Contrary to popular belief, conservatives do not hate the environment. We live on this planet too, and the thought of polluted air and water is not exactly appealing. Conservatives also like animals. No conservative worth her salt would torture an animal, even if she weren’t on a strict vegan diet. Thus, as a conservative, I was quite shocked and disappointed when I attended the Sept. 25, 2003 “We the Planet Tour” featuring Tracy Chapman sponsored by the St. Thomas Lectures Committee.
I was excited when I heard about the tour because it was advertised in flyers as a chance to “get new ideas, inspiration and solutions you can use.” However, my excitement turned to frustration when I attended and realized that the forum was really just an opportunity for liberal activists to express their love for animals and the environment, as well as their hatred for the Catholic Church, President Bush and the U.S. Military without offering any real solutions to the world’s problems.
The event kicked off with a short video of images associated with narrative that presumably represented the views of the tour’s activists. The entire video was obviously representative of a liberal perspective, and there was one part of the video that I found particularly disturbing. The video launched with and image of the Pope and his cardinals correlated with the subtitle, “Morality is legislated, religion is incorporated.”
As a Catholic conservative sitting in the auditorium of a Catholic university, I began to feel a bit uncomfortable.
Another part of the video that seemed out of place to me was an image of President Bush with the subtitle, “Yelling at the president for the country’s woes is like yelling at a puppet.” How ironic that a group that claimed to be seeking peaceful resolutions should begin their tour on such a hostile note.
The mistress of ceremonies – author and activist, Julia Butterfly Hill – claimed that this event was going to be a discussion of important problems and solutions where there were “no experts” and where “each one of us has something to say.” An objective audience member could easily recognize that this was absolutely not the case. From the very beginning, the tour’s video made it clear that certain religious and political world views were not worth consideration when determining solutions to the world’s dilemmas. In other words, if they truly did want to open their discussion to all perspectives they would not have immediately expressed their strong opposition to the ideologies of Catholicism and of conservatives.
Although I found this introductory video disappointing; I decided to stay, hopeful that the “discussion” portion of the event would prove to be insightful. Hill began by asking members of a four-person panel of “non-experts” to share their insights into world problems. He began with agribusiness activist, Howard Lyman.
While Lyman did offer some important warnings about the health risks associated with the overuse of pesticides, eating fish from polluted waters and mad cow disease, his “solutions” to these problems were vague and impractical.
It seemed that Lyman’s advice on making healthy food choices consisted in advocating that everyone to vegan-organic. Although organic farming might be ideal, it is not a practical alternative to commercial farming because it could never stimulate and produce the level of crops needed to feed a global market. Furthermore, Lyman offered no logical reason to remove all dairy and meat products from one’s diet except that it would prevent us from “eating anything with a face,” as Hill put it.
After Lyman’s insightful talk, Hill moved on to discuss practical energy solutions with an “activist” named Leah. Leah’s main point was to say that we should all convert to a vague, alternative form of energy because a few of Minnesota’s electric plants are built on top of Indian burial grounds. Leah claimed that, “Every time you turn on your lights, you are causing damage to indigenous people.”
If nothing else, at least I was able to walk away from this panel with the practical, sustainable form of energy suggested by Leah: no energy. Since Leah can live her life without turning the lights on, I am sure I can too.
The night concluded with a U.S. Military-bashing session introduced by the third panelist, an average 18-year old St. Catherine’s student named Vicky, who is a gay/lesbian/transgender/bisexual rights and anti-tobacco activist. Since Vicky had spent a brief time with the U.S. Military, Hill asked her to share her share her views on that institution.
Vicky warned students against joining the Military by saying, “I decided that I was not willing to go kill other young people in order that I could survive.” This comment was only helpful in that it let me realize that even I knew more about the U.S. Military than Vicky. At least I realized that the purpose of our armed forces was for the defense, and not the destruction of innocent youth.
As if I had not learned enough about the U.S. Military already, Tracy Chapman commented that African American men often are forced to make the choice between jail and the Military, which are really “the same thing, you know.” No, Ms. Chapman, I actually was not aware of this connection. If these men didn’t choose to commit crimes worthy of jail, they wouldn’t ever have to enter the Military against their will.
Leah concluded this discussion on the Military with yet another brilliant comment. According to Leah, “If we are going to send anybody into hell forever it should be the Military.” Perhaps Leah should start ascribing to the age-old adage, “judge not lest ye be judged.”
I challenge the St. Thomas Lectures Committee to host a liberal activist group that offers real solutions to environmental and social problems that students can use, unlike the “We the Planet” tour that presented off-the-wall opinions while slandering the Catholic Church. I hope they will host groups who genuinely want to engage in a discussion of important issues respecting conservative as well as liberal opinions.
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