Apocalypse How?
Climate Change, Eschatology, and Christian Responsibility
Between the Bang and the Whimper: Prophetic Hope in an Apocalyptic World, Rev. Ginna Bairby
“This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but with a whimper.” These famous lines from the end of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” have been running through my head recently, particularly as I’ve been putting together this issue of Unbound. Maybe that’s not all that surprising. After all, many would argue that these lines make up the most well-known stanza of Eliot’s poetry. Not to mention the fact that they seem to fit rather logically with this issue’s theme climate change and eschatology. Even if, as later interviews with the poet would reveal, Eliot’s words were not meant to refer to environmental catastrophe, nuclear holocaust, or any other apocalypse scenario, they’ve certainly been employed by many an apocalyptic imagination. Continue Reading
Climate of Conflict: A Trip to Examine the Root Causes of Social-Environmental Conflicts in Peru
Accepting Applications! As of April of 2014 the Peruvian Ombudsman Office reported 211 social conflicts in Peru. Of these conflicts, 64% are directly related to environmental issues, and of these environmental issues 90% are related to the extractive industry. Underlying the growing number and intensity of social-environmental conflicts in Peru is the rapidly growing water crisis in the country related to global warming. Due to its immense ecological and biological diversity, enormous gap between the wealthy and poor, and exposure to natural disasters, Peru is considered to be one of the three most vulnerable countries in the world to global warming. In this context, we discern God’s call to action, together with our global partners Red Uniendo Manos Peru. Continue Reading
“The Creation Waits”: Fossil Fuel Divestment at the 221st GA, Megan M. Gregory
On the bulletin board above my desk, I have an excerpt from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Book of Confessions: “God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of [our] life: social and cultural, economic and political, scientific and technological, individual and corporate. It includes [our] natural environment as exploited and despoiled by sin… Already God’s reign is present as a ferment in the world, stirring hope… With an urgency born of this hope, the church applies itself to present tasks and strives for a better world.” (Confession of 1967, 9.53-9.55) I love this expression of our faith. I love how it calls us to practice discipleship not only within church walls, but also in our table fellowship, investments and purchases, letters to elected officials, and energy and transportation choices. Continue Reading
Exxon Mobil and Me (and the BOP), Sue Smith
Immediately before creating humans in Genesis 1, “God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth’” (Gen. 1:26). In Genesis 2 the very first thing God does with humanity is to: “put [the man] in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). In these stories narrating the “first things” of creation, caring for God’s creation is not one among many Christian spiritual practices; it is our first and foremost responsibility. As it stands, we seem to be falling down on the job. The climate is changing; there are more floods, droughts, and extreme weather events. What can we as Christians do? Continue Reading
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