For many years I have sensed that there is something wrong or missing in my environmental beliefs. After thinking about it for years, reading books, attending and giving workshops, and spending as much time as I can outside, I think I can finally articulate what has been nagging at me. It is both a cultural and a spiritual problem and it has to do with how we view the world and how we view ourselves in it.
From a secular environmental perspective we talk about “preserving our environment” or “Protecting our (or the) environment.” From a religious perspective we talk of caring for Gods earth or being good stewards of our natural resources. Environmental organizations talk about protecting and preserving our natural resources or being good managers of wildlife habitats. Everything from trees to deer herds to trout populations are “managed” by a variety of state and federal agencies. I could go on and on with examples but what all of these statements have in common is that they reflect a basic attitude of ownership. We see ourselves as the species that is (and ought to be) in charge of managing every single thing on the planet from mineral to mammal. We do not seem to notice that this is the same view that has led us to where we are today. It is this same view that has led to the destruction of the natural world. This view of the world is rarely questioned except by indigenous peoples who we see as inferior both technologically and culturally.
I believe that this attitude is ingrained in us through our culture and has its foundation in western religions. Our entire civilization is built upon this view. If we wish to survive, I believe it will take a shift in this attitude and not solar panels. If we want to be able to live in a way that is sustainable, it will take a shift in this attitude and not wind turbines. Even if everything in our wildest “environment movement” dreams were to be put into practice, it would not change much because our civilization would continue to run full-steam ahead devouring the planet.
What is the shift in attitude? It is one of relationship. We do not have knowledge of the world based on relationship. Our knowledge is based on taking things apart to get at their secrets. Our knowledge is based on being an outside observer gathering data. Forests, rivers, lakes, animals, and insects are not our friends. We don’t see them as fellow inhabitants of this planet who have just as much a right to be here as we do. If we did we would treat them much differently. We know enough about the how the natural world works but we do not “know” the natural world intimately. It’s the difference between reading books about someone and even observing someone but not living with them. Of course, sometimes we can live with someone and still not know them, so I should add that we need to live with them, talk to them, listen to them, and pay attention to them. On a daily basis very few of us (including myself) have the time to build a relationship like this with the natural world.
So what then? Should billions of people go back and live on farms? Honestly, I don’t know. But I think a major shift in our consciousness would ignite some ideas. If millions of people suddenly realized that they do not own the world and that we are merely privileged to be traveling through it at this moment in time along with all of the other non-human inhabitants, we as people might be able to see a new way.
