Rebel, Advocate, or something else: Deciding our Roles

A Quaker Rebel

Recently I spoke with Eileen Flanagan. She is a writer, a social change teacher, a Quaker, and an activist.

Eileen Flanagan

Currently she is teaching activists about how to organize and to understand their role. In an interview with me for Citizens’ Climate Radio, Eileen told me about Bill Moyer and his Strategic Framework Describing The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movement. She also shared with me the four roles that change agents have traditionally taken:

Amani Thurman

Helper
Advocate
Rebel
Organizer

In this month’s episode, Eileen explains these roles and gives examples. I also speak with Amani Thurman, a college freshman with experience as a rebel and who has begun stepping into the role of an advocate.

Which role do you typically take?

Also appearing in this episode is Elizabeth Jeremiah, a comic creation of mine. Hope you enjoy her.

Whaling, Quakers, and Alternative Energies

If you are concerned about the climate, it is important to be able to talk about the economy. The folks who struggle the most to accept the challenges of our climate crisis most often say they are more worried about how climate action will affect the economy. This is a valid concern and one worth addressing. A complete alteration of our energy system and supply will no doubt affect specific industries–namely fossil fuel companies and employees.

This is not our first rodeo. We have made major changes in the energy we use over the past 300 years. Whale oil and the whaling industry loomed large in the 18th Century into the 19th Century. Fortunes were made through the hunting and killing of whales in order to manufacture profitable products, particularly whale oil that was used for lamps, soaps, machine lubricants, and margarine. In colonial New England the whaling industry was dominated by Quakers. According to the site Quakers in the World:

So lucrative was the trade in sperm whale oil that by 1790 Nantucket Quakers reported to Yearly Meeting that ‘there were no poor people on the island’. By the 1830’s the value of whale products on Nantucket alone exceeded $1 million and this was well below that of New Bedford.

A number of factors (including in-fighting among Friends) interfered with the seemingly limitless prosperity of the Quaker whalers.

During the 1840s Nantucket began to lose its place at the forefront of whaling. A disastrous fire in 1846, coupled with disputes between various Quaker factions on the island, led to the demise of the industry there. By 1850 Nantucket whaling was no more. The arrival of the railroad in New Bedford had driven the last nail in the coffin of Nantucket as a centre for whaling and New Bedford became the ‘city that lit the world’ with its whale oil.

But the golden age of whaling was past. The opening of the Pennsylvania oilfields in the late 1850s sounded the death knell for the whaling industry. The last whaling ship left Nantucket in 1869 never to return. By the 1880s whaling in New Bedford had also ceased.

The whale industry floundered and diminished. According to Wikipedia:

The use of whale oil saw a steady decline starting in the late 19th century due to the development of superior alternatives and, later, the passing of environmental laws.

renewable energy crossword

Superior alternatives were developed and mined–namely fossil fuels, one of the first alternative energy sources.

Today we must replace those alternatives of old with new ones that do not pollute and compromise our atmosphere and climate. Just like we replaced the inhumane practice of whale hunting with the extraction of fossil fuels, we now have the opportunity to develop less harmful sources of energy. Some industries will lose out–coal and petroleum in particular–but that is the nature of a market-driven economy. Trains get replaced by cars which get replaced by planes which get replaced by magic carpet. Well, who knows what is next.

So for those of us interested in communicating with friends, neighbors, and co-workers about climate change, it is important to know how to speak about the economy. And to help with that here is an excerpt from the Climate Stew Show where I talk about the economy and how even Conservative economists have begun to advocate for climate action. The risks of doing nothing threaten our economy. The costs of inaction is too great and will disrupt stability. The rewards of acting are manifold. (transcript below)

Transcript

Our Climate News story today is about the economy. Wait, what? Yeah, turns out it’s not only scientists and lawmakers tracking the effects of global warming, but economists have begun to raise concerns about the possible financial consequences of a changing climate and the added costs of delaying action. They also are offering some possible economic models to address the situation.

Henry Paulson, who served as Treasury secretary under President George W. Bush, knows a thing or two about inflated bubbles that burst in our faces. He played a key role during the global financial meltdown of 2008 and compares the housing bubble that laid low economies worldwide to what he is seeing as a growing global warming bubble.

During a panel presentation at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, Paulson framed the climate crisis in economic terms, “I am looking at this through the lens of risk – climate change is not only a risk to the environment but it is the single biggest risk that exists to the economy today,” He predicts that as governments and businesses partner to take on climate change and the necessary transition from dirty to clean energy, it will result in economic growth. Earlier in the year he specifically proposed a carbon tax as a way of curbing emissions and jumpstarting a market-driven energy revolution.

And if we know anything about how the world works, nothing motivates action faster than the fear of losing money and the promise of a get rich quick scheme. But the question is can the high and mighty business leaders and policy makers who harness capitalism to address our climate crisis do it with an eye towards justice? Likely input from the people on the ground is needed.

New England Quakers Respond to Climate Change: Faithfulness & Jutice

Last spring met at Woolman Hill Quaker Retreat Center in New England and spent time in silent contemplation and worship regarding our current climate crisis. These Friends released an epistle based on this spring gathering discussions. It is a beautifully worded letter that communicates a faith-centered and justice-centered view of global warming.

They write:

It is clear to us that our precious earth is facing enormous destruction as a result of human over-consumption of fossil fuels and other resources, particularly in our own country and other highly developed nations. The consequences of the earth’s systemic response are already exacerbating issues with which Friends are concerned, including peace, justice, equality, and right use of resources. Climate change now permeates our societies, our politics, and our moral condition. The poor and marginalized are and will be the most deeply affected by the climatic and ecosystem changes under way, and the social instability and conflict which is resulting.

God is calling us to respond as a community of faith. Climate change is not just one concern among many to be carried by only some among us. We all live on this planet and are contributing to its destruction. It is incumbent upon every Friend and every Friends Meeting to seek actively to discover how God is leading us to do our part to reverse this great crime. Recognizing that we, gathered here, are shaped and limited in our understanding by our economic and social position, nevertheless the divine Witness challenges us, in compassion and in love for our brothers and sisters, and for the beautiful earth, to pray, wait, and act with a focus and fearlessness appropriate to the urgency of the times. Truth requires it of us.

They go on to list specific ways that we can act including:

Friends are feeling led under religious concern to travel among us, to provide prophetic ministry around these concerns and to help meetings prayerfully reflect on climate change. We ask Friends to open their doors to such visitors and provide opportunities for them to share their witness amongst us and with our surrounding communities. To encourage these leadings to travel, meetings can provide minutes, elders, and financial support to such Friends.
Growing numbers of Friends are led to engage in civil disobedience and other forms of prophetic witness against the destruction of the earth, such as voluntary carbon tax. When Friends act they are not alone. They act for the whole community. We can provide minutes of support and help with legal fees, fines, jail support, and support for the families of those carrying out such actions.

You can read the entire epistle on the New England Yearly Meeting website: Epistle from the Second New England Climate Spring Gathering: A Call to Corporate Faithfulness in a Time of Climate Change

Blessed are the Parasites for they may benefit the Earth

Anyone who has heard even one episode of Climate Stew knows my mind goes in weird directions and makes bizarre connections. When dealing with our climate crisis, I believe we need to think outside the bin and take on fresh approaches.

As a Christian who is a Bible scholar and a member of a Quaker meeting, I sometimes look at climate change as a faith issue and a theological one. While I have lots of material about Queer Theology, I am still working out my thoughts about global warming issues and the Bible. Usually I hear Jewish and Christian believers insist that we are to be good stewards of the planet.

Questioning Stewardship

In Episode 28: Reeking of Faith–Religious Communities and a Warming Planet, I interviewed Rachel Winner at the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development. We chatted about lots of things including the stewardship view of the world. I pushed back, but still hadn’t worked out all my thoughts.

Last month I heard Father Joe Schwab, a Franciscan priest concerned about climate change. He spoke at a rally in Phoenix, and in his short address raised the issue of stewardship and then challenged it. Are we really these outsiders overseeing the care for creation or are we an part of a system that we need more than it needs us?

The next day in Quaker meeting for worship my mind turned over Fr. Joe’s statements on stewardship. Then my mind travelled to weird places, particularly my intestines and the many microbes swimming in it, many of which are beneficial parasites.

Below is audio of both Fr. Joe’s short remarks and my oddball reflection. (see full transcript below)

Main Section: Stewardship Revisited

As part of my epic tour of the the American Southwest earlier this fall, I attended a climate change rally in Phoenix Arizona. The organizers, mostly faith-based groups, focused on the moral imperatives to act to address climate change. I recorded most of the speakers, and in future episodes will share some of what they had to say. But for this episode I have for you the public comments of Father Joe Schwab of the Franciscan Renewal Center, which you can visit at thecasa.org.

I admit that when the priest approached the microphone wearing his flowing brown Franciscan robe, similar to the one my childhood parish priest wore, I did not expect too much. At best I thought I would hear the same old talking points about how we are required to be good stewards of the planet. Instead Father Joe surprised me with his twist on the stewardship message. I’ll play you what I recorded and then share the thoughts it dislodged in my head the following day in Quaker meeting.

Here is some of Fr. Joe’s message:
Inspired by Pope Francis, the Franciscan Renewal Center decided to amplify his call for decisive action at the United Nations Paris Climate Talks in December. To this end, we invited a variety of organization to join together to speak with one voice on the moral imperative that we act NOW to address global climate change. For Franciscans and Franciscan- hearted people this is not a new focus. We have been dedicated for the last 800 years to understanding St. Francis’ call to be brothers and sister to all of creation. St. Francis saw himself in a kinship relationship with the rest of creation. This kinship relationship is like the workings of a family. He did not see himself as something separate, like a steward standing outside the created world striving to guard it. Rather he saw himself on the inside, one of the created world and protecting it as he would protect his own mother, sister or brother. This stance of St. Francis created a different relationship with the rest of the world, a more humble one. As in a family, he saw his relationship with the rest of the world as being mutual, with each being having something to offer and each having something to learn.

Response:
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word, Steward, no concrete image comes to mind. Well, other than Stewie from the Family Guy. I can’t think of a person I know who is a steward.. A friend of mine for a time was the warden of the Friends Meeting in Oxford England. In America we would call that person a Caretaker or a Super or Manager of Buildings and Grounds. But I don’t anyone who is a steward.

Steward is an archaic word like covenant and kinship. These old timey words have a formal weight to them but do not resonate like the words barista, guidance counselor, or caretaker. A caretaker is in charge of things and land. But when we are talking about being stewards of the earth we know that also includes looking after many living things, animals and people. Some words that might apply then are Caregiver or the British term, Carer, for someone who assists a person with medical needs. We also have the word attendant and assistant.

All these terms though I find problematic when talking about climate change and the earth. There is a distance, an othering about them. I care for you. You need me. But is that really the relationship we have to the natural world and the atmosphere?

I am not a touchy feeling granola new age environmentalist, but even I can see that there is an interconnectedness. When I breath out, I release a little bit of carbon dioxide and a lot of nitrogen. The carbon dioxide is in turn absorbed by plants and ultimately gets transformed and released as oxygen.

I am not a distant other caring for a needy planet. Rather I am part of a system, one that I need for food, air, and life.

If I were to be cynical about it though, the actual relationship I see that humans have with the planet is parasitical. A parasite is an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host’s expense. We have a negative connotation to the word parasite. It can be used as an insult in an argument, “I tell you Leonard, I can’t take any more. You are sucking the life out of you. You are an emotional and financial parasite!”

My husband is writing a novel that includes a character that is a tape worm, so over meals and before going to sleep, I have heard a far too much about parasites. Now there are actually good parasite, beneficial parasites. Researchers have begun to point out that many intestinal parasites actually help us.. These microbes swimming in our guts might be responsible for activating our immune system and staving off problems caused by intestinal inflammation. There is a give and take with these parasites in our systems. We benefit each other.

While it doesn’t sound terribly appealing, I believe that instead of seeing ourselves as stewards of the earth, we should think about how we can be downright neighborly beneficial parasites on this planet.

The reality is we need the earth far more than it needs us. As we alter the chemistry of the atmosphere and harm multiple species, ultimately the earth will move on and reorganize itself to the new conditions it faces. It will adapt. If need be, it will do so without out, ejecting us from the system.

While I do not see us as stewards or caretakers or caregivers brought in to manage and save a sick planet and eco-system, I do think we have our part in undoing the damage that we have done, well as much as we can. If like St. Francis preached, the natural world and all in it is family to us, sisters, brothers, and others, kin, we can right the relationship where we have been cruel, selfish, or thoughtless. We can take our part.

As St. Francis said, Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in God’s sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received…but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.

Music credits:

A Warm Day in March performed by Romo on the Afterthoughts (EP)
Familiar Faces by Derlei on the Mellow Morning (EP)
Créditos by Raúl Díaz Palomar on Música Para Poder Contra Verdad (BSO)

Overwhelmed by the Internet? Tips for navigating a cyber-driven world

I admit it, I am not only a consumer of the Internet, I am consumed by it. Pretty much every waking moment of my day, except for when I am in the pool or in the shower, I am looking at the screen of desktop computer, an iPad, and a smart phone or all three at the same time. When I drive, I listen to podcasts and might occasionally (clears throat) check emails or Twitter. I like to think of it as multi-tasking, but really it is just out of control.

Don’t get me wrong I love the Internet and use it regularly as a vital tool in my work as a performance artist and activist. I setup and advertise gigs, research, write, learn, and share ideas. It connects me with the most important people in my life–family and friends who live far away or even nearby. I get educated, challenged, and entertained through the myriad options it offers. And like most people I get drawn into rabbit holes of endless Youtube video watching, celebrity gossip, and porn–which include naked bodies but also garden supplies, shaving equipment, and coffee making products. Other than passing out through a sleeping pill, there is no easier way to see two hours disappear right before your eyes than to casually approach the Internet.

Pensive Peterson Toscano

What is your morning ritual? What are the first things you do when you wake up? For me it almost always has been:

Move a cat off my body (I don’t toss and turn as much as my husband so they end up settling on me)
Then I reach over in the dark and miraculously plop my hand right onto iPhone.
I first check Twitter. Any retweets? Responses?
I then check Facebook. How many people like my post? Who responded? How can I respond back?
Then I check my email which will not only be flooded with junk (no, I do not want to give her pleasure all night. I am sure she can handle that herself.) and with work-related messages. Typically something annoys me that requires a response, and my mind immediately starts formulating the words.
Finally I get out of bed feeling grumpy and rushed even before my first cup of coffee.

Last week I tried something new. Something that felt strangely radical. I decided that I would not go on-line for the first hour of my day. No iPhone check ins, no New York Times on my iPad, no quick peek at the notifications on my desk top. I pretended that the Internet did’t exist. Not an option. What happens then?

I actually have some experience with this. Whenever I am home these day, I try to make Sundays an Internet-free day (I allow for some texting or else I might hyperventilate.) I wrote about it some months ago: Silent Sundays–My Personal Digital Detox. My Internet-free Sundays are some of my happiest days of the week. I can relax in a whole different way. Enjoy a book. Focus on a household chore and find joy in the moment. Settle into conversation, cooking, or listening to music without the constant tug to look something up.

So these days I am trying to start the day without the Internet. I turn on the light, look at my wristwatch (something I needed to buy because of Internet-free Sundays) and reach for book. I have been reading Eileen Flanagan’s Renewable–One Woman’s Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope. Like me, Eileen is a Quaker concerned about climate change and wants to figure out how to move beyond simply lowering our individual carbon footprint to engaging in climate action. I also have started reading Jennifer Grace Bird’s new book, Permission Granted–Take the Bible into Your Own Hands. It is the perfect book for someone like me who is serious about the Bible and needs to sort through years of religious oppression.

After reading in bed for about 30 minutes, I get up, greet my hubby in the kitchen, make coffee or tea and a little breakfast, then sit in the living room and read our local paper, The Sunbury Daily Item, which gets delivered to our house and then fed to our composting worms, used in the garden, recycled. When I say local paper, I mean I practically read about what is happening in my own patio. I learn about local and regional politics, read the letters to the editors, scan the events for the day (lots of bingo and fish fries these days) and look for specials at the nearby stores.

I clean up the dishes, make some more tea or coffee, then head up to my study relaxed, focused, and in a good mood.

With so much information out there, much of it bad news or scary news, along with the billions of ways to distract ourselves from the pain of this world, I find I need to protect myself from too much time on-line. It may sound like a little step, but so far that first hour without Internet centers me for much of the day.

What about you? How do you manage your time on-line?

Climate Stew on WRUW in Cleveland, OH!

WRUW FM 91.1 out of Case Western Reserve University this week featured an interview with me and TWO episodes of Climate Stew on the Ears to the Ground program. I sound a little alien because to he Skype connection, but it comes through nice and clear. Special thanks to Jed Walsh for telling Ears to the Ground about the show. See what happens when you share Climate Stew!

Ears to the Ground is a public affairs show focused on environmental issues and activism hosted by two Case Western Reserve University undergraduate students Jason Walsh and Laura Hurst.

developing queer Quaker comic justice faith responses to climate change

Jason and Laura asked how I decided to use comedy and theater to address LGBTQ issues, religion, and climate change. We talk about being a Quaker and how that informs my work and view of the climate crisis. We explore environmental justice, intersectionality, and even what messages about global warming we can get from the Bible. Water rights and the Bible anyone? We look at women and climate change, the recycling myth, and much more. Big point: This is NOT simply an environmentalist issue. We need to wrestle the message away from environmentalists and create new narratives and use new lenses.

The hour-long program starts with the lively interview and then the episodes. You can listen here. Enjoy!

Tag: Quaker