Appropriate reading for Earth Day 2011: Sallie McFague’s “Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age”

It was a fortunate coincidence this Thursday when I picked up a copy of Sallie McFague’s Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age (1987) in the library at United Theological Seminary in the Twin Cities. I was on another errand at the time and unaware that today, Friday, April 22, would be Earth Day.

I graduated from United in 1990 with a master’s in divinity. Given my continued interest in process theology with its ecological worldview, others repeatedly suggested that I read Sallie McFague’s work. I just didn’t get around to it until yesterday – some 21 years later.

With the nuclear crisis in Japan and America’s risk-taking with our own nuclear power plants, McFague’s theological emphases continue to be not just relevant, but indeed urgent.

McFague was attempting to raise our consciousness regarding the threats of nuclear power in 1987; in mid-March of this year, I noted in a blog post that we are still in denial regarding humankind’s capability to destroy the earth:

The ongoing crisis in Japan raises questions pushed aside in recent decades in the rush to develop more and more nuclear reactors around the world – supposedly for peaceful purposes.

When was the last time you heard a debate over the disposal of hazardous waste or accident prevention measures at nuclear facilities? And has anyone in our country mentioned lately the possibility of a natural catastrophe that might unleash radioactive fallout?

A few days ago, I linked to an article here at Katalusis that described the risks involved in the current practice of “uprating” existing nuclear reactors in the U.S. The article states:

The U.S. nuclear industry is turning up the power on old reactors, spurring quiet debate over the safety of pushing aging equipment beyond its original specifications.

It’s way past time to tune into Sallie McFague’s theological wake up call to humanity. In a section titled, The Nuclear Nightmare, she begins:

“The question now before the human species…is whether life or death will prevail on the earth. This is not metaphorical language but a literal description of the present state of affairs.” But Jonathan Schell’s statement has not sunk in. It has not sunk in because we do not want it to, because we do not want to live in the nuclear age, an age in which we must exist with the knowledge that we can destroy ourselves and other forms of life. We prefer to live in the bygone prenuclear age, when god, the almighty King and benevolent Father, was in charge of the world. The thought that we are in charge is too terrifying to contemplate, for we know the evil in our own hearts and in the hearts of others. The thought threatens us with despair for the future; it raises doubts about whether there will be one and about what it will be. So the nuclear issue becomes the unspoken, unacknowledged terror that shadows all we do.

Compatible with the teachings of process theology, McFague points us in the theological direction of assuming humanity’s responsibility in partnership with God to insure a future for life on Earth. Otherwise, we’re headed for a dead planet – something to think about on this Earth Day, April 22, 2011.