“For thus says the LORD: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.” Jeremiah 4:27 Jeremiah was very pessimistic, as people had forgotten their responsibilities to be stewards of the land. Through the prophet the Creator reminds the people that god who is perpetual love within them has been turned away from them by their actions. However, in love, God is open to renewal and change.
In 2019, our situation is similar. We are facing the Anthropocene that harbours the 5th extinguishment of the planet. The planet will not end but dramatic changes lie ahead. Unlike the dinosaurs, which had no ability or choice in their extinguishment, we have time and intelligent knowledge to change our direction of action. We as Progressive Christians have a responsibility to be leaders. We need to make coalitions with others as our parents and grandparents did to stop the Nazis in World War 2. Christians worked with people of all faiths and no faith to halt the cancer on the society. Today, we need a similar coalition to halt the planet extinguishment.
A part of that is to engage our politicians, today’s tax collectors in a civil manner and invite them to talk with you about their understanding of science and their support of scientific protocols for problem solving. Some folks are attempting to push away scientific conclusions as they are giving us inconvenient truth and would prefer to convince us using emotional arguments to gain our support for their points of view. The group “Vote Science” has provided some questions to support evidence based decision-making which is our path as Progressive Christians. Some suggested questions are: In the area of research- what is your plan to support science and research in Canada? What is your plan to support graduate students, post doctoral students and trainees as well as under graduate studies? Government spending in research, especially in climate science appears to be declining. What do you plan in order to support federal government science? These questions are the prophetic voice of our day in the steps of Jeremiah.
