Encyclical on Climate Change & Inequality: On Care for Our Common Home

"Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the people."

Pope Francis

On Care for Our Common Home

The Pope has come to visit America!!! And its a really big deal. Boehner, House Speaker, cried during the Popes speech; pundits are shouting "Socialist!" Our little Pope has really shaken things up. Which is something that he has been really good at for the three years of his Pontificate. 

I figured maybe I should read his Encyclical on Climate Change & Inequality, as it is what he has come to the US to talk about, and it seems to be these ideas that have really shaken thinks up. This is the first religious document I have read in years. I am not religious. I do think that it is useful, though, and that it is very important, as it plays a large role in peoples lives (there are roughly 2.4 billion Christians in the world, about 1.25 billion are Catholic). This belief influences the decision making of a large percentage of the world. The Pope is a very powerful man.

This letter is a bit of an odd ball. Most encyclicals are addressed only to the body of believers. This one is also geared towards those who don't believe. I think this was a very wise move on the part of the Pope. It states that this issue is so big, so important, that we need everyone to think about it and discuss it. I also liked the linking of the issues of climate change and inequality. These two issues are not often discussed together, though they should be, because the effects of climate change will largely effect developing nations, an the poor are less likely to have the financial stability to adapt to the rapidly changing situations.

The letter is structured in several different parts. This first part discusses the effects of climate change, and how the consumer culture feeds into. The second part of the letter, directed at believers, discusses the creation story and how the creatures of the earth are equal to humans, but how humans are the keepers of the garden and they should look after it responsibly, with thought to all of Gods creatures. The third part looks into how we have gotten into the situation we are in, the human role in climate change and inequality. It focuses largely on the capitalist and consumer economies and how they are harmful to the planet and ourselves with the amount of waste they produce. The next two parts outline how we should use technology and capitalism responsibly, and steps that we can take to remedy the problem. The concluding section of the book, while dire, is also hopeful. We can fix the mess we've made. The letter is ended with a prayer. 

I really liked this letter. It is the first religious document that I have read in a while, and it was a bit difficult for me to find the rhythm of it, but it had many very important points. I really liked how the Pope acknowledge the complexity of the issues, and how they are large and far reaching. Change in climate will effect health, food production, coast lines, availability to clean water, etc.. Its a far reaching problem that will affect everyone. "The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life."

I also really liked that he advocated for a "culture of care" and discussed how the decisions that we will be making must be farsighted looking down the road years. This is something that America seems to have a problem with, cutting funding for education and infrastructure, which for me is just so weird to think about. Even though I don't have a kid in school, I have no problem paying higher taxes for schools because I want my doctors and engineers twenty years from now to have had a great education before they cut into my body or build the plane I will travel in.

He discusses some of the reasons for this short-nearsightedness, this lack of care, and comes to the conclusion that it is still so prevalent because "in practice, we continue to tolerate that some consider themselves more human than others, as if they had been born with greater rights." This, to me, is a profound and tragic statement which explains many of the systematic injustices that we see far to often in the world.

The one thing that I did not like in this piece was its inclusion and stance on abortion. While only mentioned twice in the letter, the way the issue is discussed, I think detracts from the Popes argument. The Pope states that 

"Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other venerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when the presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties. "If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away."  

I think that this argument is a particularly weak argument that doesn't acknowledge all of the reasons a woman may chose to have an abortion (health risks are a large one, as well as dangerous complications in carrying a baby to term). There are several arguments that are pro-abortion that grant that the life of the fetus is of equal value of the rights of the mother (for an thorough look at one of these arguments I highly recommend Judith Jarvis Thompson's piece A Defense of Abortion)  I also don't see how choosing to have an abortion could lead to a devaluing of other life, and this statement is a slippery slope argument that detracts from his argument for a culture of care. I think his argument for care of our world and consideration for all beings as equal would be much stronger if he had either not touched on the abortion issue, or elaborated on it further.

This being my only complaint with the Encyclical is pretty awesome. I'm a big fan of the Pope and his radical changes to church doctrine, the emphasis on tolerance and love. He is bringing light to issues that need to be discussed, and I really like his ideas on a culture of care. I highly recommend this letter. I think everyone should read it.

These are extremely important issues that need to be discussed, and the more people who are informed and present the more productive the conversation will be. The UN recently met to discuss and establish 17 global goals that they want to meet in by 2030. I highly recommend checking them out here. Climate change and inequality are highly influential in 9 of the 17 goals. How we act now on these goals will greatly influence how the future will be, and so I ask everyone to read this and ask yourself what kind of a world you want to live in, fifteen years from now.