OYL! Corruption, the Spirit, the Earth, and Us

OYL! Corruption, the Spirit, the Earth, and Us byArthurWaskow T HIS IS NOT AN OIL "SPILL" WE ARE FACING, THE way water might spill from a dish or oil from a tanker-a finite amount in the first place, and then we clean up. This is more like piercing a hole into the Caverns of Hell, so that they pour forth without limit. But we can take this disaster as a teaching toward a turning in our lives and action. To that end, I will present some concrete proposals for action at the end ofthis essay. But let me begin by assessing the depth ofour distress. I. Spiritual Failings FIRST AND MOST BASIC, THERE IS A SPIRITUAL TEACHING IN all traditions that the u.s. government and global corporations have been systematically violating. The gulfdisaster is an issue ofpower and the Spirit, not technology. It is rooted in a spiritual disease. One passage ofthe Hebrew Scriptures-Leviticus 25-26-and millennia ofhuman experience describe this as refusing to let the earth have its Sabbath rest. When Leviticus 25 calls on us to let the earth and ourselves make a yearlong Sabbath every seventh year, it is not talking about the minutiae ofan Orthodox Jewish Sabbath. It is talking about not blowing up mountains to recover every last chunk of coal, not piercing the mile-deep ocean floor to recover every last gallon ofoil. And Leviticus 26 starts by reminding us ofthejoywe can take in the earth's abundance ifwe actwith this sabbatical self-restraint; itwarns us ofthe disasterthatwillfollow ifwe let our greed swallow up the earth, trying to gobble up the abundance all around us; and finally, it calls us to turn in a new direction-and celebrate: Ye shall make you no idols by carving out a piece ofthe Whole to worship, neither rear you up a standing stony image against the flowing living breath RabbiA7thU?'Waskow is the diTector oftheShalom Center(theshalomcenter.org), co-authorojTheTent ofAbraham, andauthonifGodwrestling-Round 2, Down-to-Earth Judaism, anda dozen otherbooks onJewish thoughtandpractice, as wellas books on U.S. publicpolicy. JULY/AUGUST 2010 WWW.TIKKUN.ORG Oilfrom the Deepwater Horizon/BP catastmphe is bu?"ned to l'educe the amount in the watel', May 19,2010. TIKKUN 21 22 T I KKUN ofall Earth's life-forms, to bow down unto it: for I am YHWH the Breath of Life your God. Ye shall keep my Sabbath-times ofrestfulness, and revere my holy places: I am YHWH, the Breath ofLife. Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees ofthe field shall yield their fruit. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: But ifye will not hearken unto me, so that ye break my covenant, I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow ofheart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your holy places unto desolation , and I will not smell the savor ofyour sweet odors. And I will bring the earth into desolation. Then shall the earth enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate; even then shall the earth rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. Yet-ifthey shall confess their iniquity and their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me, then will I remember my covenant; and I will remember the earth. What does it mean to "confess our iniquity" and turn in a new direction? It means to confess our own addiction to the oil and coal that are burning up the earth, and turn as well to face the drug lords ofthat addiction. For just as Big Tobacco addicted millions ofus to lethal nicotine, so Big Oil and Big Coal have addicted millions ofus to burning up our planet, our home. Should we do our best to end...