Moving Mountains: Wendell Berry, Christianity, and a Critique of Ecological Ignorance

I recently wrote this paper for a class called quantitative reasoning and thought it might be interesting to the few of you who care to read this. I don't have much of an introduction for it other than to say it's not my best work, and let's be honest -- for a class called quantitative reasoning there sure isn't a lot of that going on here (For good reason!). But it did lead me to some interesting thoughts that I hope to pursue in greater detail later. For those of you who aren't aware, my philosophy professor (Matthew Bonzo) is a Wendell Berry scholar and has published a book on him with another professor here at Cornerstone (Michael Stevens).

A few quick notes: one of the footnotes mentions a table in the appendix. That didn't translate well into the blog, so I just left it out. It's not really that necessary, and it simply fulfilled a requirement in the class.

Moving Mountains: Wendell Berry, Christianity, and a Critique of Ecological Ignorance

          When one thinks of environmental activism, many images come to mind, often in the form of parody. It is a cause picked up by hippies and college kids, a trendy avenue for teenage angst. One might not expect, however, and elderly Kentucky farmer, a former university professor of English, to throw in his lot. Wendell Berry has spent the last several decades writing about the importance of the land we live on. In his collection of essays entitled The Way of Ignorance, Berry deals with the concept of ignorance in many ways, both negative and positive, and its relationship to the land, humanity, and community. In this essay I will discuss Berry’s understanding of ignorance, humanity’s connection to the land using Berry and the Scriptures, and his comments concerning the defense of the land.

Ignorance and Arrogance

          Typically when one thinks of ignorance, one assumes a lack of knowledge. Indeed, this is the definition of the term. The way Berry uses this term exposes an irony—the assumption of endless knowledge is actually the proof of a severe lack of knowledge. Ignorance in modern America is “the predominance of supposition, in a time of great technological power, that humans either know enough already, or can learn enough soon enough, to foresee and forestall any bad consequences of their use of that power.”[1] Our advances in the areas of technology, society, etc. have given us a feeling of arrogance and invincibility. We treat the world as though we know everything about how it works in every capacity and therefore are free to exercise whatever power we like over it. This is precisely the attitude that leads to negative effects on the environment. “We have often been a destructive species, we are more destructive now than we have ever been, and this, in perfect accordance with ancient warnings, is because of our ignorant and arrogant use of knowledge.”[2] We destroy because we are not concerned with consequences or repercussions but with our own success, whatever form that may take.

Forget Mustard Seeds—Use Dynamite

          Americans are told from childhood that we are all destined for success, so long as we take hold of it and work our hardest to prosper. What we are not told is that this often requires a lot of shady practices. To succeed, we have to beat everyone and dominate anything that stands in our way, lest someone else gets our position or profit first—it is a system based on competition. This haste to rise to the top often overlooks many consequences. The American dream is an environmental nightmare. In a very blunt essay entitled “Compromise, Hell!” Berry states “Most of us are still too sane to piss in our own cistern, but we allow others to do so, and we reward them for it. We reward them so well, in fact, that those who piss in our cistern are wealthier than the rest of us.”[3] Such allowance leads to dangerous and deadly results. We are seeing this devastation tangibly, and posterity will have to make up for it.
          Though many examples could be drawn to illustrate this (and surely at this point some have already come to mind), there is one that is of particular interest to both Berry and America. America is a large consumer of coal. Prior to the 1960s, this coal was received by underground mining involving hundreds of workers. It was soon discovered, however, that it was much easier (and more cost-effective) to simply blow up the tops of mountains and sift through the debris to find coal.[4] This process is called mountaintop removal mining (MTR), and it has been going on in Kentucky for quite some time.
          Though this process is highly efficient in economic terms, its effects on local communities and ecosystems are tremendously devastating. MTR has spread so quickly that it is difficult to even track its growth. Surface-mining in general has affected over 1,600 hectares of land in the Appalachian region, and if the trend continues the amount of land affected will be greater than the mass of Rhode Island.[5] The process affects everything. Forests are cut, streams are filled in, and cracks in the earth are made that descend to massive depths.[6] This creates a dangerous place for wildlife as well as citizens who live in such chaotic environments—what used to be a haven for natural beauty has become a dangerous blast zone. The reckless pursuit of coal-oriented profit has led to the irreplaceable loss of whole mountains. Such is the result of arrogant ignorance.
          In April 2005, Wendell Berry invited writers to visit the sites where mountaintops had been removed. This helped to bring the issue to a larger audience and resulted in a book called Missing Mountains that contains an afterword by Berry. In “Compromise, Hell!” Berry writes

We are now permitting the destruction of entire mountains and entire watersheds. No war, so far, has done such extensive or such permanent damage. If we know that coal is an exhaustible resource, whereas the forests over it are with proper use inexhaustible, and that strip mining destroys the forest virtually forever, how can we permit this destruction? If we honor at all that fragile creature the topsoil, so long in the making, so miraculously made, so indispensable to all life, how can we destroy it? If we believe, as so many of us profess to do, that the Earth is God’s property and is full of His glory, how can we do harm to any part of it?[7]

This profit-hungry and environmentally apathetic attitude is not only detrimental to our own physical health and well-being but is directly spoken against in the Scriptures.
          As early as Genesis 1:26-28, we find humanity being given dominion over the earth.[8] Some Christians have interpreted this to say we have a right to do whatever we wish with the land, but, as we shall see, not only does this interpretation fail to respect the natural order of things defined by God (identified by Berry), it is repeatedly denounced in the Old and New Testaments. Although we are in charge of the earth, Psalm 24:1 (also Psalm 50:10-11) explains that the things in it belong to God. We are therefore not masters of the planet but rather stewards of it. Proverbs 12:10 and 27:23 both indicate a responsibility to care for animals, and Psalm 104:24-25 praise God for the diversity and particularity of his creation, something heavily disrespected by MTR and other environmental atrocities (it seems that this is not simply because of their usefulness to humanity). His care is not limited to animals; God’s care for plants is shown in Psalm 104:16 and Matthew 6:30. God’s creation is initially labeled “good” in Genesis, and Romans 8:22 states that creation groans and waits for its restoration. The prophets Jeremiah and Habakkuk both condemn the Israelites for neglecting the land (2:7 and 2:17, respectively). II Chronicles 36:21 highlights this by explaining the Israelites spent 70 years in captivity for neglecting the land.
          Leviticus 25 also explains the land is to have a Sabbath and be given rest. And if all this is not enough, the most compelling reason resides in Romans 1:20, wherein it is said that God reveals himself through his creation. When we destroy parts of that creation, we are destroying vehicles through which God communicates and reveals himself to us, and this is highly tragic. Truly no full understanding of the Scriptures can condone a reckless assault on the land, especially (to use Berry’s phrase) “economic aggression.”[9] Mountaintop removal (among many other destructive processes) is clearly a direct transgression not only of the Law of God but also a destruction of intimate ways of knowing him. A culture that allows this to occur is a culture that is largely uninterested in understanding the living God.
          Because America unarguably falls into this category, Christians cannot simply stand by and allow this to occur without raising questions. Indeed, our faith tradition includes the likes of the prophets of the Old Testament, individuals committed to calling into question the societies of their time through an understanding of Yahweh. Though this all sounds well and good in theory, it is certainly difficult to know where to begin to tackle the heavy and multi-faced issue of destructive ignorance. Berry has suggested several things to combat the prevailing ignorance of our time, and all are rooted in an understanding of local community.

Ignorance and Community

          The beginning of the solution lies in the preface of The Way of Ignorance. Up until now, we have dealt with the dangerous sort of ignorance—one that fails to acknowledge itself as ignorance. Berry suggests there is a healthy ignorance, however; an ignorance that does acknowledge itself and proceeds with caution. This is going in “the way” of ignorance (positively, not negatively). His message is one of humility. Knowledge is provisional—never complete (but also never empty). As he says in the preface to the book, “the way of ignorance…is to be careful, to know the limits and efficacy of our knowledge.”[10] This does not mean we are unable to act or progress or that we should revert to a primitive mode of human existence (clearly evidenced by Berry’s agrarian life). Rather, it means that in our progress and our action we must admit our connection to the land and act accordingly.
          Connectedness does not stop at the land, however. Berry promotes an understanding of our connectedness to other human beings as well. One lone, idealistic voice does not often hold much sway. Berry critiques certain environmental movements as being too negative. The movement he suggests is one concerned with the well-being of everyone.

…in so destructive an age as ours, it is possible for our sense of wrong to become an affliction...Mere opposition…blinds us to the good of the things we are trying to save. And it divides us hopelessly from our opponents who no doubt are caricaturing us while we are demonizing them. We lose, in short, the sense
of shared humanity that would permit us to say even to our worst enemies, “We are working, after all, in your interest and your children’s. Ours is a common effort for the common good. Come and join us.”[11]

It is precisely this sort of approach to ecology that advocates a Christ-centered response; a response that does not continue the competition it has spoken against but rather offers an entirely new paradigm—brotherhood and cooperation. Is not salvation offered to all, even the worst of us sinners?
          True communities understand their connectedness to each other and, by proxy, to their environments. When the actions of economic aggression effect the surrounding area of many individuals (especially noticeable in mountaintop removal which creates deep fissures on citizen-inhabited land and produces heavy noise pollution—not to mention the destruction of aesthetic, God-created beauty), it does not take long to rally the effected individuals to the resistance. Berry gives special attention to this in “Compromise, Hell!” when he explains the need to hold politicians accountable and denounce corporate arrogance.

It appears that we have fallen into the habit of compromising on issues that should not, and in fact cannot, be compromised. I have an idea that a large number of us, including even a large number of politicians, believe that it is wrong to destroy the Earth. But we have powerful political opponents who insist that an Earth-destroying economy is justified by freedom and profit. And so we compromise by agreeing to permit the destruction only of parts of the Earth, or to permit the Earth to be destroyed a little at a time – like the famous three-legged pig that was too well loved to be eaten all at once.[12]

          As Christians, we are called to be informed about the injustice done to the land we find ourselves on and respond. Not simply out of principle, but because this injustice directly correlates to our own well-being and the health of our children. We must do away with silly factional lines that color ecology blue. God has mandated our stewardship, and Wendell Berry has offered many valuable critiques and solutions that the Church would do well to listen to. It is about time we get off the couch, forget compromising, and remember our spiritual forefathers, the prophets. It is about time we call the status quo into question and hold corporations accountable for their irreverence and violence. It is about time we took the Scriptures seriously and called for something more than regular church attendance and tithing. The Christ was crucified for much more than comfortable passivity.


[1] Wendell Berry. “The Way of Ignorance.” In The Way of Ignorance. Berkeley, California: Counterpoint Press, 2005. 53.
[2] Ibid. 59.
[3]Wendell Berry. “Compromise, Hell!” In The Way of Ignorance. Berkeley, California: Counterpoint Press, 2005. 22.
[4] See table included in Apendix A.
[5]John G. Mitchell. "When Mountains Move" In National Geographic. March, 2006,.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Berry. “Compromise, Hell!” 22.
[8] The verses throughout this paragraph have been identified and commented on by former Southern Wesleyan University professor Martin LaBar in his blog Sun and Shield. http://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2006/04/environmental-stewardship-in-bible.html. (accessed April 29, 2010).
[9] Berry. “Compromise, Hell!” 24.
[10] Wendell Berry. “Preface.” In The Way of Ignorance. Berkeley, California: Counterpoint Press, 2005. x.
[11] Wendell Berry. “The Purpose of a Coherent Community.” In The Way of Ignorance. Berkeley, California: Counterpoint Press, 2005. 74.
[12] Berry. “Compromise, Hell!” 25.
[13] "Most Requested Statistics - U.S. Coal Industry" (PDF). National Mining Association. http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_most_requested.pdf. Retrieved April 29, 2010.