yet, like the mosaic artworks, these broken pieces have to come together to make a beautiful work of art. TTW explains, “Shards of glass can cut and would or magnify a vision. Mosaic celebrated brokenness and the beauty of being brought together” (pp. 385). However, we have to see the broken pieces and allow them to inspire us to change. Jane Goodall said, “Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved” (pp. 71).

This book was inspiring for me. I loved how descriptive she was of the time that she spent amongst the prairie dogs and the people in Africa. It truly afforded me the opportunity to put myself into that position and think how I would react. It enabled me to form opinions about my world and how I wanted to help sustain it. We certainly live in an imperfect world, but we can find beauty and perfection in God’s creations if we look at the whole picture, the whole work of art. We can perfect each piece of the puzzle one by one, and find beauty in the broken world as TTW would have us do.

A Reason for Hope

I read the book, Reason for Hope: A spiritual journey, by Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman. I had picked this book out since the beginning of the semester because I have loved Jane Goodall and the work she does for a long time. This book is similar to an autobiography so I was given the chance to learn a lot about her life and her thoughts. While she did go into her studies in Africa part way through the book, it did not start out there. She reminisced about her childhood and how she grew up, living through the second world war and the fear that the Nazi’s instilled in her. However, the things that got her through that terrible time in the world were her family and the nature around her. As she goes on, she tells of her time spent with the chimpanzees in Gombe, the death of her second husband and the terror she felt when rebels swept through her camp and took students hostage. Through it all, she reflects on her spiritual beliefs. Just like all of us, there were times that that belief was sorely tried and for moments, when it left her. Throughout the whole book, Jane reflects on hope. How can we hope for a better future? How is that possible when human selfish greed-lust for power, land, and wealth-was concurring the wish for peace? I have thought this way for a long time. I could not see how we as humans could overcome our own carnal desires in order to create a better world. Yet Jane Goodall does not stop there, instead of filling our minds with pictures of doom and gloom, she speaks of how far we have come since the beginning of mankind. We have been on this earth only for a short while evolutionarily speaking. Just a couple hundred years ago conditions for the poor and feeble were atrocious. Women and children were required to work long shifts with no breaks for little food. Slavery was acceptable and religious persecution was worse than it is today. Today however, slavery has been abolished, welfare is more accessible, charities have been founded, and many social reforms have taken place all over the world. The United Nations has been established, and human dignity and rights are now topics of concern. When Ms. Goodall points out all of these instances in our world, I am able to see that while there are many things that still need to be worked out, we are moving in the right direction. I believe it is this that illustrates the human potential for good. We all have contributions to make, some of us may make large ones while others of us make smaller ones (they are all different). But all of us blending and mixing our influences in life, may in turn influence the life of one person or many that will be able to influence the lives of millions or billions of people. Each one of us has the ability to change history. Given time, the human race is probably very capable of creating a moral and environmentally aware society. The problem is, how much time do we have? At the rate things are going now, not much. But we could each simply try to be a little better, every one of us, we could do that. And that perhaps, might make all the difference. When I have children, I hope to instill that faith in them. Who knows, by then the world may be much worse off than it is now and the need for better people will be even more urgent. It is important for them to see the issues around them instead of ignoring them and to be an influence for good. I wish to teach my children that we are lucky to be living in this country, but not to take it for granted. It is not our birthright to have the luxuries that we do. In fact if we all lived a more humbly then there would be much more to go around for other less fortunate people.

I loved reading this book because I feel that at this point in my life I am feeling very negatively towards most people’s views of the environment. I have always seen the doom and gloom side of the argument, and while it is most definitely still there and I do not recommend disregarding it entirely, there are bright spots. Not everyone roles tires on fire down canyons in Utah, or litters, tortures animals, drives 85 on the freeway, or buys a mansion of a house. There are many wonderful and good things that are happening and instead of getting angry about the horrible things, I need to get active and support those wonderful things that are happening all around us. The more people support them, the more other people will realize what is happening and will want to make a difference as well. Scaring people does not work, but encouraging them and helping them to make a difference does. When that happens I believe we will see a difference in how the environment and humanity is treated.

I read this book all the way through.

Ecology and Human Need

I chose to read Ecology and Human Need by Thomas Sieger Derr

I found it quite interesting that this book was published twice. The first time it was published under the title Ecology and the Human Liberation in 1973 and then under the new title in 1975. To perhaps account for this change, I found this little tidbit online, “In 1972, the United Nations held the first international Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, prepared by Rene Dubos and other experts. This conference was the origin of the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally".” It is funny isn’t it? Even our perceptions of a book’s title will determine if we actually want to pick up the thing and read it. The American populace (that was actually interested in this book) went from a want of liberation to need in the course of two years.

I honestly felt like I was reliving the entire course of our class as I progressed through this novel. Thomas Derr is a Christian, though he never specifies a denomination. Derr begins by setting his novel in the present (remember we’re talking 1973 here) uncertain religious, political, and ecological times. He talks continues to discuss in great depth the three leading solutions to the economic crisis, which are: a new biblical theory, process theology, and the remystification of nature.

What he does next surprised me. He gives a long critical assessment of each of these options. He doesn’t believe in reworking Christianity through a new biblical theory. He believes that the Bible as it currently stands holds all the truth and doctrine to be ecologically minded- if not in word, the in the spirit of the word. In responding to process theology he is upset with those people that would like to have God be subject to natural laws in such a way that He is not omnipotent. Derr believes, and I agree, that one does not have to compromise God’s transcendence and omnipotence to have an ecologically friendly Creator. In response to those that would have us return to the mystification of nature i.e. give up technology and live in the dark ages etc. Derr almost seems to laugh, as this is highly unlikely and not even truly desirable. Derr supports this argument with the central idea that it is in human nature to be free of what he calls “natural tyranny.” Meaning, that part of man’s nature and divine responsibility is to have dominion over the earth and subdue it- now this doesn’t mean to abuse it. He essentially believes that to try to revert back to the Dark Ages would be denying our own nature- one of progression, and I agree.

The second half of the book is devoted towards a possible solution. Derr analyzes ownership, resources, and politics in turn through the lens of a Christian ecologist. Ownership is a divine Christian right (as it was in the Garden of Eden that Adam was given dominion over the whole earth). Ownership is not a bad thing, but abuse is. Derr argues that it is good for people to have stewardship over land and the earth because these things teach us responsibility and spiritual truth. He cautions however that dominion is not domination and that ownership means ethical and moral responsibility to the future generations. Our responsibility to the future is viewed in units of resources in this book. We cannot predict the temperament of the future, but we can insure that they have access to the same things that we have. Derr argues that this responsibility to others alone should be reason enough to be ecologically minded as the Bible states that we have a responsibility to our fellow man. This responsibility inevitably leads to politics. Derr realizes that there is a certain practicality that must be addressed in the realm of politics. He talks about poor and underdeveloped nations. These nations will not halt progress simply because we cannot effectively manage our resources. Derr offers a better solution.

Derr asks something that is a relatively simple concept, though perhaps not simple to apply on a large scale. He notes that national wellbeing is currently measured by GDP per capita. He argues that perhaps what we need to do is change our thinking to a standard or quality of life per capita idea. In this way, people are seeking a lifestyle and not merely chasing a dollar. I agree that this is a better way to view life, though it would be hard to convince Americans that a comfortable quality of life may be less than they now experience.

Up until this point in the book I felt really good about Derr’s ideas. It is on the next point that I disagree. Derr puts forth ideas on how to manage population growth- stating that it is our responsibility to curb human populations. He puts forth relatively Christian approaches to the problem, and thinks that we should look at the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth as completed. As a Latter-day Saint, I cannot condone this opinion though I agree that family size is a matter to be determined between husband, wife, and the Lord.
All in all, the book was great. The only thing I would have liked would be some input form other religious stances- but the book was meant to be a Christian perspective alone. I also think that the data could be updated, but that is what I get for reading a 1970’s novel. The truth that really struck me was this: if these things were of dire importance 36 years ago, how much more imperative that we take up the cause today because we haven’t done much better, if any, since 1973.
(I read this book all the way through)

Life is a Miracle: True that!

I read the book ”Life is a Miracle—An Essay Against Modern Superstition” by Wendell Berry. First off I have to confess that I actually enjoyed this book. Initially I thought that I would just storm through this book just to get it over with, but it was quite the opposite. There was many thought provoking moments. Perhaps the reason I liked the book is because Wendell Baker is not a scientist. From the pages of the book I learned that he is a rural farmer guy, with strong ties to agriculture and the environment, and has his M.A. in English. Throughout the entire book he was very humble in admitting that he is not a scientist and doesn’t claim to have a perfect understanding of the world. But, that which he does know is in perspective—or in other words, he realizes that his understanding is foolishness in comparison to God’s knowledge. With that in mind he effectively explains how our culture has being deceived to think that the world is a perfect science that will eventually be understood in its fullness through scientific hypothesis testing.
Throughout the whole book Dr. Berry harps on the author Edward O. Wilson and his book, Consilience. Berry accuses Wilson of materialism, imperialism, reductionism, and more. I could go on forever on the many thoughts and applications that rushed through my mind while I was reading. But, I would like to focus my writing on one topic—Life is a miracle. Berry eloquently explained how our society of science, and reasoning has led many to believe that the Earth and the Universe are calculated objects. Berry uses the word machines. The world is viewed as a machine and can be predictable just as we can predict 100% of the time what car will leave a GM assembly line. Berry strongly disagrees. He feels that life is not predictable. We have agency and are influenced by thoughts, feelings, and faith. Wilson might argue that it is more secular than that. Or, that science can explain every phenomenon in nature, or at least has the potential of discovering all of the answers. I agree with Berry in that this life and this world in which we live are not predictable machines. I believe that there are imperative aspects of life such as moral agency, love, miracles, mystery, and a loving Heavenly Father that make this life somewhat unpredictable for the mortal mind to fathom. Nature has its patterns, but there is always facets of the environment that perplex the mind and baffle the “genius” of scientists. More particularly, the very science of salvation, will never be understood by the mortal mind. Wilson, in all of his learning and machinist thinking may be led to disbelieve in miracles, God, and salvation because there is no place for such things; man will eventually figure them out for himself. Wilson is forgetting one huge principle of nature: there is matter and element that he has not even though of—Spirit.
As Latter-Day Saints we believe that Spirit is matter, but more pure and fine than even the Periodic Table of Elements can distinguish. God operates by law, and does not walk in crooked paths to bring about his work of salvation. I guess you could say that God is the Master Scientist or Supreme Physicist. He did not change water in to wine through magic. He did not part the Red Sea through mysticism. He did not heal Namaan’s leprosy through voo-doo. God did not create the Earth and Heaven by pixy dust. It’s true that there is a celestial science to all of these marvelous wonders, but it is false to think that mortal man with all of his learning will ever discover such a science. These powers can only be handled and understood by virtue of the priesthood. Wilson is correct in thinking that life is a science, but he is horrifically wrong if he thinks that man will discover everything about the planet through man’s device.
I love what Wendell Berry says about the amazing nature of our earthly probation: “To treat life as less than a miracle is to give up in it” (Berry 10). How true is that? He is probably not even a member of the Church and yet he came to that profound truth (not to say that only members of our Church can discover such gems of truth). But yes, as soon as we reduce this life to its elements and functioning parts, we misunderstand it as a whole. This life is life is like the human body: if we were to dissect every organ, tissue, and cell and find out what each one does, we would never be able to predict what that human would be able to do. We have to take into account the spirit, which runs through our body, and our mind and the agency by which we CHOOSE to do things. Then we must believe in miracles. Life is a miracle. Likewise, nature is a miracle. As soon as we realize that nature and the environment are miracles, then we will treat them preciously. Berry understands this, and therefore has treated nature with respect, and has continued a five generation span of farmers in his family that have gleaned tons from nature without taking its virtue.

(I read this whole book)

Adaptation

My ancestors moved to St. George in the 1860’s under direction from Brigham Young to grow cotton for clothing and grapes for sacramental wine. For years after arriving in St. George my family struggled to raise crops and make the land prosperous. Having come directly from central Europe, they had poor understanding of the land and their environment. Vestiges of this poor understanding are still evident today. Many of the oldest homes in St. George still boast alpine-style architecture with very steep roofs. Needless to say, there isn’t need for steep roofs in southern Utah since they receive very little snow.

Sub-par understanding of the land made it very difficult for the new settlers to farm successfully, and it took my family six years to grow any food. My great, great, great grandfather’s journal says that he and his family “survived for a very long time eating nothing but pigweeds.” They finally abandoned the plan to grow cotton and grapes in their harsh surroundings, and grew crops more suited to their environment.

We are not so different from the early settlers of St. George. My generation spends less time out of doors than generations past. When we do venture into nature, we find ourselves as foreign and uneducated as the early St. George farmers. I fear that we will make the same mistake in trying to bend our surroundings to our will, and the consequences will be many seasons of eating nothing but pigweeds, metaphorically speaking.

I propose an idea that may help us to avoid such a nutritionally bland future.
We ought to remember that no matter how much we will it, the environment will not adapt to us. We must adapt to our environment.

As Americans, we have an English tradition ingrained in our culture. Consider England’s love of gardens and flowers. They are an island nation and seldom lack water to make their gardens flourish. In America, we insist on having grass lawns around our homes. It gives us a sense of live and beauty. But America, unlike Great Britain, is not an island nation. Here in Utah, we frequently experience sustained droughts. Would it not be wiser to look for beauty in the natural landscape rather than drain millions of gallons of water annually to prevent our lawns from turning yellow? Let us adapt to our surroundings, and in so doing we will benefit both ourselves and the environment.

Jared Diamond writes in his book Collapse of two cultures with very different outcomes living in the same place. The Norse Greenlanders and Native American Inuit inhabited the frozen lands of Greenland for over a century. The Native Americans had lived there for centuries and thrived in the seemingly desolate environment. Using kayaks and harpoons, they successfully hunted whales and they were able to raise suitable livestock. The Norse, on the other hand, insisted on retaining their Scandinavian traditions. Rather than raise goats, they raised cattle because cattle were a status symbol in Scandinavia. Rather than use kayaks to hunt whales, they tried to farm wheat. Eventually the Norse starved, while the Inuit continued to flourish.

Which culture will we choose to be?

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

THE TEN TRUSTS

I had the opportunity to read THE TEN TRUSTS by Jane Goodall and co-author Marc Bekoff. A little about the authors, Jane Goodall is an animal lover, researcher, caretaker, and activist. She is most well known for her work with chimpanzees of central Africa. Her co-author is also a much respected scientist from the University of Boulder, Colorado. They have been friends for over two decades and continue working together today.
The purpose of this book is to illustrate the ever-growing need for modern society not only to protect the animal life on our planet, but to value them to us as well. Jane and Marc are concerned with the problems in the world today: overpopulation, pollution, erosion, global warming, deforestation, etc. the authors sat down and made a list of what they can do to help preserve and care for the multitude of species struggling to survive in our modern world.
The Ten Trusts I believe can be referred to as the “Ten Commandments” of animal life conservation. Each trust is thoroughly covered and explored in the book and entrances the reader with scientific data and real life experiences by both individuals. The Ten Trusts are:
Rejoice that we are part of the animal kingdom.
Respect all life.
Open our minds to animals and learn from them. Teach our children to respect and love nature.
Be wise stewards.
Value and help preserve the sounds of nature.
Refrain from harming life in order to learn from it.
Have the courage of our convictions.
Praise and those who work for animals and the natural world
Act knowing we are not alone and life with hope.

Ms. Goodall and Dr. Bekoff utilize a passive warm and friendly approach to discuss each trust. As you read the experiences depicted in the book, it guides and encourages you to think of the importance of conservation of nature and animal life. Each author uses personal experiences that make you feel involved. Jane and Marc tell of experiences in Africa, Europe, and the Far East and the US which are very detailed and paint beautiful and sometime very graphic images in the mind of the reader.
The format of the book is interesting. Jane’s writing appears in standard type while Marc’s portions are interspersed in italics. I was pleased with the transitions that connected the sections. As I mentioned above the scientific research included makes the reading meaningful and enriches the text. The detailed examples used telling the reader about chimp behaviors and the similarities that are shared with humans really makes the reader think about what is happening in the world.
I will admit that I waited to the last possible minute to start searching for a book for the book review. I was fortunate to find Jane and Marc’s book The Ten Trusts. It was a coincidence that some of our reading for Monday lecture was on some of the ten trusts. I was able to finish the book in 10 hours and am very happy that I choose the book I did. As I ponder on how this simple book has changed my perception of animal conservation and how I as one individual can contribute to conservation, I feel empowered. The book does an excellent job at showing how individuals can make a difference on many different levels. One example was Marc Bekoff, a professor at the University of Boulder, Colorado, he fought against the university to change the practices used at the university medical school on animals dissection and animals testing. The courage it must have taken to go against your employer shows the dedication that Marc has in regards to animals equality. Something interesting about the book that caught me off guard is that both authors are not against the using of animals for scientific research, which I viewed as a strength for their argument. Their message is that if institutions use animals for research, the animals need to be very well taken care of. I agree whole heartedly with that position. I have come to realize that I can make a better effort in helping animal conservation and habitat conservation by teaching my son to appreciate nature. I believe that my parents did a great job teaching me about nature and the least that I can do is teach my son to appreciate that he is part of the animals kingdom as stated in trust one.
The book also did a good job in showing the cruelties that our animal brothers endure for the betterment of the human race. We owe a lot of gratitude to research animals because they are the ones that have sacrificed their bodies so that we as humans can lead a more productive life. The book also tells of individuals that have benefited from animals research and have now established sanctuaries for animals used in research.
Overall I am grateful to have read this book. It has opened my heart and eyes to the cause of animal conservation.
I have read the book all the way through!