I have a couple of article recommendations for you all*: Blinded By Science: How 'Balanced' Coverage Lets the Scientific Fringe Hijack Reality; The Optimism of Uncertainty. Plus a few small comments…
The United Religions Initiative is an international organization whose purpose is "to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings." Just as everywhere else, there has been a good deal of discussion amongst URI members about the recent U.S. elections. The following letter is my personal response to the onrush of "mandates", "values", and "misinformation," calling for the interfaith movement itself to reach out to those who do not normally participate, calling for an internal dialogue to accompany the external work of interreligious organizations.
The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by Russia (dead link removed; SF 2025). What happens now? What changes will we see, what effects will it have on the United States, and what comes next?
Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (Qu'rán, Al-Anbia' 21:30).
Thus begins "Water Conservation as a Religious Duty".
I had read about it, I had heard about it, and tonight I finally watched it: Jon Stewart on CNN's Crossfire. I'm sure its been all over the blogosphere and I'm probably the last blogger in the world to notice it, but that's okay. I'm sure opinions range, but I probably rank in the majority of bloggers in saying "right on, Jon."
I have traditionally been an apologist for the United Nations, but lately I have been forced to question my unconditional support. While the U.N.'s mission is entirely laudable, its execution — particularly in regards to peacekeeping — seems to fall short. We have seen U.N. failures in Korea, Vietnam, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and more. What has brought this about? Is the whole system flawed? Who is more to blame — the bureaucracy or the nations that are "united"? Perhaps these are not the questions to ask. Instead, I suggest that we ask — where is the grassroots appeal, and where is the recognition of human spirituality?
It was declared today that Russian President Vladimir Putin has at last expressed his approval of the Kyoto Protocol on Global Climage Change. If he can get this through the Duma for ratification, then the Protocol will become international law despite the US's lack of ratification. But what is really going on? And how will it effect the U.S.?
I've been reading a great deal about ecology and conservation biology lately, and thus found the article Ecolonomics: Valuing Forests (dead link removed; SF 2025) quite timely. Of course it is an intriguing article whether or not one has been reading up on the subject, and I recommend it even more to those who haven't been doing so.
Thank God that the U.N. Security Council has chosen to act on the Darfur crisis. The internal conflict has been resolved — with Algeria, China, Pakistan, and Russia abstaining — and specific sanctions, investigations, and new legal obligations have now been imposed on Sudan. Its too bad we can't get this done elsewhere in the world, as Darfur is really just the current poster child of global conflict.
Just as a negotiated-peace began to take hold in southern Sudan, a new crisis arose in the western Darfur region this past winter and spring. Half a year after escalation of the atrocities, estimates of the dead range from 30,000 to 50,000, and well over a million people have been internally or externally displaced. Men and boys have been systematically murdered; worse yet, a conscious effort at genocide has once again turned to mass rape of the remaining women. International response has been harsh yet guarded, and far too slow. We must push our political leaders to appropriate action under international law. [This editorial is specifically focused on religious and interfaith communities].
