Dear Church Family and Friends,
A fair amount of attention was recently directed toward a series of pictures taken by an AP photographer named Charlie Riedel. Riedel had captured the devastation of the gulf coast oil spill with shots of seabirds covered in sludge. One of the pelicans photographed was described by a columnist as staring with a glazed eye into Riedel’s camera while its beak stretched open “as if crying for help-or perhaps sounding an alarm.”
An alarm should be sounded not only in response to the enormous devastation unfolding before us but also for the actions (or rather inactions) that led to this moment. In the aftermath of the spill, numerous instances of corruption and institutionalized irresponsibility have come to the surface. In the context of close ties between officials from the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the oil industry, our government failed on many accounts. BP and Deepwater Horizon, for instance, were exempted from a host of regulations and assessments. Among the exemptions was permission for Deepwater Horizon to drill without compliance to the National Environmental Policy Act. Moreover, MMS dismissed the warnings of massive oil spill risks from its own scientists as well as those of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As if no lessons were learned from all of this, the presidential administration let BP take charge of the recovery effort.
Finding people to take the moral lead in addressing the crisis has proven difficult. Just yesterday the Associated Press reported that “more than half of the federal judges in districts where the bulk of Gulf oil spill-related lawsuits are pending have financial connections to the oil and gas industry.” Such examples highlight the need for a strong civil society that is free of political and economic interests that run contrary to the common good. Churches, in particular, have the potential to provide moral leadership where others have failed.
Our faith is rooted in a tradition of prophets who have taken moral leadership. In his classic work, The Prophets, Abraham Heschel noted that “prophetic inspiration” is rooted in a sense of care for the well-being of others. In keeping with our rich legacy of prophets, may churches today take the moral lead for the sake of the pelican, the fisherman, and all who have been affected by the oil spill.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Brooks
PS: On Saturday, June 26th, an organization called Hands across the Sands will be sponsoring gatherings at beaches throughout the world for those who oppose offshore oil drilling and champion clean energy. Gatherings are already planned for Cannon Beach, Lincoln City, Port Townsend, and Seattle. For more information, see www.handsacrossthesand.com
