Meeting the Enemy - by Kevin J O'Brien (Paperback)

About the Book

The catastrophic effects of climate change are overwhelming. What can we do? Who is responsible? In the tradition of Walter Wink, O'Brien reminds us that Christians have the power to name and oppose the enemies of God's creation. The fossil fuel industry is our enemy. We can confront this evil power and build a more faithful future.

Book Synopsis

The catastrophic effects of climate change can seem overwhelming. What can we do? Who is responsible? In the tradition of Walter Wink, O'Brien reminds us that Christians have the power to name and oppose the enemies of God's good creation. The fossil fuel industry is just such an enemy. We can courageously confront these powers of evil and build a more faithful future.

O'Brien paints the structural evils of the fossil fuel industry in sharp relief, helping readers understand that a Christian climate ethic must move beyond individualistic blame and individualistic solutions. While we bear responsibility for our personal actions, O'Brien demonstrates that fossil fuel companies are far more to blame for the contemporary climate crisis. His reframing shows us that the problem is the system. Having fully developed his case for the blame fossil fuel companies bear, O'Brien helps readers consider the options available to us as Christians to bear witness to evil and address the roots of this system of powers that bind us. O'Brien's approachable and engaging analysis makes Meeting the Enemy a powerful resource for both the classroom and informal educational settings.

Review Quotes

Kevin O'Brien has laid out a systematic case for blessed rage toward the fossil fuel industry. The intersectional forces of domination that have led to colonialism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ableism, and that reinforce anthropocentrism, are today exacerbated by fossil-fueled atmospheric defilement. Rather than placing the blame on our daily lives, even though we must recognize our complicity to varying degrees, O'Brien argues we ought to join forces against a strategic enemy, the fossil-fueled industrial complex, which exacerbates injustices on a global scale. --Whitney Bauman, professor of religious studies, Florida International University

Meeting the Enemy is an excellent book. Clear, well-written, and timely. Honest, yet hope-filled. A persuasive argument for resisting the structures at the root of our climate crisis. Take up and read. --Steven Bouma-Prediger, professor of religion, Hope College, and author of Creation Care Discipleship: Why Earthkeeping Is an Essential Christian Practice

In recent years, Christian environmental ethicists have begun the important work of interweaving questions of ecological concern with questions pertaining to the social, economic, and political realms. Kevin O'Brien has been at the forefront of this work. In Meeting the Enemy, O'Brien continues to expand his vision of the movement toward a world that more fully reflects God's love for all of creation. Engaging a diverse array of interlocutors while drawing upon Walter Wink's conception of the "powers that be," O'Brien gives us a way of conceptualizing and enacting the struggle against a fossil fuel industry that would devour the earth in its service to mammon. This book will be helpful to activists, scholars, and communities of faith alike. --Daniel Castillo, associate professor of theology, Loyola University Maryland

Warning: this book will change the way you think about climate--and about everything else. In Meeting the Enemy, Kevin O'Brien is both readable and revolutionary, incisively exposing the deepest roots of the destructive powers behind climate change. Profound, yet practical, O'Brien describes a clear path from powers of evil to powers of renewal. Required reading for anyone who wants to create a greener, more just future! --Laura M. Hartman, associate professor of environmental studies, Roanoke College

The title of O'Brien's book says a great deal about its content, which is innovative and accessible in its approach to this topic. While giving a clear and complex picture, Meeting the Enemy also helps the reader in how to respond. This book provides a comprehensive and creative way to teach about "atmospheric defilement," or global warming, empowering readers to understand and act; it will work in a wide variety of classrooms and subjects. I look forward to teaching it. --Laurel Kearns, professor of ecology, society, and religion, Drew Theological School

With his usual clarity of vision, leading Christian environmental ethicist Kevin J. O'Brien mobilizes the rich biblical and theological tradition of nonviolent resistance against the destructive powers of the fossil fuel industries and the cultural myths that sustain them. The aim is not to demonize, but to narrate an altogether different story in support of the subversive, life-giving powers of faith-based intersectional alliances for an alternative energy economy. There is no other book yet that connects biblically informed moral argument against the fossil fuel industry with Christian practices of climate resistance in such a clear-eyed, yet hopeful manner. --Hilda P. Koster, Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto Associate Professor of Theology and director of the Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology, University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto