Think spot
Humble Before The Facts
Nostalgia is selective memory which recalls only
the good aspects of our past lives. But is it nostalgia that
leads me to conclude that our modern world is much more
adversarial, much more caught up in taking sides? And,
whilst I'm grizzling, in our increasingly polarised world it
seems I keep losing the right to use my preferred labels
because I'm not black and white enough. Russell
Morton ponders.
I used to think of myself as a fundamentalist - someone
concerned principally for the fundamentals of faith rather
than the less important matters on which people seem to take
positions - until it became a kind of theological term of
abuse meaning a narrow-minded obscurantist, the opposite of
its original meaning.
Similarly, I'd like to think I am a creationist, who
firmly believes the Creator God is responsible for calling
this wonderful planet into existence, but that term's been
commandeered by people who want it to mean someone who
believes God created the world in a certain way within a
certain time-frame, which tests my credulity.
And now I'm wondering about my right to describe
myself as a conservationist. Not because of my stance on
old-growth logging but because I happen to think there are
other, even more important matters.
It's not a big place, this very special island of ours,
and having carried a pack into many remote corners I know
just how delicate and beautiful our natural environment is.
I desperately want to conserve it. But I don't want to be
captured by the rhetoric, the shibboleths of one strident
faction or another.
And the starting point for me is facts. A teacher
I once worked with insisted 'be humble before the facts'; a
commendable goal. The issues are 'complex, there are many
unanswered questions, and most of us don't even know where
to begin.'1
I find myself less excited by the arguments of the
so-called forestry debate, illumined by half-truth and
debated with little if any humility, but much more excited
by the potential for Christian people to demonstrate a
higher order commitment to nurturing relationships and
building a community.
You see, I don't subscribe to the view that the Christian
understanding of the world has led to the destruction of the
environment. Having lived in countries with negligible
Christian influence I've seen the same kinds of
environmental problems being created. At issue are not
matters of faith per se but matters of greed, the problems
of the human heart.
Where Christians need to lead the way is in
exemplifying 'what it is to speak well of others while
disagreeing with them.' It has always been central to the
earliest Christian instruction that truth-speaking, while
uncompromising, must be gentle, careful and respectful:
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks
you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience
... [1 Peter 3:15-16] 1
Yes, we can't and shouldn't avoid this debate, or
any of the others looming, whether on nuclear power, stem
cell research or whatever. But as Christians we must be
mindful of, and humble before, the facts, however difficult
it may be to arrive at them. As Christians, we must
exemplify the respect and love for others which our Master
taught us. And as Christians we believe that in the final
analysis it's not a person's position on logging old-growth
forest which matters, but their relationship with the God
who created not just those beautiful forests, but
ourselves.
1 Quoted from Environment - A Christian Response, a
briefing paper by Andrew Cameron and Tracy Gordon of the
Social Issues Executive, Anglican Diocese of Sydney. To
access a free weekly briefing, visit the website.
Photo Chris
Thiele
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