Jason MacLeod is an Australian civil resistance researcher, teacher and practitioner. He has written this letter to ARRCC, which he entitles, "Why ARRCC needs to publicly embrace civil resistance: a few provocative thoughts".
Interfaith Vigils held for Stop Adani Day of Action
Faith communities joined a nation-wide Day of Action on the weekend of October 7 and 8, against Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine. Hundreds of Christians, Buddhists and others from a range of traditions attended three Meditation and Prayer Vigils, in Sydney, Melbourne and Kiama, organised by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC).
Faith leaders have been keeping up the pressure on federal Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg. One July 25th an interfaith group protested outside his Kooyong electorate office in Camberwell, Melbourne where they held a number of funerals for coal, each funeral being from a different faith tradition. The story made it into The Guardian.
The move of both Queensland State and Australian Federal governments, led by Labor and the Coalition respectively, to foist Adani’s Carmichael coalmine upon us, is a prime example of environmental irresponsibility and economic injustice. The May 8th Four Corners episode, “Power Failure”, amply demonstrated the failure of political leadership across the board to move Australia toward a sustainable future both environmentally and economically.
MEDIA RELEASE
2 June 2017
Peak Christian body calls for leadership on climate agreement
The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) have called on Prime Minister Turnbull to show leadership in commitment to the global climate agreement, which is our best chance for the stewardship of the world around us.
NCCA President, Bishop Philip Huggins said "this momentous climate deal is bigger than just one country, one person or a handful of climate sceptics. It is about the urgent survival of humanity, the ability for all children to be able to born into and live in a world with clean air and clean water.
Federal government support for the Adani Group’s proposed Carmichael coalmine is the target of an open letter released today, signed by prominent leaders from Australia’s faith communities, including Uniting Church, Buddhists, Quakers and Catholic.
Dear Minister Frydenberg
As leaders in our diverse faith traditions, we feel compelled to challenge those responsible for Australia’s current climate and energy policies. In particular, we declare the proposal to provide public money to fund mining infrastructure in the Galilee Basin to be morally wrong.
A trail-blazing seminar on Islam and Environmental Stewardship: A Call for Action, was held in Brisbane on Sunday, 21st February, 2017.
This was an initiative of a small group from the Brisbane Muslim community who felt the need to start a conversation—and potential future action—on the view of our faith on issues of climate change that are impacting our environment and the need to highlight our God-given role as stewards on earth.
Humankind stands at the edge of the abyss and yet we inch forward. Neither government policies nor people’s collective behaviour reflect the real and present danger facing us today. The temperature rise we are witnessing is not the beginning of a gradual, linear increase, but an early stage on what is basically an exponential curve.[i] Furthermore, we know there are tipping points at which abrupt drastic change is precipitated.[ii] We just don’t know how soon those tipping points will be reached.
Please sign here.
Faith-based organisations working on climate change joined forces in 2017 to challenge Australia’s weak climate policies. Dozens of ARRCC supporters energetically got behind this, as did supporters of Caritas, Common Grace, TEAR, the Uniting Church, Catholic Earthcare and the Pacific Calling Partnership. People of faith worked together in their own electorates and gathered altogether over 30,000 signatures, on paper, across 110 electorates. In 2017, 46 MP's were visited by people of faith, and 30 of these agreed to make a speech in Parliament about the petition. By Christmas, 11 of the MP's followed through with Parliamentary speeches.
It's not too late to add your voice.
Media event on September 6th
Historically, this is make-or-break time for putting some brakes on global warming, so here at ARRCC we’re rolling our sleeves up. Will you join us?
We bring together diverse people of faith to publicly collaborate on climate change as a moral issue, thus challenging the 70% or so of Australians who identify with a spiritual/faith tradition. Imagine if we could catalyse even a minority of this massive constituency to more fully swing behind protecting the earth! This is what we plan to do in 2017, but we can't do it without your help. Please think about making a donation of $50, $100, $250 or whatever you can.
