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Sermons by Rev. Don W. Vaughn-Foerster

Moral Consumption (A Earth Day Homily)
Rev. Don W. Vaughn -Foerster
Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, FL
April 22, 2007

The other day I was putting leftovers and potato peels down the garbage disposal. As I did, I was suddenly aware that all that meat and fat and vegetable matter would find its way through the sewer system and into the Gulf of Mexico. There, it would contaminate the environment of fish and manatees and other forms of marine life. Suddenly, I realized once more that we, human beings, are making the natural environment unfriendly to all forms of life, including human life.

We are doing this not just through our sewer systems but also by plundering world resources for our own excessive use. We may not realize it, but the United States and Canada, which are only 6% of the world's population, consume over 40% of the world's resources, commandeering the natural resources of millions of other people and leaving them in poverty. To do this, we develop attitudes that simply look past the pain and suffering of other human beings and, in so doing, do our bit to destroy the foundations of humane living.

The human species is pretty much in the situation of the man caught in a terrible rainstorm that washed away half of his valley. Frantically, he called the rescue hotline. "Help me! I'm standing in two feet of water!" "That's not exactly a flood emergency around here," the rescue worker said, dryly. The man said, "No? I'm calling from the fourth floor!"

I don't know what "environmental" floor the human species is standing on in this deluge of consumerism, but those who control our economy don't seem to think there is any danger at all -- except to their profit margin. The present economic system takes ever more money from the bottom line and stashes it away at the top so that the gulf between rich and poor widens every year. You would think that leaders with such economic and political power would have the acumen to see how intimately connected are poverty and terrorism.

So, what can we do to reshape such exploitative practices? We can organize, of course. We can join advocacy groups like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace International, and Nature Conservancy. We can pursue voluntary simplicity. This, of course, means simplifying our lives so that fewer and fewer things are necessary to us. Among other things, it means not buying something new if something old still works. It means rejecting products that waste or pollute, recycling that which is recyclable, repairing instead of replacing, conserving instead of wasting. It means sharing cars, newspapers, magazines -- whatever we can.

This is not easy, but if more people really lived this way, more industries would be seriously pursuing alternative energy resources, like wind energy and geothermal and solar power. People really could come to understand that socially responsible consumption depends upon everybody's hearts, minds, and hands -- that it not only respects the earth's resources but it does not misuse or maltreat other human beings in the process of production.

I wish all this were as simple as am making it sound. The reality is that the more we simplify our lives, the more we are likely to do someone out of work. Whole industries have been built on doing superfluous things -- such as packaging small items in large containers. What is at stake, actually, is an ultimate restructuring of our whole society with work, income, and leisure being fairly divided amongst all the workers. I'm not talking for either capitalism, communism, or socialism at this point. None of them seems able to do what needs to be done. All of them too easily submit to special interests.

Actually, this congregation, already, is doing a number of ethically responsible things regarding consumption. Your Green Sanctuary Project is one. Replacing light bulbs has become an enlighteningly thoughtful project here. (What kind of UU should be the one to replace a light bulb? Why, one with a green thumb, of course.) Using environmentally safe means of terminating fire ants with prejudice is a well grounded practice here. Fair Trade Coffee is sold and used at coffee hour. These are but a few examples. Also, on your seats this morning, is a flyer spelling out more of how you and this congregation can become more environmentally responsible.

But, let me underline why consumerism is not just an economic consideration but a moral one. As always, self-interest is the issue - not whether it should exist but how it should exist. The question is whether self-interest is best fulfilled by short term goals or whether it needs long-term goals. People mostly are interested in short-term goals that satisfy their wants and needs and give them immediate pleasure. They want someone else to manage the long-term goals and leave them to their pleasures.

However, someone else cannot do for everyone what everyone individually must do for themselves. There must be an internal guide of enlightened self interest: a conscience. To have conscience is to act on the basis of that which is good, not just for oneself, but also for all of life. That's why, if human beings are to be ethical stewards of the earth and sustainers of one another, each person must act for the welfare of the whole until all persons, out of their own minds and hearts, act for the welfare of the whole. This is what moral consumption is all about. It's not just a matter of hassling leaders until they change policy. It is a matter of doing it ourselves until we change leaders -- if we must.

Today is Earth Day 2007. It is a time to remind ourselves that the nurture and renewal of the earth -- and its human resources (which includes all people) -- is our most urgent task. It is a time to express our respect for and protection of earth's amazing web of life, its soil, water, air, plants and living creatures. It is time to realize that whatever we do individually can have a universal effect, for we are all part of one inclusive system. Let us make a commitment to ourselves that we will be ethical consumers within the living web of which we are a part.