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Ecological Praxis As Discipleship: Developing a Model of Praxis from Sallie Mcfague’S Theological Call for Consumption Reduction

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Ecological Praxis As Discipleship: Developing a Model of Praxis from Sallie Mcfague’S Theological Call for Consumption Reduction Ecological Praxis as Discipleship: Developing a Model of Praxis from Sallie McFague’s Theological Call for Consumption Reduction By Jessica Claire Fraser Hetherington Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Theology Ottawa, Canada October 2012 ©Jessica Claire Fraser Hetherington, Ottawa, Canada, 2012 Abstract This thesis is a constructive and heuristic response to the challenge of changing human behaviour in the face of the ecological crisis. For the 20 percent of the world’s population that consume approximately 90 percent of the Earth’s resources, immediate and dramatic reduction in individual rates of consumption is imperative. The need for consumption reduction requires a theological response. Whether or not we reduce our levels of consumption has implications for the natural world and for our relationships with God. It is important theologically to promote an agenda of individual behaviour change in response to the ecological crisis and to a loving, incarnational God. I bring this agenda forward in this thesis through an examination of the writings of Sallie McFague, a seasoned ecotheologian. She argues that in the middle-class North American context, a Christian ecological praxis of consumption reduction is ecologically and theologically necessary. Such praxis, for McFague, is understood as a form of Christian discipleship. However, while she calls for this praxis, McFague does not develop it. In my project I develop the methodology behind McFague’s understanding of praxis so that an ecological praxis of consumption reduction can become more relevant in light of the ecological crisis and its theological dimensions highlighted. I also explore ecological literacy as a means by which an ecological praxis of consumption reduction, as a theological response, might be elicited. When I interpret McFague’s call for ecological praxis exclusively within the context of her ecotheology, her understanding of praxis seems rather simplistic: once a person changes her or his thinking, her or his behaviour will change. However, a detailed reading of McFague’s entire corpus, including the parabolic and metaphorical theologies that she develops before her turn to ecotheology, reveals a rich and complex, albeit implicit and unidentified, comprehension of human action in the context of belief. It is necessary, thus, to construct a model of praxis based upon McFague’s early work to emphasize the richness of McFague’s understanding. Such a model can then be developed with contributions from McFague’s own ecotheology in order to create a methodology that more accurately reflects the insights from and demands of the ecological crisis to theology today. McFague’s call for an ecological praxis of consumption reduction emerges from her work in ecotheology which is in conversation with scholars, past and present, working in the same field. In Chapter One I situate McFague by providing a sketch of the significant developments and thinkers in the last fifty years of theological responses to the ecological crisis. I also show the variety and depth of engagement with McFague’s thinking with an overview of scholarship about McFague’s ideas. In doing so, I demonstrate that my dissertation fills a current lacuna in the scholarship regarding praxis. While McFague’s call for ecological praxis is situated within the field of ecotheology, the methodology behind such praxis emerges from her earlier scholarship, prior to the turn to ecology and theology. In the second chapter, I excavate McFague’s comprehension of human action located in her parabolic and metaphorical theologies and construct it into a coherent model of praxis that undergirds McFague’s later call for ecological praxis. Based upon her concern for discipleship as Christian belief lived out in the world, McFague focuses on the function of metaphor in the relationship among belief, language and action in people’s lives. I assemble a working definition of the model centered upon component parts of the model: self, God, world, and experience. The model of praxis that I construct from elements in McFague’s theological corpus constitutes a rich, complex framework for interpreting an ecological praxis of consumption reduction. However, since it is based upon McFague’s parabolic and metaphorical theologies, the model as it stands does not factor in insights made in ecotheology. These insights illustrate the unique demands and opportunities the ecological crisis affords human beings in terms of their behaviour and relationships with God. Given the richness of McFague’s ecotheology and her call for ecological praxis, the model needs to be further developed using contributions from her work. In Chapter Three, I analyze McFague’s ecotheology and identify four main ideas that collectively form the body of her thinking, and which can serve as material for developing the model of praxis. In Chapter Four, I develop the model of praxis using the material uncovered in Chapter Three. I return to central aspects of the model – self, God, world, and experience – and examine what perception is provided into each aspect. Through this, I expand the model so that it encompasses the magnitude and scope of the ecological crisis and the valuable theological insights that McFague offers for understanding. I also examine the praxis language that appears for the first time in McFague’s ecotheology. I note changes in her use of the term and analyze the changes for what they suggest about McFague’s growing understanding of Christian discipleship. Finally, I turn to the question of how to elicit a theologically based ecological praxis of consumption reduction. While McFague’s understanding of human action – constructed and developed into a model of praxis that can respond to the specific needs of the ecological crisis and discipleship – is indispensable, the question still remains as to how to actually impel people to change their behaviour. In the final chapter, I begin a heuristic inquiry into the possibilities of ecological literacy as a tool for engaging in the kind of praxis McFague advocates. I provide an overview of ecological literacy and apply some of its central principles to the aspects of self, God, world, and experience in the model of praxis. The primary finding in this thesis is that the methodology behind McFague’s call for an ecological praxis of consumption reduction is based upon an early and enduring concern for Christian discipleship, understood as Christian belief lived out in the world. For McFague, the base of human action in the context of belief is found in the function of metaphor in the relationship among belief, language and action. This is the foundation, developed in McFague’s early scholarship, for her interest in and call for ecological praxis in her ecotheology. This foundation is complex and highly nuanced. However, at no point does McFague construct or develop her ideas regarding praxis into a coherent model. Through my own construction and a further development of a model of praxis based upon McFague’s ideas, I am able to present from McFague’s theological scholarship a cogent and indispensable framework for understanding human action in light of belief and the ecological crisis . TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One The Question of Change in Ecology and Theology...................................................... 14 1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 14 1.2 The Question of Change in Ecotheology.................................................................... 15 1.2.1 1960s: The Cry of Alarm .............................................................................. 16 1.2.2 1970s: Defining the Problem ....................................................................... 18 1.2.3 1980s: The Big Picture in Ecotheology ....................................................... 21 1.2.4 1990s: Ethical Questions ............................................................................. 26 1.2.5 The 21 st Century: Deepening Dialogue ....................................................... 34 1.2.6 More Recently: A Turn to the Pragmatic ..................................................... 37 1.2.7 Summary ...................................................................................................... 39 1.3 Situating Sallie McFague............................................................................................ 40 1.4 Scholarly Engagements with Sallie McFague’s Work ............................................... 42 1.4.1 McFague’s Parabolic Theology ................................................................... 42 1.4.2 McFague’s Metaphorical Theology ............................................................. 44 1.4.3 McFague’s Ecotheology .............................................................................. 46 1.4.4 Summary ...................................................................................................... 53 1.5 Theories of Change: Searching for a Dialogue Partner .............................................. 54 1.5.1 Transformative Learning ............................................................................. 55 1.5.2 Paulo Freire ................................................................................................
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