Network of Earthkeeping Christian Communities in South Africa
NECCSA Update: December 2005
A monthly newsletter on Church and Environment in South Africa
1. Advent and Ecology
During the next few weeks Christians will celebrate Christmas in the midst of the pagan Xmas festival which will dominate our shopping malls and the media. It is no secret that Christmas has become synonymous with a consumerist culture. During such a time, we may draw wisdom from a famous speech, “Peace with God the creator – Peace with all creation” (1990) by the late Pope John Paul II:
Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its life-style. In many parts of the world society is given to instant gratification and consumerism while remaining indifferent to the damage which these cause. ... The seriousness of the ecological issue lays bare the depths of humanity’s moral crisis. If an appreciation of the value of the human person and human life is lacking, we will also lose an interest in others and in the earth itself. Simplicity, moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become part of everyday life, lest all suffer the negative consequences of the careless habits of a few. It is manifestly unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate excess goods, squandering available resources, while masses of people are living in conditions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence. Today the dramatic threat of ecological breakdown is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfishness both – individual and collective – are contrary to the order of creation.
2. Environmental degradation in the Niger Delta
Amadi Ahiamadu, Dept of Old and New Testament, University of Stellenbosch, has adapted the following article from Creamer Media's Engineering Times (Vol.25/41 Ocober 21 - 27 2005, p.6) for NECCSA. He writes that this may help to alert the Faith communities on our Continent on the pollution and wet-lands devastation in the Niger Delta (Nigeria).
"IT IS SAID THAT IF YOU FLY OVER PARTS OF NIGERIA at night, you think it's day because of the glare from the flaring of natural gas. Angola is another culprit, burning 85% of its oil-linked natural gas. This is a crying shame. The United Nations and the African Union need to bring to book the governments that have allowed this wanton waste of a finite resource. The oil companies that have carried out this destructive practice over the years should be forced to pay compensation. Who gave them permission to burn Africa's natural resources? What manner of government allows a substance that can do so much for the economies of "developing" African countries to go up in flames and what of the environmental damage to the land inhabited by peoples most affected by these reckless gas flares? While several North African producers have distinguished themselves by seizing global market opportunities to earn revenue from the export of natural gas, most of sub-Saharan Africa's gas associated with oil has gone up in smoke, with serious economic-sustainability consequences. We say gas flaring must be stopped immediately and those who have flared must be flayed. In many respects natural gas has environmental advantages over crude oil in that, with the correct processing, it can provide the kind of "green" low sulphur transport fuel that the world desperately needs. Natural gas is not only a major source of energy, but also a chemical feedstock.
It is only now that the penny is dropping about crude oil production and reserves gradually peaking in some big producing regions that natural gas is getting a look in. That is simply not good enough. The oil majors in particular have known all along that the gas does not belong to them, but to the people of Africa. It is in situations like this that justice cries out for a world court at which transgressors can be tried, convicted and heavily fined. They owe the people of this continent big reparations and they should be made to cough up for such damages done to the land and environment of the Niger Delta, Nigeria and Angola, because that seems to be the only language that desecrators of this sort understand.
Africa's natural-gas reserves reached 450 trillion cubic feet in 2003, they say, but what they don't dare calculate is how many trillion cubic feet they have already destroyed and what that has done in terms of air pollution and ill health to both the neighbouring communities and their environs. Given the knowledge base of the value of natural gas and the logistics that can be applied to get it where it needs to go, there is no longer any excuse at all for its continued destruction".
10 November this year marked the 10th Anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight colleagues, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbokoo, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Paul Levura and Felix Nuate by the State of Nigeria for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by oil companies, especially Shell.
3. Recalling the life and death of Sr Dorothy Stang
As the year draws to a close we recall the death of Sr Dorothy Stang. It was reported that more than 2000 poor Brazilian farmers marched to the remote jungle town of Anapu in February this year for the funeral of Catholic Sister Dorothy Stang, SND, whom they called the "angel of Trans-Amazonia." Stang, 73, was shot to death Feb. 12 by a hired assassin. She had defended the rights of the poor and the earth for more than 30 years.
Stang had worked with the Catholic Pastoral Land Commission in Brazil since 1966 to protect the rainforest community and resist illegal logging and ranching. "Sister Dorothy’s life and death were about protecting the people she loved and the rest of creation," said Marie Dennis, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns in Washington. "She was tied to the people of the Amazon, tied to the land. She kept going back even as danger became more apparent." According to witnesses, Stang died reading scripture to her assailants.
4. National Council of Churches in the USA wins award for Eco-Justice Program
The 2005 Gratitude Grant was awarded, among 75 applications, to the National Council of Churches in the USA for their Eco-Justice Program. Started in 1950, NCC represents a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and Living Peace churches. The organization represents 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations across the US.
Since 1983, the NCC's Eco-Justice program – which also partners with Jewish, Catholic, and Evangelical coalitions – has worked to "assure justice for all of creation and the human beings who live in it" by providing program ideas and resources to help congregations engage in environmental protection and restoration. Cassandra Carmichael, the Director of the Eco-Justice Program, says: "Many people have the impression that people of faith aren't interested in environmental issues. But actually, even though our council is diverse, there are three things we all agree on: poverty, peace, and protecting the environment. We are thrilled to take the momentum of the Eco Justice program to new heights with Free Range's support."
To learn more about the NCC’s Eco-Justice program, visit: http://www.nccecojustice.org/
5. Christians Join International Day of Climate Protest
On Saturday 3 December, Christians from all denominations will gather at Hinde Street Methodist Church in London to pray for international action to prevent disastrous global climate change. The service forms part of an International Day of Climate Protest to mark United Nations Climate Talks.
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, which brings together Churches of Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, Reformed and Pentecostal traditions, is supporting the ecumenical service through Operation Noah, the church-led climate change campaign.
World leaders will meet in Montreal from 29 November to 9 December to begin the process of agreeing a gameplan for averting dangerous climate change after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The ecumenical service in London will be organized by Christian Ecology Link. There will be speakers from Tearfund, and the Religious Society of Friends, together with Ruth Jarman, representing Operation Noah. They will be joined by others from churches, aid agencies, and development and environmental groups.
Demonstrations will take place in other major European cities, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin, as well as in America, Canada, and the Global South. Thousands are expected to march in London. Christians will form part of an interfaith section of people whose religious beliefs have inspired them to bear witness. The rally culminates outside the US Embassy at 2.30pm, where Christian leaders are among those offered a platform. The service will follow at nearby Hinde Street (West London Mission) from 4pm to 5pm.
Revd Dr David Pickering, Moderator of Operation Noah, said, “We will be making life very hard for future generations if Montreal fails to agree a way forward on long term action on climate change. The Kyoto Protocol must be followed up with far bigger cuts in our carbon emissions. Binding targets are the only way to stop catastrophic climate changes kicking in. Not only that, we want Montreal to recognize that within a safe global carbon budget every country, everyone, rich or poor, is entitled to a fair share of the economic benefits which responsible use of fossil fuels can bring.”
“A strong and united Christian presence at the International Day of Climate Protest in London would demonstrate that Christians are committed to taking concerted action to safeguard the life on Earth, both now and for future generations," he added.
Organizers are encouraging people to travel to the event by foot, bicycle or public transport.
Notes:
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· Distributed by EM Conradie 28/11/2005