Response to EMC

Here’s part of a longer note from a reader of Everything Must Change … I’ll insert a couple of comments …

I am still working on making tangible changes in my life. I recently made a commitment to longer do grocery shopping without taking re-usable bags with me and something that simple and easy, believe it or not, can be a challenge.

That’s great. All of these seemingly small “lifestyle” changes add up, and they also strengthen your long-term commitment to change. Let me mention two of the biggest next steps you could take:
1. It turns out that about 40% of all greenhouse gases are emitted in the process of heating and cooling buildings. So – if you increase the energy efficiency of your home, you’re going to the biggest single leverage point. Here’s a good place to start researching … a simple search on “home energy efficiency” will give you lots of info.
2. The biggest single thing you can do on this subject is support legislation that will re-price carbon. I have a short but really important post I’m working on regarding this subject at the moment – so stay tuned. We need to support every energy bill that takes us even a baby step in the right direction – but the key one will be the one that wisely reprices carbon. Here’s a way to say it:
Dirty energy is cheap, and that’s not a good thing.

One final note:
I was somewhat saddened the other day to see a bumper sticker that read “Jesus, don’t leave earth without him”. Of course I have seen this saying in the past and usually in the form of a bumper sticker. Seeing it the other day though irked me because it represented a certain shallowness to thought or maybe even arrogance. In the same vein I was thinking today of the old “Uncle Sam Wants You” posters that you would see in the Late 70s early 80s, at least I think that is the time frame. Maybe a “Jesus wants you to:” poster would be a little over the top. Still, I would love to see believers and non-believers for that matter called to action. I have never been a fan of bumper stickers but would perhaps place one on my car that said “Jesus wants me and you to: Learn to do good; seek justice, rescure the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17–taken from Gary Haugen’s books.)
It could also more succinctly read, and this would be great for us Americans, “Consume Less and give more!”

Yes, there is so much downright stupidity being purveyed by bumper-sticker theology. Perhaps bad-theology-bumper-stickers will start irking more and more of us – and so fill a useful function!

P.S. I have a very poor grasp on the situation between Palestine and Israel–if you have any book recommendations to help me better understand the history and current situation there please pass them along.

Thanks for asking about this. Here are some books I recommend … I also hope to do some posting and maybe a youtube video on this subject in the next month or so.
On a related note to your “consume less, give more” bumper sticker idea … here’s a powerful short video about hunger …