Press release: Don’t just pray - take action!
06/09/2011
9th June 2011 Report from Operation Noah seminar 'The Climate Crisis: Why is nothing Happening? A Social, Political and Moral Perspective on Obstacles to Action' presented by Lynn McDonald. Lynn McDonald is a dynamic Canadian woman: a scholar, former Member of the Canadian Parliament and a Climate activist, a co-founder of JustEarth, and a Director of Climate Action Network. She is the Editor of the Collected Works of Florence Nightingale and she is equally passionate about the need to respond to climate change: “the greatest challenge facing humankind”. Florence Nightingale had an indomitable spirit that kept her battling away for many years. She had no patience with Christians who would pray for healing and ignore the lack of drains and sewers. “Remove the causes of cholera – don’t pray for deliverance!” She believed that we can use the "laws of health" to save millions of lives. Her passion to improve the quality of health for poor people took many years to have an impact, resulting in various acts of parliament. Her ultimate legacy, long after her death could be seen as our national health service, founded in 1948. “Christians concerned about the climate crises can learn much from Nightingale” said Lynn at a stimulating presentation to Operation Noah supporters this week in Friends House. Like her we need to “have the laws of nature” at our fingertips and be able to provide accurate facts and figures to back up our concerns about climate change. Like her we should have no patience with the gentle green Christian viewpoint that “prays for us to be better stewards” whilst ignoring the need for urgent action. But unlike Nightingale we do not have time on our side. She battled away for the whole of her working life. We live in a fast changing world where oceans are acidifying, countless species are facing potential extinction and the graphs of population growth, temperature rise and CO2 emissions all follow the same exponential growth pattern. Our legal and political system, and underlying morality, were formulated before this crisis struck. We are all just living ‘normal lives’ just as we were brought up to do. There is no external enemy, no ‘evil personified’ – just our normal lifestyles which are causing the harm. Top experts all tell us we need a paradigm shift in our behaviour. “We need repentance; not a simple tweaking of the guidelines”; said Lynn. The time for a ‘light green version’ of climate change is past. We need all citizens to become ‘literate and numerate’ about climate change. Few people take the shocking facts seriously enough. As the Dalai Lama has said; “The time is now”. This is the gravest crisis with the survival of humanity at stake. By Isabel Carter, Operation Noah Board member. Download slides of talk 'The Climate Crisis: Why Is Nothing Happening?' Attachments:
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