James chased me about an email drawing attention to his recent blog. It ruminated on the difference between personal morality and social ethics. He asked the question, "Do we overconcentrate on the first to the detriment of the latter?" The clothing factory fire disaster in Dhaka had got him thinking. He has a friend who undertakes quality inspection for textiles imports, so it was close to home.
"Yea," I offered, sipping from my Leaders Day polystyrene cup. "I went on this Green workshop in Leeds. When delegates arrived, they were given a regular mug and told, 'You can make drinks any time during the day, so hang on to your mug, and wash it up.' Don't know why we can't do that." (I do, but I still find the vast quantity of 'disposables' waste our events create, excessive.)
James obviously had clothing in mind. I was on my soapbox again. "I refused to buy another London Day teeshirt when we brought out the new design. For a start, the one I had was still colour-fast, and second, I was suspicious where the new ones were sourced from at the price." (James assured me that our Resources team do check sources.) I'd explained how I felt to our household when we were compiling the order list at Agape. They just went, 'Duh.' PDCMs (Poor Deprived Community Members) - 'Why wouldn't you buy a new teeshirt when you're allowed to?' If I hadn't been able to go off into the back kitchen and wash the pans, I think I'd have banged my head against the wall. Sickened by consumerism. People just find me odd.
Perhaps I should declare my credentials. I'm a Chartered Environmentalist. That came about because my professional Engineering Institution invited members to record their contributions to sustainability. I wrote a nice CV piece about Atmos high efficiency and renewable energy, and my reflections on how Christians had generally failed to enter the debate. They signed me up. My roots into the Green movement go back a long way, to just after Gordon Rattray Taylor's 1968 book The Biological Timebomb, subsequent to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. (Mick knew his daughter in Coventry.)
However, I don't read in the New Testament that even though the church works in the world, its systemic problems deriving from sin, injustice, inequality, violence and greed get overthrown wholesale. By definition, the devil and fallen humanity create a cosmos perfectly tuned to keep people trapped. Peter's Pentecost sermon invited his hearers to escape its corruption (specifically the contemporary widespread rejection of Jesus as Messiah).
I fear that the present magnified focus on William Wilberforce may sell short the full account and direction of the gospel's impact in that period of our history. Do I hear a rallying call motivated as much by the loss of public reputation as a desire to draw today's church into a conscience-led path of sacrificial world-indifference? And I know there's George Otis Jnr's very popular Transformation video series. They are testimony to a measure of social and environmental redemption that was an out-turn of the church seeking the Kingdom of God, not an initial objective.
I don't want to throw water on a friendly bonfire. We do serve Fairtrade drinks in the Jesus Centre. White and Bishop/E-Outdoor stocks a range of ethical clothing. Atmos won a special mention in the Ethical Consumer Directory. I've testified in many immigration residency appeal cases, and borne abuse for it. And I like the comment, "The most ethical document you've got in your home is your bank statement."
But things aren't idealistic. We made a valiant attempt to turn our church/community vehicle fleet more green friendly with advanced diesel engines. When we suffered innumerable instances of saints filling up with four-star petrol and wrecking the said units, we realised this wasn't going to work. One brother managed to do it three times.
So maybe ethical responsibility starts with more emphasis on the responsibility than the ethical? And it's doomed to remain the province of a highly self-actualised and principled minority. Which is sad.
"Yea," I offered, sipping from my Leaders Day polystyrene cup. "I went on this Green workshop in Leeds. When delegates arrived, they were given a regular mug and told, 'You can make drinks any time during the day, so hang on to your mug, and wash it up.' Don't know why we can't do that." (I do, but I still find the vast quantity of 'disposables' waste our events create, excessive.)
James obviously had clothing in mind. I was on my soapbox again. "I refused to buy another London Day teeshirt when we brought out the new design. For a start, the one I had was still colour-fast, and second, I was suspicious where the new ones were sourced from at the price." (James assured me that our Resources team do check sources.) I'd explained how I felt to our household when we were compiling the order list at Agape. They just went, 'Duh.' PDCMs (Poor Deprived Community Members) - 'Why wouldn't you buy a new teeshirt when you're allowed to?' If I hadn't been able to go off into the back kitchen and wash the pans, I think I'd have banged my head against the wall. Sickened by consumerism. People just find me odd.
Perhaps I should declare my credentials. I'm a Chartered Environmentalist. That came about because my professional Engineering Institution invited members to record their contributions to sustainability. I wrote a nice CV piece about Atmos high efficiency and renewable energy, and my reflections on how Christians had generally failed to enter the debate. They signed me up. My roots into the Green movement go back a long way, to just after Gordon Rattray Taylor's 1968 book The Biological Timebomb, subsequent to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. (Mick knew his daughter in Coventry.)
However, I don't read in the New Testament that even though the church works in the world, its systemic problems deriving from sin, injustice, inequality, violence and greed get overthrown wholesale. By definition, the devil and fallen humanity create a cosmos perfectly tuned to keep people trapped. Peter's Pentecost sermon invited his hearers to escape its corruption (specifically the contemporary widespread rejection of Jesus as Messiah).
I fear that the present magnified focus on William Wilberforce may sell short the full account and direction of the gospel's impact in that period of our history. Do I hear a rallying call motivated as much by the loss of public reputation as a desire to draw today's church into a conscience-led path of sacrificial world-indifference? And I know there's George Otis Jnr's very popular Transformation video series. They are testimony to a measure of social and environmental redemption that was an out-turn of the church seeking the Kingdom of God, not an initial objective.
I don't want to throw water on a friendly bonfire. We do serve Fairtrade drinks in the Jesus Centre. White and Bishop/E-Outdoor stocks a range of ethical clothing. Atmos won a special mention in the Ethical Consumer Directory. I've testified in many immigration residency appeal cases, and borne abuse for it. And I like the comment, "The most ethical document you've got in your home is your bank statement."
But things aren't idealistic. We made a valiant attempt to turn our church/community vehicle fleet more green friendly with advanced diesel engines. When we suffered innumerable instances of saints filling up with four-star petrol and wrecking the said units, we realised this wasn't going to work. One brother managed to do it three times.
So maybe ethical responsibility starts with more emphasis on the responsibility than the ethical? And it's doomed to remain the province of a highly self-actualised and principled minority. Which is sad.
1 comment:
I've been thinking hard about ethical choices. I've chosen to be a member of this church and support all we as a group stand for, but if I lived in my own little house doing my own thing I would do more in terms of making ethical choices. It's a balance- not getting distracted from building the church and not being ignorant about the world around us.
Last year I had a "buy no clothes" year. It was my way of standing against the consumerism/vanity of the fashion industry and I was really blessed by what God provided through the year- including footwear and undies :-D. I will be keeping this up as a small ethical stand I can make.
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