If there is a God, she’s surely bewildered by the apparent determination of the human race to ignore the deafening wake-up call she’s recently sent our way. As wake-up calls go, it’s hard to beat the BP oil spill. The relentless gush of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for the past 85 days, captured live on camera, should be enough to finally force us to look critically at the deeply flawed concepts that have become the guiding ideologies of our times — starting with unbridled capitalism, and its elevation of economic gain above the very sustainability of the Earth we inhabit. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/835037--ignoring-nature-s-wake-up-call
This is the way journalist Linda McQuaig began an article in the Toronto Star yesterday. Not only did I agree with her, I was struck by the way she began with a nod toward God. The headline for the piece was about nature's wake-up call, but you can see for yourself that she speaks of the Prime Mover, Ground of Being, Cosmic Kahuna. You know that I feel that concern for the environment is a deeply spiritual issue and includes repenting of our foolish and sinful ways.
We are waiting to see whether BP's latest attempt to contain the oil spewing into the Gulf has been successful. To say "successful" is hardly appropriate after nearly three months of environmental destruction and our puny human response. I have given you a link to a BBC article on the damage to the environment. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10603727.stm
Despite the hue and cry about what has occurred in the Gulf, we are now hearing about plans to transport radioactive waste in ships on the Great Lakes. It will come as no surprise that some environmentalists are deeply concerned, the way environmentalists were concerned over the deep water drilling for oil.
How are you feeling as we await the verdict on the shutdown attempt? What do you think of McQuaig's assessment? What has God got to do with all of this?
I agree that man's greed and lack of foresight have caused this catastrophic incident. We all need to be morally responsible to our environment on a daily basis. God must be weeping at the way we are destroying the great ecosystem that God provided to sustain us indefinitely. We can all do something to help, whether it is on a personal level by recycling, walking and bicycling more and driving less; or on a more political level by letting our politicians know that we disapprove of exposing our lakes to nuclear waste. We have a ship aground now near Montreal contaminating our own waterways with oil. How much worse would it be if a ship with nuclear waste on board went down in a storm?
ReplyDeleteThanks for entering into the conversation Caroline. And thanks for mentioning the situation in the St. Lawrence. Water levels in the Great Lakes and the Seaway are very low this year which has made navigation treacherous. Guess what? The suggestion is that climate change is altering precipitation levels. Maybe we will learn.
ReplyDeleteIt is all very depressing. I recently read of a lake in an African country that has had oil and other contaminants spilling into it for years, I believe. It is a complete write off.
ReplyDeleteWill we ever learn? An article in the Toronto Star a month or two ago listed spills over the last 20 or so years, and each had millions of litres of oil spilling into the ocean. Yet, here we are with another catastrophe.
I get appalled when I see people throwing a cigarette butt on the ground. The thought of millions of litres of oil in the Gulf of Mexico sickens me.
Bill Nye("The Science Guy" on tv) recently said that there are literally millions of litres of oil that will neither be on the ocean floor nor the surface in the Gulf spill. Rather, it will attach itself to things like plankton, and eventually get carried up the Atlantic and to Europe.
Yet, offshore drilling will continue, because of course big business and profits are so much more important than our planet and our creatures.
Why can't we have leaders who will for once put their foot down and say enough is enough. I shudder to think of an oil spill in the Arctic or off Newfoundland. Good luck cleaning that up.
It seems to me that you are right in every observation you make Johnny. Interesting too that Obama was criticized for not loosening regulations for off-shore drilling, and now he is criticized for not doing enough in the Gulf.
ReplyDeleteToday's news is cautiously optimistic.