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Chapter 7. LIVING AS IF
- State University of New York Press
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7 LIVING AS IF This chapter considers lived practices of hope. Written texts can ultimately be judged to be effective practices of hope when they demonstrate that they hold the seeds of change that influence a social imaginary. Ecotheological lived practices that continue to reshape an ecologically conscious social imaginary are, in this sense, effective practices of hope, influenced by the texts we have been considering. In this chapter we look at a sample of inspiring renewed practices in a variety of congregational and denominational settings that have energy and promise to reshape a social imaginary toward an embrace of environmentally sound awareness and action. In Gaia’s Gift Anne Primavesi makes an important link between personal revolution of self-perception and awareness of our evolutionary history. She writes about “living as if we understand and give priority to the complex range of interdependent relationships on which all life here depends and in which we are totally involved.” This is a revolution “in which one lives in a far from ideal situation ‘as if’ in an ideal one.” This can come about by “looking back though our species’ history and seeing ourselves as belonging to a longer and older ancestry [living] as if we are what we have always been—members of the community of life on earth.”1 This chapter uses evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, and congregational studies to preface and frame our study of intentional groups as living texts of hope. From evolutionary psychology we argue that the default position of groups is to take care of their own. This impulse to take care of one’s own may seem to work against the impulse to care for the larger world. We would instead like to declare it a point of departure for change. From evolutionary biology we consider the Grandmother Hypothesis, which helps us make sense of the way in 105 which aging congregations and intentional gatherings of elders can function to preserve the species. Both social science literature on grandparenting and theological literature on aging as a countercultural vocation give contemporary insights into the role of elders in environmentally sustainable practices of hope. We also use insights from congregational studies. We explore resources that identify the eras in which churches were built.2 This is important because, as is obvious from observation, it is easier to build green than it is to rebuild or renovate green. We examine the argument that congregations are the appropriate places for environmental action because of their structure, size, and ways of operating. Lastly, we look at recent literature on congregations that argues that members must be part of two or three groups: a group of 15 or fewer, a group of 50 or fewer, and, in the case of large churches, one of 150 or fewer. These studies link closely with findings from evolutionary psychology. Together, evolutionary and congregational insights shape the context within which we present living texts that are practices of hope. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND THE PRACTICE OF HOPE As indicated in chapter 5, Carolyn King argues that it is easier to understand human nature if we understand biology; if we understand that “culture is an elaboration of biology”; and if we recognize that “free will must be exercised within biological constraints.”3 This understanding of human nature requires a reexamination of how churches function to influence the practices of their members. From the perspective of what evolutionary psychology has to say about the evolution of public morality and about how community decisions are made,4 we learn specifically that “the default setting of human nature . . . is the need and ingrained habit of fitting in with, and looking out for one’s own closest group.”5 Few biological predispositions are as real as the need to care for one’s own group and most of all for one’s own children—and we judge this to be right. “The force behind the moral attitudes that comes most naturally is to be conditionally co-operative with member of one’s own group, but much less co-operative with—at least wary of, and necessarily hostile to—members of other groups.”6 But this is not enough for earth in crisis. King concludes, “Unfortunately for the environmental movement, it is basically unnatural to humans to think in terms of the global, rather than the local, community.”7 106 ECOTHEOLOGY AND THE PRACTICE OF HOPE [18.119.133.228] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 12:47 GMT) Ecotheologians and eco-ethicists...