Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King’s 85th Birthday with
A Call for Collective Interfaith Actions
on the Climate Crisis
January 15, 2014
Washington, D.C. and Nationwide
ENDORSE THIS CALL TO ACTION HERE
As people of faith and spirituality we remain deeply distressed about the effects of climate change ravaging our planet and worsening the plight of the poor. We recognize the responsibility each of us has to make changes in our own behaviors to reduce human causes of the climate crisis. At the same time, we are indignant at the serious lack of leadership shown by most of our political and religious leaders to address this crisis with the urgency it demands.
Our belief that we must honor our shared responsibility to protect the Earth, the source of all life, is grounded in our faith traditions and leads us to the following conclusion: “It is a moral failure of the first order to continue to disrupt the climate that is the cornerstone of all life, and to squander the extraordinary abundance of life, diversity and beauty of the planet.”*
Human life and human justice are among the victims of our disrupted climate, as extreme weather wounds especially the poorest and most vulnerable among us. In the floods that most recently devastated the Philippines and before then Pakistan and the American cities deluged by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, we saw how the poor suffered most. In the droughts that over-ran Russia, Central Africa and the U.S. corn belt we saw how the rising cost of food turned hunger into famine and starvation.
As we mark the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 85th birthday, we are mindful of his warning that materialism and poverty are among the most dangerous scourges of our society; his reminder that “evil flourishes when good people do nothing”; and his outcry demanding we respond to “the fierce urgency of Now.”
Compelled, therefore, by Dr. King’s words, our faith traditions and collective conscience, we call upon all religious and faith leaders and organizations in this country to provide moral leadership on the climate emergency by choosing action consistent with the following approaches:
History has taught us – from our own civil rights movement led by Dr. King to the anti-apartheid movement, inspired by Nelson Mandela, that brought down South Africa’s immoral system of entrenched racism – that collective action can, in fact, ‘bend the arc of history toward justice.’
Today, in the absence of governmental leadership and with time for effective action on climate running out, collective action by religious and spiritual leaders and people of our many diverse faiths is badly needed. We must move away from an economy fueled by coal, oil and gas that is destroying our ecosystem and impoverishing millions, and into an Earth-friendly economy in which we thoughtfully reduce our consumption, share our resources for the healing of those who are most in danger, and help all Humanity turn toward clean, renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and geothermal.
*The words of our beloved Father Paul Mayer,
in whose memory, and with our gratitude and love,
we dedicate this action.
A Call for Collective Interfaith Actions
on the Climate Crisis
January 15, 2014
Washington, D.C. and Nationwide
ENDORSE THIS CALL TO ACTION HERE
As people of faith and spirituality we remain deeply distressed about the effects of climate change ravaging our planet and worsening the plight of the poor. We recognize the responsibility each of us has to make changes in our own behaviors to reduce human causes of the climate crisis. At the same time, we are indignant at the serious lack of leadership shown by most of our political and religious leaders to address this crisis with the urgency it demands.
Our belief that we must honor our shared responsibility to protect the Earth, the source of all life, is grounded in our faith traditions and leads us to the following conclusion: “It is a moral failure of the first order to continue to disrupt the climate that is the cornerstone of all life, and to squander the extraordinary abundance of life, diversity and beauty of the planet.”*
Human life and human justice are among the victims of our disrupted climate, as extreme weather wounds especially the poorest and most vulnerable among us. In the floods that most recently devastated the Philippines and before then Pakistan and the American cities deluged by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, we saw how the poor suffered most. In the droughts that over-ran Russia, Central Africa and the U.S. corn belt we saw how the rising cost of food turned hunger into famine and starvation.
As we mark the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 85th birthday, we are mindful of his warning that materialism and poverty are among the most dangerous scourges of our society; his reminder that “evil flourishes when good people do nothing”; and his outcry demanding we respond to “the fierce urgency of Now.”
Compelled, therefore, by Dr. King’s words, our faith traditions and collective conscience, we call upon all religious and faith leaders and organizations in this country to provide moral leadership on the climate emergency by choosing action consistent with the following approaches:
- Urge President Obama to deny outright all construction permits for the Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline, rejecting any ‘deals’ that would allow it to be built
- Work to move your institution’s money (in stock, bank accounts, or other financial holdings) from places where it supports fossil fuel companies, into places that support clean, renewable energy technologies or projects for climate justice in vulnerable areas
- Support legislative efforts to place a price on carbon
- Urge President Obama to use the full extent of his Executive powers to regulate carbon emissions
- Urge President Obama to insist that the US make serious financial support available to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate disruption on the poorest and most vulnerable nations that have done the least to cause the problem
- Urge President Obama to ensure that nothing in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement undermines US environmental protections and efforts to effectively and urgently address the climate crisis.
History has taught us – from our own civil rights movement led by Dr. King to the anti-apartheid movement, inspired by Nelson Mandela, that brought down South Africa’s immoral system of entrenched racism – that collective action can, in fact, ‘bend the arc of history toward justice.’
Today, in the absence of governmental leadership and with time for effective action on climate running out, collective action by religious and spiritual leaders and people of our many diverse faiths is badly needed. We must move away from an economy fueled by coal, oil and gas that is destroying our ecosystem and impoverishing millions, and into an Earth-friendly economy in which we thoughtfully reduce our consumption, share our resources for the healing of those who are most in danger, and help all Humanity turn toward clean, renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and geothermal.
*The words of our beloved Father Paul Mayer,
in whose memory, and with our gratitude and love,
we dedicate this action.