OMG The Vatican said something I found interesting!!

Normally I have about the same opinion of the Vatican that Penn & Teller so eloquently portrayed in the most recent season finale of their Showtime show, Bullshit. (Fantastic show by the way, even when I disagree.) However, there was something I found interesting to come from the Vatican–their review of James Cameron’s Avatar.

I haven’t read the actual review, I’ve just read summaries of it, and I’m taking it all with a grain of salt. But (not that I’ve been paying attention) this is one of the first pro-published reviews of Avatar I’ve heard of that has called Avatar on their BS, both the lack of meaty story, and the tired environmental message. It’s pretty easy in the SF/F world to find some people seriously upset with Cameron’s “white man gone native” tale of a race blue kitty minorities who need the strong white warrior’s help defeating the evil white people who want to rape their planet. Jeez, just typing out the pitch makes me want to yawn. It’s a piss poor story that we’ve seen before, a lot, and that we should all, white or not, be insulted by.

But, racial issues aside, what I find interesting is that the Vatican leveled an interesting charge at Avatar. It accused James Cameron of encouraging people to forget about God and instead indulge in nature/environmental worship. We all have heard the “Taking God out of the world” whine, but the idea of environmental/”green” worship is very interesting to me.

At this point anyone who knows me is going to say “But Michele, you’re PAGAN. Isn’t that nature worship?” It can be, but not the way I do it. I mean, I don’t pay to trees, or birds, or the dirt. I do thank my meat for feeding my family. I do offer plenty of space in my area for plant growth. I feed the birds our stale cereal and bread ends.

But when a treeling starts growing against my house I remove it. And when weeds sprout in my garden I pluck them. I spray for pests if needed, and I use a washer and dryer.

The thing is there is A LOT of pressure, and a lot of misinformation out there. There are massive debates on exactly how much energy, after transport and everything is factored in, recycling saves. The current green movement pushes people to buy pretty expensive (at least to my budget) cars, appliances and products that “save energy” then upgrade immediately in a year or two when something more efficient comes along. Today’s brand new washers might save a lot of water, but at $1k or more for just the washer, plus manufacturing costs, transport costs and the eventual transport away and disposal cost how much does it really help? And at that price I can tell you it is completely impossible for a large section of the populace to afford the energy saving appliances in the first place. Often these are the exact same people who would use, to their lifestyles and pocket books, that kind of energy efficiency. Ironic that I could save a lot of money if I upgrade my dryer, but when I was forced to do so last year the bottom of the line, least effcient dryer was all I could afford.

Likewise, my house, built in the early 1900s, has uneven floors and drafty windows, old doors that don’t seal right, and no insulation in the walls. I could save a lot of money on my winter bills if we jacked up the foundation, got foam insulation, replaced my windows and doors, but I’m too busy trying to make sure I can shell out the $300+ a month it takes to keep my home at a level where my indoor plants don’t die due to frost to make my home more energy efficient.

Yet the the movement has no sympathy, or understanding, for people who cannot keep up with this incredibly capitalistic “Green movement”. Look around, take inventory of how much of the “be green” equates to “buy something” to be green. And if you aren’t you’re not just “not with it” You’re personally killing the environment.

Even the relatively new carbon credits say if you give these companies money they “promise” to use it to fund alternative energy programs. Right, like so many companies promised to pay their employees. And promised balloon payment mortgages and subprime loans were a great idea. Al Gore also notoriously used 12 times the energy of an average American home, and sure he, when taken to task, could afford to make changes to improve his consumption. (Would he have if he hadn’t been taken to task?)

So I have to ask when did “Buy this shiny new thing” become part of Reduce Reuse and Recycle? And when did Reduce and Reuse stop being a part of it.

Environmental responsibility isn’t about living out in a commune where you poop in bucket and bury it (which by the way, led to some serious health issues in the past times where this was our only option.) And it’s not about buying stuff. If anything it’s about NOT buying. It’s about buying local. Buying small. Or using what you already have, even if it needs to be repaired, or reimagined first.

But ask most people and they’ll say to be green you have to ditch the car and buy a hybrid (for $26k or more), ditch the old appliances, even if they still work and buy new ones, buy canvas bags instead of using plastic ones (at my local Kroger these are $2-$5 each), make sure to recycle everything you can that you buy… etc. The television and mainstream movement has taught us that shell out money can relieve us of our responsibility and shame at over using.

How often to you hear, buy less? Compost? Start a neighborhood garden instead of feeding the grocery store’s pockets? Use the hell out of what you have? Buy clothes and canvas bags, etc at a thrift store, or garage sale instead of going out and buying new? Use glass jars for storage, newspaper and junk mail as mulch, or wrapping paper, or in place of paper towels (great for window and mirrors). Use old rubbermaid containers as pots for small veggies, herbs, or just oxygen producing house plants.

And what happens if you offer skepticism to a dyed-in-the-wool greenie? Heck, you don’t even have to encounter an activist in order to be asked why you aren’t doing more to Save the Environment and go green.

I think the Vatican, when summarized, has a point that environmentalism, like capitalism has become more of a driving force in our lives that religion. Even if it trades one set of “Holier than thous” for another the problem is still the same. We revolve so much around a certain definition of environmentalism and “green” that anything outside of it is summarily dismissed, and the ideals within the belief are marked as unquestionable and absolute. So much of our daily stimulation is “Be green–as long as you do it this way, and if you don’t you should be ashamed!” that it might as well be approaching a religious like fever where healthy skepticism, questioning and alternate views are not allowed. And that is an absolute shame.