Each part of creation reveals unique aspects of God the Creator,
who is both in creation and beyond it.
All parts of creation, animate and inanimate, are related.
All creation is good.
—from A Song of Faith faith statement UCC
28 “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place for gold to be refined.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Miners put an end to darkness and search out to the farthest bound
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
4 They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation;
they are forgotten by travelers; they sway suspended, remote from people.
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of sapphires, and its dust contains gold.
Job 28: 1-6 NRSVue
Through the years the United Church of Canada has spoken out about the complicity of Canadian mining companies in human rights violations in countries elsewhere. We have seen this as a human rights issue and a spiritual imperative as people of Christ's gospel.
Here is a portion of a statement which represents our perspective as a denomination
Learning from global and Indigenous understandings of the sacredness of the land, we are called to move away from concepts of dominion and ownership of the Earth. We strive to resist that which destroys the health of creation and its communities.
Canada is home to half of the world's mining and exploration companies—every day, rural and remote communities, especially Indigenous communities, are directly affected by their extraction activities. The results often include environmental degradation and other negative social and environmental impacts. And all too often, people are displaced from their lands, and their resistance is met with unlawful force.
I don't want to underestimate our UCC members but I'm fairly confident that the majority wouldn't know that we've been vocal about these issues for decades. There aren't an abundance of mining passages in scripture, to be honest, and this isn't really a subject which would make it into a Sunday sermon, but it is important.
Today the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal will address sustainable mining in this country, and we already know that Indigenous peoples here have been adversely affected by resource extraction including fossil fuels and minerals, even though these are held out as opportunities for economic prosperity. According to a Toronto Star article this morning:
OTTAWA — Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says Canada is looking to commit to only bringing critical minerals into the country if they were mined in a way that is both environmentally sensitive and respectful of human rights.Natural Resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson will be at the COP15 nature talks in Montreal today where he will make an announcement on critical minerals, just three days after finally publishing the Liberals' long-promised critical minerals strategy.
The strategy is focused only on domestic mining, and Wilkinson acknowledges it is silent on the sustainability of any raw materials mined elsewhere and brought to Canada for further processing or used in the manufacturing of batteries.But he says he will have more to say about that issue in Montreal today.Canada’s mining industry is recognized for sustainable practices domestically but internationally its reputation is far less rosy, with multiple allegations of human rights abuses and environmental damage.
The passage from Job is about seeking the Creator's wisdom and I do hope that something worthwhile comes out of the discussion today. As wealthier nations move toward the production of electric vehicles and other battery technologies the demand for certain minerals will increase. This can't happen at the expense of exploited peoples and the Earth itself.
“In the name of God, I ask the great extractive industries – mining, oil, forestry, real estate, agribusiness – to stop destroying forests, wetlands, and mountains, to stop polluting rivers and seas, to stop poisoning food and people”
Pope Francis -- September 2022
I'm convinced that the Creator see the little chickadee fall...and thrive.
My Groundling blog today groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2022/12/god-se
No comments:
Post a Comment