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"After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." This was part of a public testimony offered by a White House official to the U.S. Congress during Reagan's presidency. According to that testimony, protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Today, nearly half the U.S. Congress—well over 200 legislators—is backed by what's referred to as the religious right. In theory, millions of us may well believe that environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded but actually welcomed—even hastened—as a sign of the coming apocalypse. Why care about the earth when the droughts, floods, famine and pestilence brought by ecological collapse are signs of the apocalypse (and hence, Rapture!) foretold in the Bible? Confirming the probability of this terrifying outlook, President Bush’s administration now wants to rewrite the Clean Air, Water and Endangered Species Acts, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act. The new "Environmental Protection Agency" is poised to actually erode, even negate many existing protections, all in favour of big business, done the “Good Christian” way. Just ask Bill Moyers.
It’s quite possible we may not survive—at least with much dignity—in the new “World According to Bush”. For the first time, two rather lofty (billionaire) oil tycoons (Bush and Cheney) are holding the highest seats of power in the world. Today, a handful of huge privately owned companies are salivating, standing to gain their billions in and around the current U.S war policies: everything from petroleum to construction and materials, from weapons systems research and manufacturing to pharmaceuticals. All of this is just the tip of the outrageous iceberg. Think of the changes in our world in the past 4 years. It is increasingly hard to ignore that our extreme dependence upon oil and gas—and basically, "auto-centric" industry and culture—is connected to the ongoing death and terrorizing of millions– in the name of "spreading freedom and democracy", and "combating violent extremism". Not to mention the unfolding realities, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels inch toward cataclysmic levels. There will BE no peace and freedom in a world being stripped of its ability to sustain life.
We MUST get out of our cars. We have to re-think our ways of using and abusing public space. We have to address the ways we continue to pollute our physical and psychological environments... Because, fundamentalism and extremism aside, there are Spiritual reasons why it is so necessary. Consider, if you will, the bicycle—as a vehicle with particularly Spiritual implications in today's world. Consider the Spirituality inherent in a person connecting mind and body, individual with community, personal choices with restorative consequence. Consider the spirituality of using a God-given and most miraculous machine—the human body—to transport one's self in a local environment created to support the wellness of a community. Consider the quality of family life in which all are able to share universal values of sustainability and awareness and justice, and of the vital inter-connectedness of all things.
These are not impossible fantasies. They are often our secret yearnings. These ideals live at the heart of our fables and stories, and are how we’ve come to think and civilize progressively. We romanticize various indigenous tribal societies and traditions because they demonstrate that peace and unity and balance relate to our essence as human beings. We thrive, flourish and beautify, we enkindle and create and illuminate, as spiritual beings unique in the world. To fight, hoard, kill, hate, and avenge is a distortion of our nature, part of a stress-induced collapse into basic animal impulses. Most people can agree that we are more than simply animals. But most people can also agree that we have too much stress. I can personally attest, as someone who has embraced the "spirituality" of the bicycle, to the potential stress-reducing effect of a good bike-ride—particularly when there is a utilitarian aspect to it.
There are always alternatives to car-dependency. As you might inevitably agonize about just how to make such drastic changes in your life (going car-free…even for a day!), the solutions can begin to take form quite easily and responsibly. As the driving impulse hits (due to habit, stress, perceived necessity, or all of the afore-mentioned), just ask yourself simple questions: "Do I really need to do that trip?" "Do I need to do it this way (by car)?" And then later on, "Can I cut down on the number of trips I do perhaps by using local shops and facilities, or by doing many tasks in one trip?" Heck – make it up as you go. Focus on human energy over fossil-fuel energy. Make new associations in your mind: fossil-burning related to unsustainable living; walking or cycling relating to wellness, personal empowerment, revolution and spirituality. Because…
“(There
are) hard things coming down the pipe
Faster than the speed of hype;
Things are gonna take a bite
out of the world as we know it.
Everything is heating up,
Spinning 'round, speeding up -
Fear and lies are eating up the world as we know it -
And Th' Road to th' Future is a Bicycle Highway
Th' Road to th' Future is a Bicycle Highway”**
For further info on World Car-Free Day, visit http://www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/
*from
“Activist for Love”
© 2005 Donald Roger Lee (SOCAN)
**from
“Th' Road to th' Future is a Bicycle Highway”
© 2004 Donald Roger Lee (SOCAN)
