EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Seven, Number Two January/February 1998 "TO COMMIT A CRIME AGAINST THE NATURAL WORLD IS A SIN" Thus declared His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, at the symposium Caring for God's Creation: Science, Religion and the Environment in St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, Santa Barbara CA, November 6-8, 1997. In what the Los Angeles Times called an "unprecedented" defense of the environment by the religious leader of a major international church, Bartholomew told an estimated 800 participants of all faiths: "For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation; for humans to degrade the integrity of the Earth by causing changes in its climate, stripping the Earth of its natural forest, or destroying its wetlands....to contaminate the Earth's waters, its land, its air and its life with poisonous substances — these are sins." (from David Randle, WHALE444@aol.com.) INTERFAITH COALITION FORMS IN RESPONSE TO PATRIARCH'S CHALLENGE Excerpts from Los Angeles Times On-line/www.latimes.com; November 29, 1997, (from Tom Herschelman, tombwca@mail.tcbi.com) "Moved by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch's declaration that environmental abuse is sin, an interfaith group this week stepped up efforts in the religious defense of the natural world. "A week before a major international conference in Kyoto to approve a climate change treaty, about 140 representatives of religious, environmental and scientific groups throughout Southern California laid the groundwork for a new interfaith coalition on religion, science and the environment. The gathering included Jews, Buddhists, Native Americans and Hindus. Most were Christians including Greek Orthodox, United Methodists, Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Disciples of Christ. "Paul Gorman, executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, said that exhortations at the national or denominational level will be only marginally effective unless local congregations become actively involved in across the board efforts such as recycling and generally pursuing less wasteful lifestyles." On January 18, the Religion, Science and Environment Coalition will gather again in the St. Sophia Cathedral, Los Angeles, to formulate a response to the Kyoto Climate Change Summit. For details contact Rev. Peter Moore-Kochlacs, Environmental Ministries, 7528 Garden Grove Ave., Reseda CA 91335; 818/ 344-7870. Home     Table of Contents