Abstract
Like so many others, during 2020 Britain and Ireland School of Feminist Theology (BISFT) had its planned summer school cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. However, we are delighted to say the keynotes and seminar contributors to that summer school still produced their papers, which form the body of this issue. It seems quite fitting that this is an issue addressing eco-issues largely from a feminist perspective which we believe is so crucial in any discussions about how to build a more eco-friendly life at a time when ‘build back better’ has become a cry in the hands of those both on the left and on the right. Of course, the meaning is vastly different in both camps and feminist voices are scarcely heard. Some have expressed the hope that the combination of a deadly pandemic, which has shown the world that a virus is a living thing able to change and adapt and overcome humans, and the harsh realities of Brexit h given people an insight, however minimal, into a changed world that is nothing compared to the devastation of the sixth extinction – an extinction that is no longer just a theory but a reality if we do not rapidly change how we live on the planet.
There are any number of people telling us how we should live and what we should do, and recently we hear that nature will be given an economic value in the hope that we, the ‘capitalocone’ generation, will learn to value our beautiful planet and all that lives on it. I know many eco-theorists and activists welcome this move, hoping that speaking the language of the many, the religion of consumer capitalism will in some way change behaviour. I am concerned because already Hedge Funds are placing money on the timings of extinctions – will this change to betting on longevity, yes maybe. However, this does not in my view create the metanoia that is needed – metanoia, the churning over in the guts that embody our new ways of living. Of course this is to be expected from me as I am a body theologian who does not view the edge of our skin as the end of relationality. I am not thinking of romantic connections with all that lives; the world deserves more than that. For me, it is stopping and recognising the dunamis, raw divine birth-right, that flows through all that lives. Such recognitions render me speechless as I find my whole being filled with awe at many things, such as the majestic (relative to its size) globe shaped home that one of the tiniest birds, a wren, makes and makes again to nurture life. There are so many moments when I stop and look; the first time I witnessed sparrows feeding blue tit chicks, I thought it was a mistake; we are told that nature is all about your own tribe, species, family. It seems not as there are many examples right across the non-human world. There is of course murder too, and I still wish the sparrow hawk in my garden would go elsewhere or become vegetarian – I find it hard to watch. But she never takes more than she eats.
The more I hear about how trees growing together nurture each other sending energy through their roots to the young and the ailing. How plants communicate through energy flow with each other and with bees to tell them their pollen has gone for now. How fungi have the most incredible energy and strength, how they can heal humans, suck up toxic waste and chemical spills, and dissolve disposal diapers, and even now it seems white rot fungi when treated in the correct way can produce what is necessary for us to build eco-friendly homes. I hear the voice of Val Plumwood saying, ‘and don’t forget the stones they have much to say too’, ancient voices not to be overlooked. With this in mind, I find it difficult as a theologian to contain all that energy and divinity above and beyond the planet and all that is in it – monotheism becomes a problem! Yes, all is one but not the same as traditional monotheism has so cruelly imposed on humans, non-humans and the planet. To me, relational diversity, connection beyond one’s skin, makes more sense; I don’t want to give it a theological title because then it becomes easy to ignore!
It would be wrong to end this short editorial (we have a truly packed issue this time for you to engage with) without mentioning that some thinkers, even theologians, believe that as humans are the true destroyers it may be best to let us become extinct in the knowledge that the earth will renew itself and according to some estimates very quickly – of course without humans. Or we can turn around, look, relate and live more lightly on this incredible planet with all that lives – not forgetting the stones. We remember with love and gratitude for her pioneering work Asphodel Long whose centenary it is this year (1921–2021).
I hope you find these papers as challenging and inspiring as I have.