Environmental
Ethics
Evergreen UU Fellowship – 2/7/16
A UU Worship Service
Gathering Music
VIVIAN
(Rings bell three
times)
Please rise as you are able in body or spirit to sing hymn #163
in the Grey Hymnal, “For the Earth Forever Turning.”
BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT
MARILYN
This morning we will be exploring the basis of Environment
Ethics. Environmental Ethics describes
the relationship we ought to have with the natural world and includes issues such
as pollution, resource extraction and the rights of non-human organisms.
MIKE
“Ethics” can be
defined as a cultural conversation about
the deepest values and obligations arising from the problems of living in
community.
MARILYN
The bit about “conversation” indicates that we all have
something to contribute to the exploration and that we have not now, nor will
we ever reach a point of absolute determination.
VIVIAN
Is that what we are doing this morning? Having a conversation?
MIKE
Yes.
VIVIAN
I would like to bring the congregation into the conversation. As a chalice reading please open your grey
hymnal to reading number 550 “We Belong to the Earth.” I will read the regular font and ask you to
read the italics. Mike Mallory will
light the chalice.
(reading)
MARILYN
(Children’s Story)
VIVIAN
Where do we begin?
MARILYN
How about the great rift in ethical thinking? Most ethical systems can be described as
either Deontological or Consequentialism.
MIKE
So, deontology judges the morality of actions based on the
observance of known or ascertainable rules, which impose ethical duties.
VIVIAN
And, consequentialism?
MIKE
Consequentialism imposes ethical duties or obligations based
upon the consequences or outcomes of alternative courses of action. Both systems can get into trouble when there
are conflicts in the underlying values.
MARILYN
Utilitarianism, which only looks to the consequences of an
action, imposes a duty to seek the greatest good for the greatest number.
VIVIAN
If you are the weakest person in a lifeboat with six other
starving castaways, you might want to hold out a while longer in the hope of
rescue or finding an Island, but the others in the boat can reasonably conclude
that the well-being of six is a greater good than the death of one.
MARILYN
A typical Deontological rule is the obligation to be honest.
VIVIAN
A duty to tell the truth has appeal, but if you are Anne
Frank, listening in to the Nazis asking your benefactor if there are any Jews
in the house, you might conclude that the duty to be honest has its limits.
MARILYN
It seems that there are duties, such as the prohibition
against the taking of a life, which should limit the Utilitarian’s efforts to
achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.
VIVIAN
Similarly, we would object to the dogmatic obedience to rules
of the deontologist when they run up against competing values such as the
protection of a child in the case of Anne Frank.
MIKE
One conclusion from these problems is that the consequences
of our actions may act as a limit on our principles and, similarly, that our
principles may act as a limit on a course of action driven by intended
consequences.
VIVIAN
Now is the time in our service for the sharing of deeply
held joys and sorrows. If you would like
to share this morning, please line up on either side of the sanctuary and I
will call you forward. I will light a
candle for you. Please tell us your name
and speak directly into the microphone.
(After last person)
I will light one
more candle for the Joys and Sorrow that remain unspoken.
MARILYN
May all beings be
filled with loving kindness
May all beings be
well
May all beings be
peaceful and at ease
May all beings be
happy
VIVIAN
What is the origin of morality?
MIKE
One answer to that question comes from such thinkers such as
Edward. O. Wilson.
VIVIAN
Natural Selection?
MIKE
Right. He points out that groups which act in cooperative
and altruistic ways toward each other will be more cohesive, supportive and
ultimately have a better survival rate than groups without this proto-morality.
VIVIAN
If our moral sentiments are formed around this vestigial
genetic feature, then they would be limited to a specific group.
MARILYN
Instinctual altruism appears to be tribal without
application to outsiders.
MIKE
In fact, the history of ethics has been the story of ever
more inclusiveness in the group deserving moral concern.
MARILYN
The enslavement of members from within the community would
be abhorrent, yet making slaves of people from outside the community was much
easier to tolerate.
MIKE
The expansion of moral concern has led to the common view
that ethical rules should apply to everyone.
VIVIAN
That sounds like the Golden Rule.
MARILYN
Matthew 7:12 “…do to others
what you would have them do to you.”
VIVIAN
The Golden Rule, which is found in all cultures, shows up in
the Hindu tradition in a negative formulation, “This is the sum of duty: do not
do to others what would cause pain if done to you.”
MARILYN
Is there room in the expansion of moral concern to move
beyond the human community?
MIKE
Environmental Ethics asks us to go further than the Golden
Rule and include the natural world in the sphere of moral concern.
MARILYN
What did Aldo Leopold, the author of the Sand County Almanac
say on this issue?
VIVIAN
He
said, “The history of the
moral development of the human race is the expansion of the sphere of our moral
concern…We acknowledge duties to our selves, then our families, our tribes,
people like us. With increasing sophistication, we acknowledge duties to those
of other races, other nationalities, other sexes, then all creatures that feel
pain. Each progressive step is based on the dawning recognition that the
qualities that make us worthy of moral concern are qualities that we find also
in others, who are not so different from us. The next step in moral development
is to expand the sphere of moral concern to include other forms of life.
MARILYN
But if ethics is a developing conversation, how would other
life-forms take part?
MIKE
Joanna Macy, a deep ecologist and Buddhist scholar, suggests
a Council of All Beings where all life forms would be represented by human spokespeople
in a decision-making process by which they would be affected.
VIVIAN
Please rise as you are able in body or spirit to sing hymn
#21 in the Grey Hymnal, “For the Beauty of the Earth.”
MARILYN
Do our own principles contribute to this conversation?
MIKE
Our Principles are general and open, but Paul Rasor restates
them in a more concrete way in his book, “Reclaiming Prophetic Witness: Liberal
Religion in the Public Square.”
VIVIAN
I will read our principles.
MARILYN
I will read the restatements.
VIVIAN
#1: We affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every
person.
MARILYN
The
Restatement: All human beings have the right to a meaningful and fulfilling
life, including physical safety and economic and social well-being. All persons
have an obligation to help create the conditions within which this well-being
can be most fully realized.
VIVIAN
#7: We respect the
interdependent web of which we are apart.
MARILYN
The
Restatement: Reality is relational, continuously recreated in a dynamic,
open-ended evolutionary process that includes both social and ecological
relationships. Human beings and the natural world constitute a single organic
community in which the health, security, and well-being of each are intertwined
with and dependent on the health, security, and well-being of all. There is no
separation between us and them; we are all us. The transforming power of love.
We affirm the reality of love as a dynamic relational power within and
among us. This power moves us to create relationships of compassion, respect,
mutuality, and forgiveness; to love our neighbors as ourselves; and to
recognize everyone as our neighbor.
VIVIAN
#2: We affirm Justice, Equity and Compassion in human
relations.
MARILYN
The
Restatement: Justice concerns the fair ordering of human relationships,
including social, political, and ecological relationships. Human beings have an
obligation to create institutions, social structures, and environmental
conditions that reflect these values and enable all persons to live with
dignity and respect.
MIKE
We
all seem to be committed to the concept of justice, but we sometimes mean
different things. This matters not one bit, because by any definition of justice,
forcing others to bear the burden of your benefit is unfair. Consider only one
such definition, John Rawls’s theory of justice. Rawls says that if you want to
know whether a distribution of benefits and burdens is fair, all you have to do
is a little thought experiment. Ask yourself, if I didn’t know what position I
would have in the world (whether I would be a present person or a future
person, whether I would be rich or poor, whether I would be African or Inuit),
would I choose a situation in which rich, mostly white people of one or two
generations reap great benefits and impose the costs on other people, notably
future people and the poor? Or do it this way: Would I approve of this
arrangement, if I knew that my worst enemy would have the power to assign me my
place in the world? If the answer is no, then the arrangement in question is
unfair. And of course, the answer is no. No one would freely choose to pay, in
the currency of their suffering and the suffering of their children, in famine
and disease and the risk of human life on Earth, the costs of the reckless
adventures of the wealthy nations. We have an obligation to remedy a situation
that is currently and patently unjust, and one that will only grow more unjust
as time goes on and the future unfolds. (Moral Ground, Kathleen Moor and
Michael Nelson)
MARILYN
We are going to take some time for individual
reflection. I ask you to take a minute
and consider a human or non-human being that is now or will be adversely
affected by the increasing change in our climate. What would they have to say to us now, if
they were fully aware of the looming environmental crisis? In about one minute Mike will ring the
bell. Then you will have a minute or two
to share with your neighbor the voice that spoke to you. Your sharing might be something like this,
“The oyster says the acid in the water is killing my young. Soon there will be no more of us.” When Mike rings the bell a second time, we
will continue our conversation up front.
MARILYN (Con’t)
So, if we have principles that can be reworded to include
the natural world and we check our decisions against the consequences of our
actions, what’s next?
VIVIAN
One word we hear a lot in these discussions is
“sustainability.” “Sustainability”
certainly has ecological meaning, but I believe the term has an ethical
significance by shifting moral focus from individuals to a species as a whole
or perhaps a particular ecosystem.
MARILYN
In other words, we might say that the Polar Bears have a
moral right to exist, even if we wouldn’t grant that right to an individual
bear.
VIVIAN
We might hunt and kill a deer, but have a moral obligation
not to kill all deer.
MARILYN
Yes, the endangered species act is legislation which stems
from this view.
MIKE
There has been widespread colony collapse among honey
bees. More than 40% of American bee
hives died in 2014. A new Harvard study is pointing the finger at a class of
pesticide additives known as neonics.
The EPA is issuing new rules to protect the bees. The top producers of these chemicals, Syngenta and Bayer, are working hard to block
regulations.
MARILYN
Because the honey bees are at
the center of a billion dollar agribusiness, they will have plenty of support.
VIVIAN
What if, instead of honey
bees, it was mosquitoes or yellow-jackets facing extinction. Would they be given a voice?
MARILYN
Isn’t there a human benefit to avoiding extinctions and
maintaining genetic diversity?
MIKE
Most environmentalists would say, “Yes,” but self-interest
is not a basis for moral action. One of
the features of morality is that it asks us to act against our self-interest.
VIVIAN
If you find a wallet with money in it and no one is around
to see you, it might be in your financial best interest to keep the money, but
morality says, “No.”
MIKE
Morality will often demand a sacrifice, financial or
otherwise.
MARILYN
Did you know that the word “sacrifice” shares an etymology
with the word “sacred?” When a goat is
sacrificed to God, the goat is made into a sacred object.
VIVIAN
This is a good time for the offering
(rise)
Please join me in the unison response to the offertory.
This is a
Fellowship of ourselves.
Its energy
and resources are our energy and resources.
Its wealth
is what we share.
When we
contribute to the life of this community
We affirm
our lives within it.
Mary Allen Walden
Would the Greeters, please come forward to collect the
offering.
(When the greeters
have finished step forward to
the front to collect
the baskets.)
MARILYN
What are some of the alternatives in this cultural
conversation?
VIVIAN
Grace Cumming in her book, Survival: A Moral Response to Global Warming, suggests that our
instinct for survival is a basis for Environmental Ethics, at least as it
pertains to Climate Change.
MIKE
I’m unconvinced.
MARILYN
I thought instincts played a part in moral development.
MIKE
Perhaps, but they also play a part in our xenophobia and the
altruism they support are limited to a range between kinship and a specific
tribe. Furthermore, our instinct for
survival will support the kind of lifeboat morality we are trying to avoid.
VIVIAN
If we rule out our instincts and our own best interest as a
moral grounding, then what is left?
MIKE
Another fork in this exploration is the difference between
duties of beneficence and duties to avoid harm.
MARILYN
As a culture we have strong values about restricting actions
which will or might harm others, but we are more reluctant to demand that some
people have a duty to increase the well-being of others.
VIVIAN
It is true that we have clear expectations about not
stealing food from a neighbor. On the
other hand, the duty to provide food for a needy neighbor seems optional
MARILYN
People recognize someone who helps others as a good person,
but we are less likely to think of someone who is stingy or selfish as immoral.
VIVIAN
Generosity seems to be more about character than morality.
MARILYN
There is a cultural expectation that people will act in the
best interest of others when they are in certain relationships such as
parent/child or teacher/ student.
MIKE
Without a special relationship, our best chance of grounding
Environmental Ethics is probably the duty not to harm others.
VIVIAN
Does that extend to harming plants or animals?
MARILYN
We have talked about extending moral concern to animals and
plants collectively by treating a species or an ecosystem as deserving moral
consideration in actions which pose a threat. What about individual animals and
plants?
MIKE
I personally believe that those species which exhibit sentience
should be granted moral individual respect and moral dignity. The Great Ape Personhood movement sponsored
by people like Jane Goodall is working in that direction.
VIVIAN
It seems they have a stronger case than corporations!
MIKE
While a duty of beneficence is problematic, Compensatory
Justice which imposes duties of restitution when one person harms another is as
strong as any cultural values regarding human interactions.
MARILYN
Moral responsibility for harm has a strong moral attraction,
but compensation seems problematic when, as in the case of Climate Change, the
harm is done to people in the future or to the increasing numbers of animal and
plant species which are driven to extinction.
VIVIAN
Are we morally responsible for the harm foreseen by climate
change?
MIKE
Can we agree that climate change is occurring, that the
warming of the Earth is now on track to exceed two degrees centigrade by the
end of the century, that climate change will likely result in the death of
millions, perhaps billions of people due to flooding, declining agriculture and
increased pestilence, and finally that ecosystems and species are both dying
off at alarming rates?
VIVIAN
Yes.
MIKE
Can we also agree that the cause of climate change is human
activity?
MARILYN
Yes.
MIKE
Then we can agree that humans, engaging in activities such
as burning fossil fuel for their current well-being and comfort, are causing
harm to people of the future and other beings for which compensation is morally
due.
VIVIAN
We didn’t realize what we were doing at the time, isn’t that
a moral defense?
MIKE
People who cause harm unwittingly may or may not be morally
responsible for their actions, but we known for some time what we are doing and
have failed to adequately respond.
MARILYN
If compensation is off the table, then it would seem that our
moral duty is to make a sacrifice equal to or greater than the immeasurable
suffering expected in the next few centuries.
MIKE
I think that’s right, and there is another moral
justification for that same duty.
Imagine you are walking by a house and see an infant next to an
unattended brush fire. If it looks as
though the infant is in danger, that no one else can rescue the infant and you
can rescue the infant without significant danger to yourself. Do you have a moral duty to act?
VIVIAN
I would say so.
MARILYN
The infant is incapable of saving herself; I think that is
part of the equation.
MIKE
Just so, and the plants, animals and people of the future
are just as helpless as the infant. They
cannot save themselves. Only we can do
that. And because compensation for the
immeasurable suffering isn’t going to work, morality imposes a duty to make
that same compensatory sacrifice toward mitigation of climate change, including
a reduction in greenhouse gases and the costs of adaptation, especially for the
poor and non-human species that cannot protect themselves.
MARILYN
While
I understand the moral injunction against harming others for our own benefit, I
have two grandchildren and they set my moral compass. For me, my obligation to
the future stems from my love of my children and my grandchildren. Human beings
have for millennia sacrificed for their descendants. Grandparents are in a powerful position to
protect their children and grandchildren.
We offer a set of skills, experience, and knowledge gained over a
lifetime of productive work. We also have political clout. We vote, and there
are a lot of us. We donate to political campaigns, and we have a lot to give. Lastly,
we have time. Put these assets together, and grandparents command the power to
shape the new world. We can make sure that our children and grandchildren
inherit a planet that will sustain their health and nourish their freedom to
make a good life. (Moral Ground, Kathleen Moor and Michael Nelson)
VIVIAN
The cultural conversation about ethics will never come to an
end, but hopefully every conversation bends the arc of culture closer to
justice, equity and compassion.
Please rise as you are able, in body and spirit, to sign
with me, Hymn ## 203 All Creatures of the Earth and Sky.
MIKE
(Benediction)
I have heard people say that they are not called to work on
the problem of climate change. Not
so. The people of the future are calling
you. The animals and plants facing
extinction are calling you. You are
called. The question is whether or not
you will pick up.
By Mike Mallory
© 2016
Primary works
consulted
Climate Matters, Ethics in a Warming World, by John Broome
(Norton & Co., 2012)
Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, Edited
by Kathleen Moore and Michael Nelson (Trinity University Press,
Reclaiming Prophetic Witness: Liberal Religion in the Public
Square, by Paul Rasor (Skinner House, 2012)
Survival: A Moral Response to Global Warming, by Grace D.
Cumming
Thinking Like a Mountain, Towards a Council of All Beings,
by Joanna Macy and others, (New Society Publishers, 1988)
