“We are affected by our surroundings.” That statement is so simple that it sounds trite and obvious to our ears. But it is something that has deep meaning from a faith perspective.
We know that there are moments in which we behave well and times in which we behave badly, and that the tendency to choose one option over the other resides within us. We hope that our rational, ethical side will choose to do what is right, even though we know that our irrational, emotional side sometimes picks what is wrong. However, research has shown that our environment actually plays a significant role in this moral decision-making process.
Here’s an example from a 1982 study by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. Paper fliers were put on 139 cars in a large hospital parking lot and the researchers watched to see what people would do with these annoying bits of paper. If the drivers emerged from the hospital to find the parking lot littered with scattered fliers, candy wrappers and coffee cups (all carefully arranged by the researchers), almost half of them removed the fliers from their cars and tossed them on the ground. If, however, the researchers swept the parking lot clean before the drivers returned, only 1 in 10 dropped the fliers. Unwittingly, the drivers had adopted the behavior that seemed appropriate given the norms of cleanliness they saw around them.
On some level, who we are—litterbug or good citizen, for example—changes from moment to moment, depending on where we happen to be and what things look like around us. That is a sobering conclusion, given that we routinely tell ourselves we have a solid moral core that will react with integrity no matter where we might be. But examples from scripture and history both point out how fickle and untrustworthy our moral compasses actually are.
What can be done? Christian faith has long walked “hand in hand” with environmental justice, largely out of a desire to be good stewards of God’s bountiful creation. “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (Psalm 24). So we recycle, compost, avoid wasting water, and reduce our carbon footprints wherever possible. But our faith challenges us to do more. We “redd up” our neighborhoods so that everyone can be nurtured in clean environments that honor God and one another. We challenge slum landlords and unsafe housing practices so that no child of God is forced to live in a house unworthy of their God-given dignity. We call for local, state and federal government to protect air, land and water natural resources because large-scale, corporate pollution promotes small-scale pollution from us fickle human beings, and everyone suffers in the end.
We are affected by our surroundings. But the good news is that this can work for either good or evil. So this day, choose what is good and faithful.