Wednesday
March 4, 2009

“The environmental crisis” does not adequately describe what ails us.  “Environment” means that which surrounds us.  It is a world separate from ourselves, outside us.  The true state of affairs, however, is far more interesting and intimate.  The world around us is also within.  We are an expression of it; it is an expression of us.  We are made of it; we eat, drink, and breathe it.  And someday, when our dying day comes, we will each return the favor and begin our role as a long, slow meal for a million little creatures.  Earth is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.  This is not “environment” so much as the holy mystery of creation, made for and by all creatures together.
-Larry Rasmussen, Earth Community Earth Ethics [Larry Rasmussen, Earth Community Earth Ethics, copyright © 1996 Orbis Books.]

Last week we discovered the stunning diversity of God’s creation and the ways it is threatened.  Why should we care about sustaining biological diversity? Larry Rasmussen’s reflection on the mystery of creation expresses in theological language what the language of the natural sciences would also tell us:  our world is a dynamic, complex system, with everything in its place, and everything connected.  Change in any part of the system affects the whole system—so though we may not immediately feel the effects of species extinction, we should tremble at least a bit at the unknown consequences of it.  As Rasmussen says, “Earth...is a community without an exit.

Leaders around the world have responded to concerns about biodiversity.  Many gathered at the Earth Summit in 1992 and developed the Convention on Biological Diversity, a strategy to conserve and sustain biological diversity. The 2010 biodiversity target in that agreement sets a goal to reduce species extinction and impact communities where poverty is tied with the disappearance of biological diversity. [Convention on Biological Diversity, 2010 Target]

There were 189 countries which signed the Convention on Biological Diversity obligating their governments to conserve biodiversity, use plants and animals in sustainable ways, and share the benefits of biodiversity fairly and equitably.  The U.S. signed, but has not ratified the Convention; however, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides federal protection of many threatened and endangered species and their habitats. 

• Learn more about the Endangered Species Act and what legislation Congress is considering that may impact species and their habitats from the Endangered Species Coalition.  Consider writing a letter or calling your members of Congress.
• Host a study hour in your congregation to discuss these issues with resources from the National Council of Churches and the Noah Alliance.
• Find out how your elected officials have voted on issues impacting biodiversity from the National Environmental Scorecard.