EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Four, Number Five May/June 1995 Call to Action: Stop Whining — Stand Up Like Adults Then the Lord answered Job out of the tempest. "Who is this whose ignorant words cloud my design in darkness? Brace yourself and stand up like a man. I will ask questions and you shall answer." (Job 38: 1-3) Over the last 25 years the environmental movement has become a major political force all over the world. There has been progress in cleaning our air and water. We value wetlands more. Several species are off the endangered list. We recycle more "waste." Encouraging stories in newspapers report many instances of regional cooperation between environmentalists, governments and the private sector. Now the backlash is in full swing against government regulations that have helped us achieve the levels of protection that are in place; and the onslaughts of economic greed continue. In his article Thou Shalt Not Whine, Bill Cook says it nicely : "Just propose a solution to an environmental problem, and the whining begins: 'That solution costs me money, inconveniences me, or makes me change my habits. Therefore, I oppose it'...The way the whiners see it, the environmental protection laws unfairly force them to pick up the tab for critters nobody cares about, rather than viewing species protection as a cost of doing business on a crowded planet. . . . "But hold it right there. Hear the words of the psalmist: 'The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it.' From that perspective, all this me and mine stuff borders on idolatry. "Perhaps it's high time to buckle down, roll up our sleeves, and do whatever it takes to restore God's trashed Creation. . . . But let's not kid ourselves. All of us, rural folks and urbanites, homeowners and renters, labor and management, will have to make some changes, maybe even some sacrifices. Atonement never comes cheap." Vice President Al Gore sent an urgent message to participants in the telephone seminar of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, March 29, 1995: "We are now in a tremendous struggle to preserve our ability to protect the environment. Anyone who loves God's creation and feels a commitment to the environmental cause ought to feel a sense of urgency and passion right now...I have found that the religious community has an unparalleled opportunity to lift up the moral dimension of this issue and can engage people at a level that opens their hearts... "It is necessary to extend the commitment of social justice to embrace all of God's creation, especially now at a time when the relationships between human civilization and ecological systems of the earth have been radically transformed; and in our own country, when a new political coalition has seized control of the Congress, and a minority has found a way, using a back door, to cripple our efforts to protect the environment. I want to urge you to become deeply involved in this effort." Bill Cook, It's Not Easy Being Green , Winter/Spring 1995, Christian Environment Project, PO Box 80092, Portland OR 97280. Home     Table of Contents