Eco-Martyrdom Pt I

As I look at the projections about how much time we have to reverse catastrophic climate change (the number circulating around is roughly 12 years), I find I am often moved to despair. The ongoing slogan is “let this radicalize you rather than lead to despair”. While that’s an admirable sentiment and probably helpful for a lot of people, I’ve been wondering about how people can participate in/be motivated to activism when they, like me, are overwhelmed and in a state of despair/helplessness at the magnitude of the task before us to try and save the planet.

Paradoxically, I find what’s giving me comfort is the idea that maybe I can’t save the planet. Maybe we can’t save the planet, though we sure as hell ought to try. I often find a way for me to deal with despair and anxiety is to go through the worst case scenario in my head, and come up with some kind of contingency plan for that. I figure that way, I’m prepared for all possibilities, and if things go better than the worst case, so much the better for me/everyone. As I confront the possibility that we as humans may not be able to save the planet/ourselves, I am moved to consider what mindset will help me to take action.

And more and more I am moved by the early martyrs of the Church. Contrary to popular opinion, most of them (with the possible exception of St. Ignatius of Antioch) did not want to die. They held on to life for as long as possible, and served in the Church as leaders, teachers, priests/shepherds, theologians, etc. But when they came under pressure from the Roman authorities, they did some soul searching and determined that they would rather stand up for their beliefs and way of life, and be remembered as people who did what was right, rather than capitulate to Rome and possibly save their physical lives (βιος), but lose the vitality and wholeness that gave them true life (ζοη).

With the world possibly literally ending (at least for human flourishing), now seems as good a time as any for me and perhaps others to switch from a metaphor of conquest by the success of our efforts to victory by the character and faithfulness of our efforts. I’ve heard various people I know rightly complain that “the brunt of the damage is being done by a handful of companies, and since they won’t change, how much good can I do?”. While this is true, it reveals a bigger problem with activism for some of us: our energy to engage is sometimes tied to whether we can reasonably expect success. I want to consider other ways to move people to righteous action, particularly in this sphere where the prognosis is grim.

I recall often that the Greek word “Martyr” (Μαρτυρια) means “witness”, someone who proclaims the Truth of Christ by their actions, words and character. Sometimes martyrs die, and sometimes they survive, but what matters most is that they do everything they can to be on the right side of history and (for those of religious faith) spirituality. I find much more hope and resolve to engage with  climate change activism if I think of myself as an eco-martyr, someone who is called to witness to the harm that has been done to God’s creation that They called “good”, and to do whatever I can to heal it. I may die in the attempt, but in the end I feel that even if we as a species fail to save the planet/humanity, I would rather know myself as a martyr, someone who witnessed to the Truth of his God and his world, until my last breath.