Why I Care: Sarah Anderson

Climate Change: For “The Least of These”

After middle school I started going on mission trips every summer with Northland Church. The first year we went to Mexico to build homes and subsequent years, I to traveled different areas of Europe and Eastern Europe, doing everything from visiting schools and planning after-school activities in Germany and England, to hanging out with orphans in Romania and Ukraine.  During this time I really got a sense of how valuable every individual is to God, and the amazing ability the global church has to be connected through our relationship with Christ. After seeing the material poverty in Mexico, Ukraine, and Romania, and remembering the words of Christ when he called us to feed and clothe the poor, I decided to pursue a degree that I thought would help me see how that church can better do that.

Climate change has always been a concern to me, but studying it more in-depth in school, through majoring in anthropology, and minoring in human rights, I have discovered how our exploitation of the environment in the US and other developed countries has begun to change the climate in such a way as to harm societies that rely on consistent weather patterns for sustenance in Africa, India and Southeast Asia. This is what really brought to my attention the moral nature of Creation Care, and our responsibilities as Christians to be good stewards not only for ourselves, but to better love and take care of the poor.

Sarah Anderson

Comments

[Tom Shepherd]

Sarah,

I too care about the planet God gave us to have dominion over. We need to find ways to harness all of the available resources our God has made- wind, sun, waves, etc.

When you mention exploitation of the environment what are you referring to exactly?

How have weather patterns been affected?

Honestly I am concerned that developed and developing nations are getting blamed for the change in the environment, however, we have evidence of climate change from ice ages to volcanic eruptions that happened prior to possible human causation.

Sincerely,

Tom Shepherd

[Paul Lai]

As a general comment, I'm saddened to see so little activities here, just as I'm sad every week when I look at the budget deficit at Northland - don't we care, people?

Tom: thank you for your comment. I don't want to suggest I'm speaking for Sarah (whom I do not know), but I'll attempt to shed some light on this issue.

"Exploitation of the environment" may very well be in reference to this: at less than 1/20th of the world's population, Americans consumer more than one-quarter of its energy. That just borders on "obscene", if it doesn't fall fully over the line. We do it because we don't think twice (or don't think, PERIOD) about wasting, just because "we can". We lack the foresight to visualize Bangladesh under water (or New Orleans, for that matter), and maybe we don't care, or care enough. But the world and all its people are interconnected. It WILL come back to haunt us, somehow, some day.

As for past history of warming/ice age, I'm fully aware of that. But don't forget one important new element and wild card: us. In other words, the human race, aided by our advancement in industry and technology... we're putting the earth and its environment through its paces in an unprecedented, potentially irreversible way. Nothing in the earth's history takes us closer to the precipice than the "here and now", and the "you and I". Doubting our ability or appetite for destruction? Just remember that we are solely responsible for the extinction of passenger pigeons and dodo birds - along with thousands of other species.

We MUST wake up to these realities, not just based on economic and financial reasons (driving less because we can't afford to), but based on a moral imperative (driving and wasting less because it's WRONG).

I'd be interested in hearing your views after reading this, Tom.

Best...Paul Lai

[Janice Matchett]

Mr. Paul Lei wrote: "We lack the foresight to visualize Bangladesh under water (or New Orleans, for that matter).."

May I caution him and any other readers, that if you can't quite visualize such disasters, there are plenty of politically motivated people who are making it their business to help you do it.

Don't be gullible. Here is the latest news on that subject:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2047988/posts?page=9#9

[Janice Matchett]

Mr. Paul Lei wrote: "We lack the foresight to visualize Bangladesh under water (or New Orleans, for that matter).."

May I caution him and any other readers, that if you can't quite visualize such disasters, there are plenty of politically motivated people who are making it their business to help you do it.

Don't be gullible. Here is the latest news on that subject:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2047988/posts?page=9#9

[Paul Lai]

And here I thought that only really old people are prone to senility and different forms of dementia, Janice Matchett - perhaps you're an early adopter. Notice that I had the courtesy to not spell YOUR name wrong (even though it has 167% more letters than my 3-lettered name) You are going to need a lot more help than I am able to provide. I can't expect a blind person to detect even motion, never mind the myriad colors healthy eyes can see. Nor can I ever explain the ugliness of racism to the Ku Klux Klan or neo-nazis and expect them to comprehend the errors of their ways.

So I just have one set of questions left for you since you profess Christianity as your faith: do you believe in the Biblical concept of stewardship? And if so, how does it apply in YOUR Christian life? Do you think God bless America with so much of the fat of the land because of our goodness (because we are so pious and religious and therefore "deserve" it)?

I cannot muster very much respect for you or others who hold antediluvian views like you do, but I'm coming awfully close to feeling pity.

[Adam]

Paul,

What antediluvian view did Janice put forth in her post. Is the mere possibility that she disagrees with Al Gore's Global Warming position mark her as someone who thinks like a person who lived before Noah boarded the Ark? And I am not sure I understand the logic of that reference, but Oh well!

BTW, I think the tone of your post is very hateful and disrespectful.