I want our leadership to provide thoughtful analysis on cultural issues but too often we get the thin gruel of popular piety dressed up in Church-speak. Take this latest missive from Constantinople on the environment for example. Where to begin? There is no reflection about the falsification of data by global warming apologists, no awareness that the movement has been largely discredited. Then, adding to the ignorance, it launches into a moral screed using the same suspect science as justification.<\/p>\n

\nIn our efforts, then, to contain global warming, we are admitting just how prepared we are to sacrifice some of our greedy lifestyles. When will we learn to say: “Enough!”? When will we direct our focus away from what we want to what the world needs? When will we understand how important it is to leave as light a footprint as possible on this planet for the sake of future generations? We must choose to care. Otherwise, we do not really care at all. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do not really<\/em> care? If we make any choices at all, the first one must be to think clearly. We must choose to make proper distinctions grounded in fact and experience. We must choose to put off popular pieties masquerading as moral imperatives that are manipulated by celebrities, politicians, activists and others for their own ends. <\/p>\n

Moreso, we must choose to recognize the difference between hectoring and serious moral reflection. Will all due respect to Constantinople, it simply is not true that if we don’t accept the fraudulent science of the global warming lobby we are greedy, selfish, and ignorant people. There’s enough political correctness in the world already, thank you. We don’t need it in the Church.<\/p>\n

I’ll leave the parsing of the piece for the commentators. Meanwhile, compare this missive with the speech given by Vaclev Claus<\/a>, President of the Czech Republic, recently. Claus shows us what clear thinking looks like. Constantinople should take a page from his book.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

His All Holiness was presented with the Hollister Award by the Temple of Understanding<\/a> in New York on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. Others who received the award were Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Prof. Karen Armstrong. <\/em><\/p>\n

CNN invited His All Holiness to contribute an opinion article for their online edition and it can be viewed on their website at: http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2010\/OPINION\/10\/19\/bartholomew.souls.planet\/index.html<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last October, the Ecumenical Patriarchate convened an international, interdisciplinary and interfaith symposium in New Orleans on the Mississippi River, the eighth in a series of high-level conferences exploring the impact of our lifestyle and consumption on our planet’s major bodies of water. Similar symposia have met in the Aegean and Black Seas, in the Adriatic and Baltic Seas, along the Danube and Amazon Rivers, and on the Arctic.<\/p>\n

At first glance, it may appear strange for a religious institution concerned with “sacred” values to be so profoundly involved in “worldly” issues. After all, what does preserving the planet have to do with saving the soul? It is commonly assumed that global climate change and the exploitation of our nature’s resources are matters that concern politicians, scientists and technocrats. At best, perhaps, they are the preoccupation of special interest groups or naturalists. <\/p>\n

So the preoccupation of the Orthodox Christian Church and, in particular, her highest spiritual authority, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the environmental crisis will probably come as a surprise to many people. Yet, there are no two ways of looking at either the world or God. There can be no double vision or worldview: one religious and the other profane; one spiritual and the other secular. In our worldview and understanding, there can be no distinction between concern for human welfare and concern for ecological preservation.<\/p>\n

Nature is a book, opened wide for all to read and to learn, to savor and celebrate. It tells a unique story; it unfolds a profound mystery; it relates an extraordinary harmony and balance, which are interdependent and complementary. The way we relate to nature as creation directly reflects the way we relate to God as Creator. The sensitivity with which we handle the natural environment clearly mirrors the sacredness that we reserve for the divine. We must treat nature with the same awe and wonder that we reserve for human beings. And we do not need this insight in order to believe in God or to prove His existence. We need it to breathe; we need it for us simply to be.<\/p>\n

At stake is not just our ability to live in a sustainable way, but our very survival. Scientists estimate that those most hurt by global warming in years to come will be those who can least afford it. Therefore, the ecological problem of pollution is invariably connected to the social problem of poverty; and so all ecological activity is ultimately measured and properly judged by its impact upon people, and especially its effect upon the poor. <\/p>\n

In our efforts, then, to contain global warming, we are admitting just how prepared we are to sacrifice some of our greedy lifestyles. When will we learn to say: “Enough!”? When will we direct our focus away from what we want to what the world needs? When will we understand how important it is to leave as light a footprint as possible on this planet for the sake of future generations? We must choose to care. Otherwise, we do not really care at all. <\/p>\n

We are all in this together. Indeed, the natural environment unites us in ways that transcend doctrinal differences. We may differ in our conception of the planet’s origin, whether biblical or scientific. But we all agree on the necessity to protect its natural resources, which are neither limitless nor negotiable.<\/p>\n

It is not too late to respond – as a people and as a planet. We could steer the earth toward our children’s future. Yet we can no longer afford to wait; we can no longer afford not to act. People of faith must assume leadership in this effort; citizens of the world must clearly express their opinion; and political leaders must act accordingly. Deadlines can no longer be postponed; indecision and inaction are not options. <\/p>\n

We are optimistic about turning the tide; quite simply because we are optimistic about humanity’s potential. Let us not simply respond in principle; let us respond in practice. Let us listen to one another; let us work together; let us offer the earth an opportunity to heal so that it will continue to nurture us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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