Cultivating Peace and Protecting Creation
As the Copenhagen Climate Conference moves into its crucial final week, the Vatican has released Pope Benedict’s annual Message for the World Day of Peace. It is dedicated to environmental responsibility, and concludes:
If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. The quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation. In the light of divine Revelation and in fidelity to the Church’s Tradition, Christians have their own contribution to make. They contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ, who by his death and resurrection has reconciled with God “all things, whether on earth or in heaven” (Col 1:20). Christ, crucified and risen, has bestowed his Spirit of holiness upon mankind, to guide the course of history in anticipation of that day when, with the glorious return of the Saviour, there will be “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Pet 3:13), in which justice and peace will dwell for ever. Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all. May this be clear to world leaders and to those at every level who are concerned for the future of humanity: the protection of creation and peacemaking are profoundly linked! For this reason, I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.
Bob, you buried the lede! The ranking of environmental protection up there with terrorism in terms of importance is a powerful statement–and I do wonder how it will go down with the theo-con crowd, if it is noted at all:
I think it’s great the Pope is a fellow treehugger. I also like that he’s linking protection of the environment with a religious underpinning, and that he continues in several ways to confound the expectations of those who think they have him all figured out. Just as his most recent encyclical provided a uniquely Christian and apolitical take on economics, his statements on the environment are in the same vein.
The “theo-con” crowd won’t notice, or will disparage this message.
But the Holy Father has to speak out. The lives of his flock, indeed humanity, depend on it. Two years the Bishops of the Philippines condemned the big Gold Companies for destroying their country and the seas around it. Who noticed? Severe desertification on Africa’s coastal regions have created an estimated 30 million refugees, while US (Monsanto) agriculture programs are creating toxic wastelands in South America, Africa and Asia.
And see this report on how the US poisoning the air, water and land on half the globe by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:http://www.paltelegraph.com/columnists/peter-eyre/3125-the-weapons-used-in-iraq-afghanistan-have-far-reaching-effects
“The Weapons Used In Iraq – Afghanistan Have Far Reaching Effects
Saturday, 12 December 2009 22:46 Added by PT Editor Sarah Price
UK, December 12, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) – We have seen the terrible consequences to human life and the environment that has been caused by weapons that contain uranium components. Genetically speaking the US and UK have destroyed the DNA of the Iraqi people as well as causing catastrophic effects on the environment.
Presidents and Prime Ministers really have a lot to answer for when they started the wars in the Balkans, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Gaza and now Pakistan. We are now seeing their continued aggression and intimidation against Iran and North Korea and one wonders that they have up their sleeve.
What we the public do not understand is that these very acts alone and the weapons being used are creating a mass genocide of millions of people around the world. It has become the most evil act imaginable against humankind.
Let’s just take a moment and see what is really going on as a direct result of US manufactured weapons and how these weapons have or still are being used by US, UK, NATO countries and the IDF in the above areas of conflict. Should however, this extend to Iran, then we are about to see the catastrophic contamination of the entire Middle East within one week and the rest of the world within two weeks or more…subject to prevailing winds and weather systems. When the reporter threw his shoe at GW Bush he certainly was speaking for all the people of the Middle East.
Iraq and Afghanistan are at the centre of this evil act and therefore I will try to explain the complexity of the contamination/pollution that has already taken place and that will continue to take place both locally and beyond.
We can first look at one of the most important river systems in the world that of the Himalayas and what such contamination can do that has and will affect millions of people and their livelihood. The Himalayas lies directly under the main downwind air flow path from Afghanistan and to some extent from Iraq. The usage of weapons containing uranium components has been much more intense in Afghanistan than in Iraq. The main onslaught started with carpet bombing of the Tora Bora Mountains up in the north west of Afghanistan and the extensive use of such weapons continues to this day as well as across the border in Pakistan. The initial impact is a dramatic rise in Cancers, Diabetes, Brain disorders, Infertility, Still Birth and gross birth defects. This is now showing up in statistics in places such as the Punjab but what happens further afield.
The Himalayas is the birthplace of many rivers for South East Asia and therefore the water catchment area for these magnificent rivers extends from the Himalayas all the way down into the Indian Continent, China, Indo China Peninsula and the Far East. The Himalayas gives birth to the following rivers:: Indus, Sutlej, Chenab, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum, Spiti, Ganga (Ganges), Ghaghara,Yamuna and Brahmaputra on the Indian side and over the border in China we have the following rivers Tarim, (which is the longest inland river of China), Haung (Yellow River), Yangtze, Wu River, Hongshui and many other tributaries. To the southeast we have the Mighty Mekong, Red River, Salween, Chindwin and the Irrawaddy. To the west over in Afghanistan itself we have the Helmand and the Hari Rud rivers. To the northwest we have the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers. One could go on forever with other tributaries but these are the main lifeline rivers of many countries.
So many lives depend on these river systems that the economies of emerging Asia could be ravaged and there could be immense contamination leading to many thousands if not millions of deaths, social upheaval, including the loss of food security and employment. About 450 million people draw water, food and electricity supplies from the Yangtze alone, while many more use it for transportation…..”
When will the US bishops condemn the armaments industry in this country and the US’ stupid wars?
Mr. Likoudis -
Just what are these toxic materials that are causing such devastation? Where is the proof ? This is the first I’ve heard of this problem.
One merely googles and finds the problem has been talked about for awhile. Here are just two examples.
http://mssparky.com/2009/12/us-army-recycling-progam-is-destroying-iraq-environment-claim-iraqis/
http://www.lenntech.com/environmental-effects-war.htm
As I listened to the NPR report this morning on the polarization in this Country, especially how the US Srnate is clearly divided on party lines -with little concern for our good or the world’s – I thought the words of the Holy father has no impact insoever here in government.
And I have little hope that the change needed will happen ….
Isn’t it great, being Catholic? We get to be on the good side of every issue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects
this goes unreported in the US press for the most part, though The Wanderer did cover it.
Paul
The Palestine Gazette? Seriously?
“What we the public do not understand is that these very acts alone and the weapons being used are creating a mass genocide of millions of people around the world. It has become the most evil act imaginable against humankind.”
Millions of people? The most evil act imaginable? Really?
What evidence?
Getting back to the environment, I see that the greatest applause for any speaker in Copenhagen so far was for Hugo Chavez, who lambasted capitalism in his usual manner. What this conference is really about is a massive transfer of wealth from the (evil) West to the third world.
And all this is taking place as Copenhagen gets a tremendous blizzard, a moderately rare thing in that area. Is the Copenhagen conference transforming itself into a farce? No. It is a farce.
Sean and Paul – I do not understand why anyone would be surprised by that story. Do people honestly think war only affects soldiers?
Just look at countries where they still have thousands of live land mines waiting for someone to accidentally set off. The war is long over, but the civilians still are paying the price.
If one really goes back and researches, I am sure you would find that after WWII, many folks have a variety of health problems – especially in Japan – that could be traced back to what went on during the fighting.
My personal opinion is that after we finally wrap things up in Afghanistan, we should take a long look at our military and as Margaret kindly pointed out, at ourselves as a people.
I do not happen to think we need to be paying for soldiers stationed all over Europe for example. Bases in Germany and Italy can hardly be justified. While we maybe (probably) can justify them in South Korea, gone are the days when the Soviets would come rumbling across Europe. Frankly, the EU can protect Europe from whatever danger it might face. I did not like our involvement in the Kosovo war; I thought the Europeans should have tended that. Still, I was glad we were in and out relatively quickly.
As for the Middle East, I would get out of there altogether and encourage the regional powers to handle things. We are thankfully towards the end of our effort in Iraq, and they will do as they like when we finally leave. Those who live in the other Islamic nations do not like or understand us and vice versa, and that will not change within the next hundred years. India, China and Pakistan can tend Afghanistan well enough; we should focus on tending our national interests. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, I would have simply called up the new leader and inquired as to availability and new price of oil. In my opinion those cultures are simply not worth the life of one American boy. In any case, as sovereign nations, regardless of my opinion of them, they are entitled to handle their own affairs. Indeed they are responsible for tending their own affairs; we have no interest or right in telling them how to run their countries.
Of course we need to tend the important treaty obligations we have with Japan and South Korea (the Red Chinese are still very much in business after all), but I would like to see our soldiers kept home as much as possible and our diplomatic and economic efforts aimed at the real issues we face in North, Central, and South America. There are real opportunities and challenges in, Cuba and Venezuela, and we need to improve our ties with Mexico and Brazil at least, not to mention the other Latin American countries.
I guess favor a more isolationist, ‘America first’ approach to things. I think we meddle overseas too much, while we let things drift and get out of hand in our own backyard. We do not seem to properly tend our interests in our own hemisphere, and we are all too willing to trot over to the other side of the world at the drop of a hat.
Ken
I served for more than two decades in the armed forces, I have two sons in the Army now, I have seen the devastation of war in Bosnia first hand, believe me I understand war affects civilians.
The problem I have is that such clearly silly allegations, such as the use of depleted uranium is killing millions of people are so easily thrown around and so readily swallowed by people who will believe anything about the US. We will never have anything like a serious discussion about any security issues if people take that approach. I mean really – use of DU is killing as many people as Pol Pot?!?
Is depleted uranium toxic? Absolutely. But is it killing millions of people? You would get more radiation exposure from flying from NY to LA then you would from holding a cardboard box of DU on your lap for a week.
First of all Sean, you have my undying respect and gratitude. I do understand that as Americans, while our rights are granted our Creator, in the case of war they are secured by our soldiers via their courage and the barrel of a gun. I also recall a fine saying about the types of men who are willing to lay down their lives for a friend; Jesus Christ and the American soldier. In short, there are no better soldiers in the world than American ones.
Secondly, you are probably right that various groups might exaggerate the effects of those weapons. Some in the media have good agendas, some don’t. Keep in mind however, that the average person does not know much if anything about depleted uranium and the toxicity of exposure. Most people hear those kinds of terms and if they are old enough, the thought of Nagasaki might wander through their mind; in any case most simply think “Wow that is definitely bad”. On the other hand, land mines and other chimcals that get used in wartime do pose real and long term hazards to civilians.
Regardless of all this hyping in media, once our troops finish up in Afghanistan; as a citizen, I would prefer we greatly reduce our military footprint in Europe and the Middle East and that we focus our energies in our own hemisphere.
Mr. Likoudis –
Thank you for bringing this problem tonour attention. It certainly deserves more study.
I think it should be noted that the Guardian article says that the great increase in the rate of infant cases has within the last year gone from two admissions every two weeks last year to two per day now. Since the war there has largely wound down it would seem pre-mature to blame the infantile anomalies primarily on the use of American weapons. In other words, if our weapons were the cause, of the anomalies , why didn’t the weapons produce such results all along?
Another point to note Ann, is that perhaps the birth defects have to do with diet e.g., anemia on the part of the expectant mothers.
Wartime causes a great many shortages, food among them. That in turn could at the very least weaken an expectant mother’s system overall, which in turn might lead to the sorts of problems Paul cites.
I meant to type “….food [and clean water] among them…”
Ken –
Not worth the life of “one American boy”? You’re ignoring the American women fighting there and dying too. Get with it, Ken, get with it.
It is just an expression Ann; the point was clear enough. I try to keep things simple and to not get lost in the tall grass.
Regarding the important matters of peace and troops deployment (in general); what do you think?
My preference is that once our troops finish in Afghanistan, that we step back and review, and take a more isolationist approach. I favor withdrawing our troops from Europe the the Middle East. Of course I understand we must honor our treaty obligations in Asia (e.g. Japan and S. Korea), but I prefer that for the most part, we turn our attention and direct our energies toward tending our important national interests in our own hemisphere.
Your thoughts?
Ken –
The world is so complex that I often don’t know what to think about the issues. One of the problems is, I think. That we just don’t know an out internal matters in the “foreign” parts of the world. One big cause of that is because Americans do not learn foreign languages, much less the history of other cultures’ hiistories, and that especially includes journalism majors.
Notice that two of the main news analysts at CNN are Christiane Amanpour, who is half Iranian, and Fareek What’s-His-Name, who is Indian. We just don’t have many home-grown competent international analysts.
Should be: enough about internal matters.
I agree that as a practical matter we Americans would help ourselves greatly if we learned at least one second language.
I happen to have learned spanish because my wife is orginally from Latin America. I notice however, that with spanish in my tool box so to speak, it is much easier to understand Italian and Portuguese.
That is only one reason my wife and I inststed that our 4-year old (son) learn spanish firstand then english. He now speaks spanish with Latinos and with grandma (in Chile), but he as easily speak english with non-spanish speakers. It is mainly my wife’s doing of course; she spent (and still spends) more time with him. She actually back-slid on her english during his first three years because she spoke to him exclusively in spanish. I did too and so while her english suffered (a bit, not much), my spanish improved notably!
It is interesting to see him come up to someone and note him deciding which language to use. He looks, listenes, and then decides very quickly. In fact if you are not watching (most people don’t) it is imperceptible.
The other – more important – reason we insist on him speaking spanish fluently is that his grandmother only speaks spanish.
Like one of our local priest said, few things are more sad than child who cannot understand his grandmother.