Choking my sympathies

PERHAPS because my exposure to the environment since childhood and even up to now has been good, I feel uncomfortable whenever some people talk about environmental issues in tones that sound to be frightening.

Growing up in Bohol left me with very pleasant memories of clean air, beaches, mountains, churches, mangrove, springs, birds, the tarsiers, the rivers, and especially, the people, who without exception were all nice and warm to me.

Those were very happy years I will always treasure in my heart. Not that there were no problems and even traumas. There were, but precisely because of the many beautiful things around, the negative things just sink into oblivion.

If ever I remember them, they are always framed within the beauty—natural, spiritual and even mysterious—of the environment I lived in. And somehow, I can derive the reasons, both the immediate and the ultimate, of why they came.

Of course, I also listen to anyone who talks about what’s wrong with the environment these days. And if ever there’s something that hits me, I try to do something.

As a consequence, I limit the use of my car. I commute many times, or I just walk. I limit my personal items to the minimum. Many times, I power down and avoid using gadgets for a while. I reuse and recycle things.

I try my best to avoid waste in terms of time, food and other materials. I discipline my imagination and thoughts. I try to live in austerity. I refrain from creating needs, believing that one has most when he needs least.

The only exception to this lifestyle is when I do liturgical acts. That’s where I spend what I can afford to get the best things. But as you can see, they are not for me. They are for Someone, and for everybody else. Austerity need not replace generosity and magnificence wherever these are needed.

That’s why I get uncomfortable whenever I hear complaints about the environment. Of course, there are a lot of things that are wrong in the environment now and we all have the duty to protect it and even enhance it.

It’s just that I don’t like to be scared, and to be drawn into a fear-dominated frame of mind. If I do something, it must be because I want to do it, not because I’m afraid, or worse, am forced. That would only elicit a strong adverse reaction from me.


If suggestions have to be made, then they should be done calmly and positively, cutting out the unnecessary hue and cry, the shrill screams of wounded self-righteousness. These turn me off instantly.

Besides, it is now clear to me that a lot of this environment talk is driven by dubious motives. There’s an ideological spin to it now. And because of that, there had been shameless exaggerations and exploitations made.

The sciences, for example, have been stretched beyond their legitimate fields just to support ideological positions. They seem to approach if not appropriate for themselves the status of a religion.

Now I am amused to see the predicament of the environmentalists who cannot anymore decide whether we are going to have global warming or global cooling. Some twisting of so-called scientific data have been discovered. Much of their claims sound like gobbledygook that are now turning to be mere myths and speculations.

Pope Benedict, now dubbed as the green pope because of his concern for the environment, puts the whole issue in its proper context. In a recent address with the members of Vatican’s diplomatic corps, he said:

“The causes of the situation which is now evident to everyone are of the moral order, and the question must be faced within the framework of a great program of education aimed at promoting an effective change of thinking and at creating new lifestyles.”

So what is clear is that all this environment talk has to conclude always on the moral aspect, and not so much entangled about what to avoid, what to do and have, etc. We have to take care first of the moral and spiritual grounding of the people, since otherwise, we would just be beating the air in our effort to help the environment.

If the environmentalists want to have their points received well by the people, they have to go through the natural process of educating people. They should avoid taking the short-cut route, especially by means of scare tactics. That will not work. They will lose whatever sympathy they have won from the people.