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The Gods of Global Climate Change
This one falls under the category of Be Careful What You Pray For. Every year since 1678, the people who live in the Swiss Alpine villages of Fieschertal and Fiesch have been praying that God would keep the Great Aletsch glacier -- the longest in the Alps -- from encroaching on their homes.
In recent years, the Aletsch glacier is shrinking at a rate of 100 feet per year. The villagers are worried about losing their glacier, its water supply and the flooding that could replace it. So now the good citizens of Fieschertal and Fiesch are asking Pope Benedict XVI for official permission to alter their prayer, which is part of an annual procession on July 31, St. Ignatius's feast day.
"Glacier is ice, ice is water and water is life," the Rev. Pascal Venetz in a recent sermon at a local chapel, according to The Associated Press. "At our next procession, we might just be able to pray against climate change, global warming and the receding of the glacier."
I firmly believe in the power of prayer, especially on those who do the praying. I firmly believe God can move mountains, or glaciers for that matter. If the prayers of Pat Robertson can get God to turn a hurricane, surely the prayers of the people of Fieschertal and Fiesch can get God to save a glacier. But global climate change isn't really God's problem, is it?
As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in 2001:
"As people of religious faith, we believe that the atmosphere that supports life on earth is a God-given gift, one we must respect and protect. Global climate is...a part of the planetary commons. The melting of ice sheets and glaciers, the destruction of rain forests ,and pollution in one place can have environmental impacts elsewhere.
"Responses to global climate change should reflect our interdependence and common responsibility for the future of our planet."
Or as God (a.k.a. Morgan Freeman) told Bruce Almighty: "People want me to do everything for them. What they don't realize is they have the power. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle."
David Waters
| August 12, 2009; 3:56 PM ET | Category: Today's Topic Save & Share:
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Posted by: Paganplace | August 12, 2009 4:35 PM
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Like children who often break their toys then cry to their parents to fix them, we live without regard to the damage our lifestyles do to the environment then cry to God when the damage becomes evident.
I agree. Global warming is not God's problem, even though he cares. The stewardship of the earth is man's charge. Just as he did when he gave Adam the responsibility to care for the Garden of Eden, God holds us responsible for the care of the planet. We bear responsibility for how our actions impact the climate.
Posted by: MGT2 | August 13, 2009 11:36 AM
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I believe that man's problem began with a mistranslation, or misinterpretation of some drawing or symbol that was thought to mean that God had given man "dominion" over the earth. I prefer to believe that God gave man responsibility for the "stewardship" of the earth.
I also believe that God did not give man free will, but freedom to choose and it was man's inclination to choose evil things that resulted in the Biblical flood. One cannot have free will over something that is not under man's control and once God placed a restriction with the eating of the particular fruit, it should have indicated that man was not given free will.
Yes it is man's responsibility to protect our one environment, which is the earth's single life supporting system. However, at the same time, we have been promised a new earth and a new heaven, so we should be assured of some form of renewal and renewal cannot come without removal from the past.
I believe that nothing can happen in God's world, which God pronounced as "good" after the creation, unless God permits it to be so. Our problem, in my view, is that we each expect to see and experience that goodness in our life time of 70 to 100 years. Instead, we should have faith that, in the end, all things work together for God. As much as man is responsible for global warming and all the other environmenbtal ills, we should have faith that God is still in charge and some good must result whether we are alive to see it or not. This does not mean that we should not follow the golden rule and other commandments.
Posted by: CalP | August 19, 2009 2:52 PM
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Calp:
Please produce evidence that this God exists, much less that he can do or has done the things you say he can or has.
No, I am not asking for proof. Just evidence on the order that Obama exists as the President of the US, for example.
Please do not waste my time if you cannot spouting platitudes instead.
Posted by: HumanSimpleton | August 25, 2009 7:46 PM
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"The villagers are worried about losing their glacier, its water supply and the flooding that could replace it. So now the good citizens of Fieschertal and Fiesch are asking Pope Benedict XVI for official permission to alter their prayer, which is part of an annual procession on July 31, St. Ignatius's feast day."
My. Goddess.
Irony overload. "I believe in the power of prayer, do I have permission to stop praying for the opposite of what we need?"