ments on eco-justice.
Day: The seminar is intentionally called “Wealth and Poverty.” Too often poverty is isolated as an issue, and the poor are distinguished as a category of people who are different from everyone else. The title of the course signals its orientation: this is about distributive justice—how and why the resources are so unevenly and unfairly distributed.
part of budget cuts, but that our com- munities have development plans for attracting grocers to “food deserts” and cultivation of local gardens. As much as the faith community does to feed the hungry, it is only a fraction of what the government pro- vides. In 2006 there were 35.5 mil- lion food-insecure Americans. If we doubled charitable food, there would still be 32 million Americans who would be food insecure. Both the ELCA and the PCUSA have been faithful in producing thoughtful social statements on criti- cal public issues that call for justice. But too often they are only read by a few in our communions. We have to figure out how to move social state- ments off clergy bookshelves so they can truly become calls to action for all the baptized.
When we are able to “live out our
faith on our feet” and to advocate for justice, we will be able to love the stranger more faithfully and more effectively.
Childs: That reminds me of com- mon principles the two bodies share in their respective statements on the environment. These principles—sus- tainability, sufficiency, solidarity, participation—were an important part of the discussion in my recent
course on environmental ethics. Sustainability and sufficiency point to the need for responsible use of the earth’s resources so there will be sufficient goods for the ongoing flourishing of all creatures. Soli- darity underscores the organically integrated unity of humanity and the whole of creation. And participation tells us that justice requires all voices be heard, not just those of the most powerful. Taken together these prin- ciples are norms for “eco-justice,” a concept that understands care for the creation to be bound up with all manner of justice concerns: the over- coming of poverty, peacemaking, the quest for food security, redressing terrible gaps in the distribution of wealth, and the continuing scandal of discrimination and oppression. These lingering injustices are con- cerns of the comprehensive notion of eco-justice. Thus, poverty and envi- ronmental degradation are connected as are greedy economic practices and the loss of species, the loss of nonre- newable resources, and the spread of pollution. In sum, economic justice and eco-justice are inseparable—you can’t have one without the other. Katie, I understand that you teach a course on poverty. I’d like to know something about that. Maybe it con- nects in some ways with my com-
As Scripture testifies, God wills that everyone has enough—enough food, water, shelter, education, health, safety—so they can live out fully all they have been created to be. The earth and its abundant gifts are the resources we have been given to sustain life for the whole human com- munity. Clearly, distributive justice and eco-justice are interrelated. In order to fairly distribute resources, we have to nurture and protect just relations in society. Where there is injustice, community has been broken—many “have nots” means there are too many “haves” with too much.
Our interconnectedness with each other and with the whole creation is not an abstract idea. Part of our voca- tion as baptized followers of Jesus is to pay attention to how and where the distribution and use of the resources we have been given is lopsided. The Bible constantly directs our attention to the most vulnerable—both human and environmental.
By redirecting our gaze, we best see where we need to direct our efforts to restore God’s shalom. It might mean paying less attention to new grocery stores and more to where hunger exists in our commu- nity; or shifting our focus from auto industry stock prices to how we are getting the fuel for our cars. This will instruct us not only about injustice, but about what it will take to change the situation.
September 2012 19
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