Ecology is a Human Problem
Think of Amos as a layman, a provincial (Tekoa is about eight miles from Jerusalem), and probably more of a sheep-dealer than a shepherd, with his feet firmly on the ground, well aware of the importance of relating to the natural order and not unaware of the economic implications.
V 2 takes us to a world of ecological anxieties and natural disasters. There is a food shortage and a drought. People naturally start asking, ‘what have we done wrong?’ or ‘why are we being punished?’
Use your imagination to think who are likely to be the main sufferers and who might seize the opportunity to turn circumstances to their own advantage. Some will be handy with ‘explanations’. Some ready to play on people's guilt. Then ask yourself a different question. What do we have to do to put things right? Ecological problems need ecological answers before they need theological theories. In times of crisis, action and scientific know-how come before theory.
What theology can do, however, is to create an atmosphere of unity and co-operation to help and to find answers. It is a time to bury the hatchet and tackle the job in hand. Rival groups can stand shoulder to shoulder. Natural competitors can begin to work together. Nations can set up joint lines of communication. Different faiths can collaborate to address everything that is not specifically a faith issue. Who knows? Such co-operation might prove to be not only a sensible, creative and effective way of dealing with the problem, but also a means of discovering ‘the other’ in a new way.
Too often what happens is something quite different. Damascus would rather thrash people than thresh corn. Weapons for war come before tools for agriculture. National security before social security, bringing destruction on themselves as well as on their enemies. Tyre, on the other hand, is busy uprooting and moving whole populations, leading to forced labour, potential slavery, prostitution, and not only on their enemies but even on their own kith and kin.