Network
of Earthkeeping Christian Communities in South Africa
NECCSA
Update: April 2003
A
monthly newsletter on Church and Environment in South Africa
1.
Easter and Earth
Have
you ever thought about the significance of Easter for the earth? Probably not?
In the vast literature that has been published on Christianity and ecology,
there is very, very little on the meaning of the resurrection of Christ for the
earth. One exception is a 1990-sermon on "Easter and ecology" by
John de Gruchy, published in the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa
72, p. 73-77. This lack of interest in the significance of the resurrection of
Christ for the earth is rather peculiar because the core Christian affirmation
that "Jesus Christ is risen." Perhaps this Easter will provide us with
an opportunity to explore this link.
It is
true that, for many Christians, faith in the resurrection of Christ is hardly as
central as the apostle Paul suggested it to be. It is also true that this faith
has often been contested - inside and outside the church. The church has
grappled throughout the centuries to understand in what way the resurrection is
"real". Is it something that happened only to the disciples or also to
Jesus of Nazareth? In what way can the resurrection be described as an earthly
event, with material, bodily and earthly consequences? In whatever ways we
interpret the resurrection of Christ, we need to ensure that the Easter message
of the church is understood as one of the salvation of the Earth and that
it is not reduced to salvation from the earth.
2.
War and the environment
Wars
are often fought as a result of conflict over scarce resources. Wars often lead
to environmental damage that result in resources becoming even scarcer.
Visit
the NECCSA website for a collection of statements on the environmental
dimensions of the current war in Iraq. Here are some extracts:
"Church
leaders opposing war in Iraq have used the just war principles. We agree that
military action would not meet the current just war criteria. Yet like the
Archbishop of Armagh and All Ireland, who recently called for an additional
criterion to take account of humanitarian considerations, we believe that the
just war principles could be extended further, given the destructive capability
of weapons of mass destruction. A
further criterion would reject war 'where substantial and irrecoverable harm to
the environment, including humans and other species, is likely to be caused by
the use of powerful bombs or biological, chemical or nuclear weaponry."
- Tim Cooper (Christian
Ecology Link)
On 20 March
Rev Dr Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, in a
press statement made on Iraq concluded that "Any war comes at a high
price of death of soldiers and civilians, destruction of property and the
environment, and the division of people, governments and cultures. This war is
no exception. Wars cannot be won, only peace can."
"Despite
clear experiences and quantities of research, the images and statistics of war's
ecological effects do not come immediately to mind. That fact says something
about how we tend to think of ourselves in isolation from the rest of creation.
It simply does not occur to most of us to include environmental devastation as
one of the persistent horrors of war. Perhaps that is not surprising. Even in
our own communities, it is usually a struggle to identify the hazards of
pollution, the impacts of toxic waste, and the disproportionate costs of
environmental injustice. Here at home, the dangers of ecological disruption and
climate change are so often dismissed by those who favor business as usual. Is
it any wonder that those sorts of questions don't figure prominently in the
debate about war?" - Peter Sawtell (Eco-Justice Ministries)
3.
Adopt a spot
Here
is a story on earthkeeping practices from NECCSA member Pieter Fourie. This
shows what difference you can make where you live.
Almost three years ago the then Tygerberg Municipal Administration had a
so-called "Adopt-a-Spot" initiative. The intention was that residents
should take the responsibility for a piece of land around their premises in
order to keep it clean. Unfortunately, apart from one pamphlet dropped into
homeowners' post boxes, the initiative was never taken further, and therefore
never really came off the ground and became a sustainable project.
My house is situated at the end of a dead-end street, which provides
pedestrian access to one of Bellville's main arterial streets. Because of
businesses situated on the main street, a fair amount of pedestrian traffic that
is created passes my house. However, the refuse removal department of the
municipality regards the area as "residential", which means that no
public refuse bins are provided.
I then approached the department, and, with difficulty, convinced them
that the stairs at the end of the dead-end, leading onto the main road, was a
strategic point to put a refuse bin. One of their objections was that the bins
are paid for by advertisements which are stuck onto the bins, and that
advertisers prefer to have these bins visible at busy street corners where
motorists waiting at traffic lights can read them. For that reason one finds
that, at least in the Bellville area, eight to ten refuse bins are often
positioned at one intersection, but for many meters in the rest of the four
streets no bins are to be seen.
The strategically placed bin in my street immediately impacted positively
on the environment. I was at least personally enabled to walk around the street
block every second day and clean up the area and put the litter into the bin,
whereas previously I had to carry everything onto my own premises to my own bin!
Gradually the environment improved, up to the point where it is now
sufficient to go and pick up litter only once a week, and often less. A number
of so-called "bush sleepers" or "bergies" reside in the
area. They used to be significant culprits in littering. I have, however, tried
to involve them in the process. Instead of chasing them away, I invited them to
sit on the stairs leading onto the street and eat, but to use the bin
afterwards, thereby "keeping the environment clean for all of us, those
with the houses and those without". They form a migrating group, which
means the "education" is never finished. However, as far as a couple
of regulars are concerned, progress has been made. The lesson to myself was not
to give up on litter easily. It was only after a year of dedication that my own
efforts towards picking up started showing real results.
4.
Environment Sunday 8 June 2003
This
is a reminder to start planning to celebrate Environmental Sunday in your local
Christian community or organisation.
5.
Green Clippings
Green
Clippings is a weekly digest of environmental and conservation news, published
by the African Health and Development Organisation. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
email greenclippings@greenclippings.co.za.
It contains up-to-date information on numerous issues. Issue No. 23 (3 April
2003) included news items on the following issues:
·
Organic farming can contribute to economic development
·
Radiation killing people of Russian town
·
Call to stop 'illegal' work on Chapman's Peak
·
Oil companies to invest billions to get green
·
New technology may solve plastic bag problem
·
Toxic mines overwhelm state's cleanup budget
·
Mayor to tackle waste removal in Cape Town
·
EarthWalker shares his vision
·
Mamelodi Community to Learn About the Environment
·
Kruger Park gets over 1m tourists
·
R750 000 from Lotto funds to KZN 'Superpark'
·
Eight wild dogs for KZN park
NECCSA
website address: www.neccsa.org.za. You
are invited to accept ownership of this website in order to use it to share
information on Christianity and earthkeeping practices. Please send any
information to the email address below.
You
are welcome to distribute this NECCSA Update electronically to any other
interested person. You are also welcome to send news to be included in the next
NECCSA update to emcemp@iafrica.com by
15 May 2003. You may send such contributions in the language of your choice.
Distributed by EM Conradie 10/4/2003