Beatnik Christianity Accepts Genesis’ Imperative for Creation Care

In 1999’s The Matrix Agent Smith menacingly comments, “A revelation… came to me when I tried to classify your species. I’ve realized that you are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.” Ouch.

It’s troublesome to agree with the reasoning of a cinematic supervillain, but back in high school I remember thinking, ‘Crap. I cannot refute Smith’s reasoning. Humanity does tend to function more like a virus than a mammal.’ A quarter century later I still largely agree but have come to a more nuanced outlook. I no longer think this pattern is necessarily intrinsic to humanity, but it’s definitely true of the Western, consumerist form of capitalism that has been exported around the globe. There is another way, which many human cultures did relatively well for millennia.

Right away in Genesis 1 God gives humankind a sacred assignment. They’re to collectively serve as God’s viceroy or, perhaps better, gardener. Humanity is to take care of the earth and all of its creatures. Some call this mandate “environmental stewardship,” but that language gives me the willies. It rather reminds me of the corrupt Denethor II, Steward of Gondor, in The Lord of the Rings who attempts to deny the return of the King.1 Others call it “creation care.” Whatever the wording, humanity is to live justly and harmoniously with God’s creation rather than exploit it.

Wendell Berry is right. The Bible contains all sorts of ecological themes and agrarian metaphors such as letting the land rest every seven years, but Western Christians with individualistic, post-industrial cultural presuppositions skip right over those passages. Christian culture habitually fails to recognize that The Way of Jesus is not merely about shalom between people but living with nonviolence toward creation itself. Humanity’s responsibility is to care for every creature that swims, crawls, walks, and flies while developing a sustainable equilibrium with the environment.

The original beatniks were far more eco-conscious than they’re often given credit for. In a 2008 Masters thesis, Christopher Clarke argues, “[They] exhibited important ecological principles in their writings and lifestyles… we can better appreciate the evolution of Deep Ecology and eco-centrism more broadly by studying the Beats.” As for beatnik Christianity, yes, the issues around economics and sustainability are exceedingly complex. At the same time, any expression of faith that’s paradigmatically apathetic about creation care is utterly devoid of biblical wisdom.