Unbound - Climate, the Coronavirus, and Justice: As a climate activist living during the coronavirus pandemic, the world feels pretty heavy these days. Watching the pandemic in America is ...
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Unbound - Climate, the Coronavirus, and Justice
Unbound - Climate, the Coronavirus, and Justice: As a climate activist living during the coronavirus pandemic, the world feels pretty heavy these days. Watching the pandemic in America is ...
Unbound - Climate, the Coronavirus, and Justice
As a climate activist living during the coronavirus pandemic, the world feels pretty heavy these days. Watching the pandemic in America is like watching the entire climate crisis unfold over just a few months. First, experts give warnings that are largely dismissed, but are later proved right. Then, as their predictions come true, our political institutions fail to protect the public interest, especially as the suffering falls upon groups who were already the most vulnerable.
Unfortunately, a new crisis doesn’t erase an old one. In many ways, it feels like we failed our dress rehearsal for climate change:
For COVID-19, we weren’t able to avoid the trap of undervaluing our expert warnings and digging a hole for society. The next challenge for those who care about justice is to avoid that trap on climate change.
I stray away from making precise connections between individual weather events and climate, since it can feel opportunistic, especially when people are suffering. Likewise, I hesitated when some people made hasty connections between climate and the coronavirus, because some of them are not actually worth celebrating. For example, it is true that emissions are a bit lower and that the reduced air pollution will save thousands of lives and lots of wildlife, like the creatures returning to the Venice canals. This does reveal the costs of our current systems. However, on a larger scale, the pollution will return quickly when economies open back up. Anyone believing that the virus is a net-positive should perhaps reevaluate. Although I’m certainly an environmentalist, as a Christian I cannot see the virus as “worth it” when the Image of God is being destroyed in so many people’s deaths.
Some logistical comparisons are much more worthwhile, like air travel and deforestation. The modern world’s heavy use of air travel is a significant source of our carbon footprint, but also allowed the virus to spread across the world so quickly. And deforesting formerly-wild areas not only hampers the earth’s ability to suck carbon out of the atmosphere, it brings more people into contact with wild animals we don’t usually see. This closer proximity also makes it more likely that their diseases will cross into our population; we believe that Ebola, SARS, and COVID-19 came from bats, while the 1918 Spanish Flu came from birds, perhaps via pigs. These connections deserve further study as we realize how inter-connected our world has become.
But aside from the pure science of how climate change and the coronavirus arose, deeper questions appear for people concerned with faith and justice: What underlying issues led to these situations? What kinds of things should we be doing now? How can we extract ourselves from them?
A handful of possible answers present themselves in my mind: listen to frontline communities, act individually, and organize collectively.
Frontline communities are those who are most affected. Both climate change and the coronavirus are threat multipliers, meaning they compound pre-existing injustices in our society. For example, did you know that COVID-19 disproportionately affects black and Latino communities? This does not seem to have a biological factor, but is more a reflection of where the US allows the highest rates of air pollution. And Asian Americans continue to face increased discrimination in public over the pandemic.
Meanwhile, we now know that the virus in America was not primarily spread by contact from China, but from white-majority, European countries and college kids who chose to go to the beach for spring break despite warnings. Climate change is much the same. Populations most responsible for the problem are those with higher carbon footprints in history like Americans and Europeans, while those who are suffering and will suffer the most are populations with lower emissions. Waterfront countries like Kiribati and Bangladesh are faced with rising seas, while crippling droughts destabilize regions like Syria and Yemen. This is also true locally: just this month, a Native American tribe in southern Louisiana solidified plans to move to higher ground. Climate refugees are real, and they are here now. Only by listening to these communities can we address the injustice of these issues.
Second, our actions matter, in both the virus and the climate. My actions matter. Your actions matter. We should all be trying to make the right choices in our own lives as an extension of the Biblical concept of loving our neighbor. For COVID-19, that means reducing the likeliness that you will accidentally help transmit the disease. For climate change, that means reducing your carbon footprint. Individual actions are crucial. As writer Mary Heglar writes, “Yes, it’s true that you can’t solve the climate crisis alone, but it’s even more true that we can’t solve it without you.” Similarly, you cannot stop the pandemic by yourself, with your own mask. But unless you do that, it won’t be stopped. Individual actions add up, and perhaps more importantly, they set an example and start conversations with others who might not see the value of action.
Individual action is necessary, but insufficient. Both the virus and the climate crisis are society-wide problems, meaning they need society-wide solutions. It is a hard task to do by yourself, but you can band together. Join groups like Young Evangelicals for Climate Action and Interfaith Power and Light, or find similar organizations for your own faith tradition or region.
If individual action amounts to people making the best choice they can, collective action tries to change the “menu” of choices that society gives us all. Focusing on systems – even small ones – is the way forward: getting your church to start recycling, for example, or putting tape on the floor of your checkout lines to keep people 6’ apart. Adjusting these systems helps people act on their better impulses. Plentiful trash cans reduce litter, unemployment pay helps people stay home and avoid spreading the virus, and clean energy subsidies make it easier to reduce your carbon footprint. Changing how our systems operate, with legislation if need be, makes it easier for people to do the right thing.
Finally, some smaller takeaways have encouraged me over recent weeks. As we look at the massive changes necessary to head off climate change’s worst effects, it can feel hopeless to imagine society reacting quickly enough. However, the widespread transformation of our society during the pandemic shows us that these necessary adaptations are possible when we realize we need to. The small acts of kindness that make up our current transformation are some of the few things that have given me hope during the pandemic. Yes, there are groups that make headlines for the wrong reasons. But people make sacrifices for the good of us all, every day: they stay home, make masks, and help their neighbors shop. I pray that the same groundswell of generosity and selflessness will take effect as climate awareness rises.
As we look to the sacrifices ahead, I also pray that we learn from our failures in the pandemic. The pandemic is not an opportunity to be welcomed. But as we rebuild our society, we must not miss the opportunity to make a better, kinder world that is ready for the challenges to come from climate change. We have failed our dress rehearsal. Let us not fail again.
Matthew Groves, a science and faith educator, lives and teaches in Nashville, TN. He serves on the steering committees for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action and the Tennessee chapter of Interfaith Power and Light. You can learn more about his work at www.matthewdgroves.com.
A Time for Action
The week of May 24th will be remembered as a week of lament, mourning, grief, and outrage. Death has been a constant presence throughout the world as lives have been impacted by loss and pain. The most troubling aspect is the fact that so much of it is unwarranted. The simple fact is that people are dying needlessly due to the reality that the resources of this world are not equally nor equitably distributed. Our grief is compounded by the fact that there is intentionality in the suffering inflicted.
The killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, is a tragic opportunity for this nation to come to grips with the fact that the country in which we live has never truly repented of its racist roots. Despite our magnificent words of freedom and justice, neither have ever been evenly distributed to people of color. We want an end to racism and its devastating impact, but that takes determination and, ultimately, sacrifice.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has compiled a record of speaking against injustice, issuing statements, and defending the oppressed. Every Presbyterian who has seen the video of the death of Mr. George Floyd has to be filled with repulsion and disgust. The fact that one human being could kill another so blatantly and without hesitation in the presence of eyewitnesses, causes each one of us to wonder, “what type of world do we live in when something like this can happen?”
The racist elements in our society must be named before they can be expunged. The excesses of the criminal justice system, which result in the murder of people in the streets and unjust sentencing in the courts, must be ended. Wealth in the hands of a few must be fairly distributed for the benefit of all.
We are people of faith who believe that God is the “creator of the heavens and the earth.” God is a God of love and equally a God of justice. So how do we, as a people called to emulate the actions of a just God, respond? More specifically, for our white brothers and sisters, how will you seek justice for and protect our neighbors of color who are burden by racism?
Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve racial justice in our country? Are you ready to make sacrifices so that others might have a more meaningful life? Are you prepared to let go of your privilege so that others may benefit? How will you respond?
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”- James 2:14-16
Your "Medical Mission Live" invitation for Tuesday, June 2nd | MBF
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WCC NEWS: WCC condemns violence, racism in US—and calls for justice
The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned violence, racism and police brutality in the US, following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was unarmed, at the hands of a police officer.“As part of our Christian understanding and our witness in the world, we reject the brutality of both violence and racial injustice,” reads a WCC statement. “We therefore express our revulsion at the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, and call for full accountability for those responsible for his death.”
The WCC fellowship grieves for all victims of excessive force employed by US law enforcement authorities against people of colour. “How many more must die before there is a collective affirmation that black lives do matter, and fundamental root-and-branch reforms in the culture and practices of law enforcement agencies are implemented?” the WCC stated. "This must stop.”
"There must be a conversion (metanoia), reflection, repentance and rejection of all forms of racism and racial discrimination, and a true and genuine acknowledgement of the equal God-given dignity and worth of every human being, regardless of colour or ethnicity," continues the statement.
“Superficial measures will no longer suffice,” the statement reads. “Criminal prosecution must surely follow, as well as fundamental reforms in law enforcement."
Society itself must change, the statement acknowledges. “However, violence will never be ended by more violence,” the text continues. "We call on those now expressing their anger in violent protest to end the violence, but to strengthen peaceful demands for accountability and reform until justice is done.”
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.
Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press
Our visiting address is:
World Council of Churches
150 route de Ferney
Geneve 2 1211
Switzerland
Friday, May 29, 2020
Sojourners - Join us for the National Day of Mourning and Lament
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This week the United States surpassed the grim mark of 100,000 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this moment, faith leaders from around the country have joined Sojourners in calling on people from all faith traditions to take the time to mourn and lament the loss of our brothers and sisters. As people of faith, we refuse to let these deaths go unnoticed. Our nation needs time and space to truly mourn and lament the loss of our loved ones taken from us by COVID-19.
Today and tomorrow, many of our Muslim and Jewish neighbors will join us by mourning this moment in their own traditions and practices. As Christians we will do so this Pentecost Sunday. Then, on Monday, June 1, we are calling for interfaith leaders to partner with their mayors and other local elected officials to hold virtual prayer services and mark the passing of the 100,000.
We are working with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which has endorsed this effort, and have already received commitments from mayors in over three dozen cities and over 15 states to make Monday, June 1, a National Day of Mourning and Lament.
We invite and encourage you to join us in remembering the lives that have been lost by:
During this time, we are not only lamenting the loss of our neighbors, but also lamenting the inequities and brokenness that COVID-19 has revealed. We lament the overwhelming impact of the virus on our elders. We lament the disproportionate rate of infection and death among the black community, which has been compounded by the trauma of George Floyd’s recent tragic killing due to police brutality and racism. We lament the loss of our Native brothers and sisters who have been hit particularly hard. We lament the racism directed at the Asian American community.
As people of faith, we are called to mourn and lament the loss of these 100,000 people, each beloved and made in God’s image. We must take the time to grieve so we can help to heal as we move forward in facing these challenges together. We hope you will join us in this time of lament with your faith communities over the weekend and as one people of faith on Monday.
Prayerfully,
Rev. Jim Wallis, Founder & President, Sojourners
Rev. Adam R. Taylor, Executive Director, Sojourners
Lament Resources
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Action Alert - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Office of Public Witness Laments the Death of George Floyd
Action Alert - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Office of Public Witness Laments the Death of George Floyd
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A Thought from the Word
A brief thought based on Romans 12:15 - When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad.
VoteVets.org - President Trump got our message
It should go without saying but we’ll say it anyway:
It should not have taken a protest from VoteVets, and thousands of veterans standing up for National Guardsmen on the front lines of COVID response, for Donald Trump to not take them off duty one day short of them being able to accrue time for Federal benefits.
Yesterday the administration announced it would be extending the deployment of our National Guard fighting the COVID-19 pandemic across the country. This action was taken because of Senator Tammy Duckworth and Senator Gary Peters, because of Representative Ted Lieu and Representative Max Rose and because this team called out Trump for his shameful attempt to nickel and dime our military.
Once again, we’ve taken Trump to task on his disrespect to our military and forced him to act. But it’s not enough, and the deployment order extension for a few months isn’t enough.
Time and again this team has proven it has what it takes to hold Trump accountable for his bad behavior towards our military. This is no different, but we still have work to do on this issue, so thanks for sticking with us until deployed National Guardsmen can continue their critical work without having to worry or wonder about their future.
Today in the Mission Yearbook - Foundation Board experiences life along the El Paso-Mexico border
Today in the Mission Yearbook - Foundation Board experiences life along the El Paso-Mexico border: One member is touched by the wind May 29, 2020 Members of the Board of Trustees and staff of the Presbyterian Foundation spent a day...
change.org - "I can't breathe, officer"
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George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer.
George was handcuffed and restrained and being completely cooperative when this all went down. The officer put his knee on George’s neck choking him for minutes on minutes while George screamed that he could not breathe. Bystanders beg for the police officer to take his knee off George’s neck, but the officer didn’t listen and continued to choke him.
Not that it would matter at all, but George was not even wanted for a violent crime. A grocery store that he was signing a bad check.
We are trying to reach the attention of Mayor Jacob Frey and DA Mike Freeman to beg to have the officers involved in this disgusting situation fired and for charges to be filed immediately.
Please help us get justice for George and his family!
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WCC NEWS: Memorial service honors the late Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel, ‘pioneer and visionary leader’
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| WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom, November 2018. Photo: Mikael Stjernberg/ Christian Council of Sweden |
WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom, in a message during the service, said she found it difficult to fathom, let alone accept, that her dear colleague is actually gone.
“We cannot argue with our Creator God, who holds our timelines,” said Abuom. “But Prof. Mary-Anne, as a pioneer and visionary leader, inspired us to begin a journey together, reflecting on the future of ecumenism, and we will miss her wisdom and her witness.”
Abuom reflected on Plaatjies-van Huffel’s lifetime of breaking down barriers and healing the breach. “I see faithful and self-critical service to the church,” said Abuom. “And I see contributions to church history, law, and theology.”
Less obvious, said Abuom, is the suffering Plaatjies-van Huffel endured along the way, the frustrating struggles for justice and well-being for women in church and society that consumed her days.
“Prof. Mary-Anne has served, since 2013, as the World Council of Churches President for Africa, and Africa’s struggles for justice were at the heart of her life and commitments,” said Abuom. “She embodied the best in us.”
Plaatjies-van Huffel’s commitment to justice shaped and sharpened her Christian discipleship, said Abuom. “I believe her remarkable life is an invitation to see the unity of the church in the quest for fully inclusive communities, to hear the perpetual call to reform and renewal of church and society, to respond with joyful hearts to the summons to the difficult but life-changing conversion that God asks of us,” said Abuom. “We are proud and grateful to God for Mary-Anne’s life and witness.”
Full WCC message at Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel memorial
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.
Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press
Our visiting address is:
World Council of Churches
150 route de Ferney
Geneve 2 1211
Switzerland
Presbyterian Peace Camp June 18-27
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