EcoFaith Intern Matt Cumings shares the following spoken word lyrics and song with us. His inspiration was the intersection of ecological justice, structural racism, and our dependence on capitalism that numbs us to being human. For his internship Matt is exploring the intersection of environmental justice, permaculture, theology, and social justice. Listen to the spoken word below:

Capital Punishment

Paradise wasn’t lost by Eve or by Milton.

It’s being lost today

By the dualistic structure we are built on.

Arrogantly we assume we are the pinnacle of creation,

Our entire spirituality is predicated on personal salvation

Western individualists with no pause for thought

On what our lack of community has destructively wrought

Not just community with our fellow species

But equality with plants, animals, and trees

The reward for the job you do

Is proportionate to the value society places on you

Entertainers and sports stars help us ignore reality

So we pay them large

CEOs get the most because they’re in charge

But life’s not about monetary rewards

It’s about changing how society moves forward

 

Placate ourselves and search for satisfaction

The church has become another marketplace transaction

Resources consumed and what’s the payoff

We all become little Bernie Madoffs

Buyin and sellin our own version of the pyramid crime

Still slaves to Egypt and empire- Moses wasted his time

The system by which society has operated

Is the same that keeps church segregated

Following Jesus isn’t about being more ethical or frugal,

It’s not an answer we can sit at home and google.

It has to be experienced, a dream made real

A future corporations can’t own or steal

We are set to give it away unless we change it up

If we’re gonna overflow we got to change the size of the cup

 

I’m a recovering addict stuck on step one

Join me, if consumerism has taught us anything:

It’s two is better none.

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Read more about Matt and the EcoFaith Recovery Internship program here.

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Capital Punishment – Spoken Word (by EcoFaith Intern Matt Cumings)