December 2000 Call to Action News

Chung: Beauty and joy are at the heart of eco-feminism

Chung Hyun Kyung, (picture, page 2), the Korean feminist liberation theologian, believes that hope for humankind lies in the eco-feminist movement, where beauty is the center. Beauty does not compel emotions or relationships but causes people to want to join the movement “because it is alive.” With a vivacious smile and rollicking humor, Chung not only delivered this message; for the overflow crowds at her sessions, she also embodied it.

Chung said that AIDS is a symbol for the pain in our world. We suffer from AIDS in that our global “immune system is not healthy because we have forgotten who are are.” We live in a culture of violence where people are poor “things”, not even human. Massive globalization further divides rich from poor. But to boost our “collective immune system”, she outlined ten principles of a culture of life and peace, drawn from many faith traditions:

1.Biodiversity, because the more diverse the world is, the healthier we are. 2.The principle of water, a power that is cool, resilient, and very feminine. 3.Emptiness, such as voluntary poverty. 4. Joy seeking understanding: people who suffer must know how to celebrate. 5. Creating beauty out of bad things or ugliness. 6. Power of the erotic — the healing power of the body. 7. Ant and spider power by which we make slow holes in the patriarchal pyramid until it crumbles into the dust. 8. Compassion with justice, never making people the “other”. 9. The seventh generation principle: always asking how what we do today will affect seven generations to come. 10. Recycling — not just paper but also our old ideas of God, church and people, recognizing that immigrants make a country healthy and that we can be enriched by our differences.