Archive for the ‘anthropocentrism’ Tag
The Great Bear Rainforest agreement has been decades in the making. Photo by Jens Wieting.
Good news from Canada’s west coast arrived last week.
20 First Nations; advocates for the environment; government(s) and forestry companies all endorsed a land use planning agreement concerning the Great Bear Rainforest. Although negotiations took too much time, and there were countless protests by environmental advocates, the accord is an illustration of what good-hearted people can accomplish.
Sojourners sent me this important message today:
Are you ready to join with Christians around the world in prayer for God’s creation? Along with the global Church, we at Sojourners have embraced Tuesday, September 1 as a Global Day of Prayer for the Care of the Creation.
Why tomorrow? Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Communion has long recognized the prayer day; last week, Pope Francis did so for the world’s Roman Catholics; and now, the Protestant World Evangelical Alliance – representing more than 600 million Christians worldwide – and the World Council of Churches have both endorsed the Day of Prayer.
We would like to invite you to participate in this first truly global response by Christians to our many environmental crises by joining in a Telephonic Prayer Meeting organized by Evangelical Christians engaged in various Creation Care ministries at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
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What: Global Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation – Telephonic Prayer Meeting.
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When: Tuesday, September 1, 8:00-8:50 PM ET.
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Call in instructions: Dial 1-302-202-1106 – Conference code: 381142 (Kindly mute your line upon connecting.)
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Who’s involved? Representatives of Sojourners and our partners at the World Evangelical Alliance, the Lausanne evangelistic movement’s Creation Care Network, Care of Creation, Climate Caretakers, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, the A Rocha Christian conservation ministry, the Christian Reformed Church, the Presbyterian Church, and Christians for the Mountains, among many others.
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How can I participate? Download this PDF prayer guide and join us in Scripture readings, devotions, and prayer for our world – for repentance for those in power, and for the church. And forward this email to your friends, small group members, pastors, family members and the like. There’s room for everyone to join in prayer!
In faith,
The Sojourners team
A simple, and compelling definition of FAITH is presented by Brewster Kneen in his book, Journey of an Unrepentant Socialist. Kneen, in his eighth book, says that:
“Faith is the conviction that there is more to life and the world than meets the eye; more than realism can see, more than all the scientists can name.”
Ian Gill challenges Christians to “walk the talk” in this article published first in The Tyee on July 25, 2015:
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/07/25/Good-Catholics-Must-Practise-Preach/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=250715
Although Gill writes about the Roman Catholic Church, and the encyclical Laudato Si’, all Christian denominations in Canada seem to be complicit in their lack of advocacy for the health and welfare of the Earth that sustains us. We are not living with respect IN creation. Gill writes: “Here in Vancouver, birthplace not of Christ, but anyway Greenpeace, I have searched for signs that Rome’s encyclical on the environment hasn’t accidentally been tossed in the recyclical here in our self-styled Greenest City on Earth. The signs are not promising.”
Crawford Kilian has crafted an articulate analysis of the new encyclical by Pope Francis, and distilled some of the wisdom therein into the following:
“The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”
“The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs to buy, own and consume.”
“Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is, first and foremost, up to us.”
“For indigenous communities, land is not a commodity, but a gift from God, a sacred space.”
“Earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone.”
“We should be particularly indignant at the enormous inequalities in our midst.”
“We have to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
Kilian writes that, “This is highly incendiary stuff, and the pope is clearly aware that not all his bishops and cardinals will want to propagate this kind of revolutionary faith. But his encyclical frequently credits the clergy of various nations (including the Canadian bishops) for their endorsements of countless key points. They are on his side whether they want to be or not.”
Read more at: http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/06/22/Pope-Save-Thy-Planet/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=220615
It was a perfect Vancouver day… the sun shining, the sky blue; a slip of cloud in the distance, moving up Howe Sound; a breeze from the west, pushing occasional white caps on the waves. And I am walking the seawall – perhaps my favourite place in the world.
One of the strange gifts of being Moderator has been the amount of time I have spent away from home – a gift in that I have discovered how deeply rooted I am in Vancouver… not just family and friends and home; but also history, smell, space; this is where I belong. Here, by this ocean, these mountains, this forest, this city. Sometimes it takes distance to remind us of what our home-land means. As the poet T.S. Eliot said, “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time” (Little Gidding).
Paterson goes on to write:
But as I walked the seawall, I was confronted with big signs, plastered all over the beaches:
WATER SAFETY NOTICE
Due to an oil spill from a cargo ship in English Bay it is recommended that
people and pets temporarily avoid going in the water.
Clean up will be conducted by the Federal Coast Guard officials and their contractors.
Please also refrain from attempting to clean up the spill as it can cause further impact.
Call 3-1-1 to report any concerns or observations
as we continue to manage this unfortunate incident.The language is carefully crafted… don’t be alarmed, this unfortunate incident is being managed. Just don’t go in the water; don’t even try to clean up the stuff.
Well, I’m glad the signs are up – we’re organized, finally, about clean-up. But I am worried. Only 30 or 40 waterfowl dead, they say. But later on? And what might happen to the great blue herons, as they prepare to mate, nest, and rear their chicks? Or to the fish, the otters, and seals, the gulls and crows? And what is this about “further impact?”
More at:http://www.garypaterson.ca/2015/04/22/earth-day-2015-sea-and-sky-prayer-and-conversion/
What do Earth Day (April 22) and the Moderator of the United Church of Canada have in common?
Gary Paterson wrote a blog with the above title after learning of what is euphemistically called, “an oil spill”.
“Sitting here at my desk in Toronto, my heart is troubled by the news about an oil spill in English Bay… my home. I gather the clean-up is going well – it was, as these things go, a small spill. But, oh my, what a way to make frighteningly real and concrete all the worries about fossil fuels, environmental degradation, and climate change.”
The emotionally moving – especially when one reads to the end – blog can be accessed at:
http://www.garypaterson.ca/2015/04/14/the-earth-is-gods-body/
On October 8, 2014, Julie Gelfand released her first report as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. As her predecessor had done in 2012, Gelfand warned that Canada “will not meet its international greenhouse gas 2020 emission reduction target”—a 17% reduction from 2005 levels—and “does not have an overall plan that maps out how Canada will achieve this target.”
Furthermore, the commissioner said: “Canadians have not been given the details about which regulations will be developed, when, nor what greenhouse gas reductions will be expected. Finally, the federal government has not provided the necessary co-ordination so that all levels of government, working together, can achieve the national target by 2020.”
The sustainability audit drew several opposition questions in the House of Commons, with Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq responding that Canada’s emissions are lower than they were before the Conservatives took office in 2006. Prime Minister Stephen Harper even got involved, stating, “Under our government, we have lowered greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, been able to grow the economy.”
The Canadian Press tested these responses in an edition of its regular Baloney Meter, assigning a rating of “a little baloney,” or mostly accurate “but more information is required.”
The article quoted David McLaughlin, former head of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, who said these and other recent federal statements on emissions reductions are “a classic example of accuracy versus veracity.” In other words, it’s “accurate without being true—in the sense that it’s accurate the numbers show that, but it’s not true in showing we’re on a path to reducing overall emissions and to meet targets.”
McLaughlin explained the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession did more to lower Canadian emissions (by reducing demand for all goods, including Canadian resources) than any federal regulations. It is also due to the government’s unwillingness to go after major emitters while leaning on provincial success stories, for example Ontario’s elimination of coal power from its energy grid.
On launching her first report, Gelfand pointed out that “regulations in the oil and gas sector—where emissions are growing the fastest—are still not in place eight years after the government first indicated it would regulate this area.” There is also generally not enough consultation outside the oil and gas industry, she said.
“Given its commitment to be a world-class regulator, Environment Canada should publish its plans for future regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as the oil and gas regulations, with sufficient detail and lead time, so that consultations with interested and affected parties can be transparent and broadly based, and the parties can plan effectively.”
—The Monitor
This report is taken from the CCPA Monitor, November, 2014, page 21 – a publication of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
MP Linda Duncan recently introduced “An Act to Establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights” in Parliament. If it’s passed, our federal government will have a legal duty to protect Canadians’ right to live in a healthy environment.
David Suzuki writes that:
“Progress is possible when enough people recognize its necessity and come together to make it happen. Protecting our country and planet, our health and the future of our children and grandchildren is absolutely necessary. We can’t live and be well without clean air and water, nutritious food and the numerous services that diverse and vibrant natural environments provide.”
On October 8, 2014, Julie Gelfand released her first report as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. As her predecessor had done in 2012, Gelfand warned that Canada “will not meet its international greenhouse gas 2020 emission reduction target”—a 17% reduction from 2005 levels—and “does not have an overall plan that maps out how Canada will achieve this target.”
MP Linda Duncan recently introduced “An Act to Establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights” in Parliament. If it’s passed, our federal government will have a legal duty to protect Canadians’ right to live in a healthy environment.
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