the space in between

Ten years and counting...

Greenpeace Southeast Asia is now turning ten this year.

It’s been ten long years of turning the tide for the environment. And I believe as an organization that is still not in the mainstream consciousness of society we have a lot to be proud about. It's not that I believe in bragging rights, but I mean as far as the Philippine office is concerned I deeply believe that our resilience as an office faced with a lot of challenges and setbacks we deserve a pat on our back for coming up with landmark legislations and outstanding contributions that I would like to believe have cemented our place in the annals of Philippine environmental and social movement history. Read more>>>

The shocking details

Christianity as a religion finds its roots in Judaism which in turn came out of the religions of the Ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic, which I think would again be something that would be shocking for contemporary Christians who are fast to declare that Christianity is: “a monotheistic-Trinitarian faith”. However, serious biblical scholarship has established that Judaism finds its origins in the Canaanite religion which was polytheistic, and in some cases monolatristic. In fact, the compound name El Elyon 'God on High' which is often used as a prefix to a toponym about God finds its origins in the pantheon of Canaanite gods to which Friedman writes:

I'm afraid that reading this book might get me in trouble with my local church as Richard Elliott Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible? dares to ask something that which cannot be spoken in conservative Christian traditions that I came from. Basically because the book functions as a contemporary description of what is known in biblical scholarship as the Documentary Hypothesis which holds that the Pentateuch (the Five Books of Moses) was originally taken from independent, parallel and complete narratives, that were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of editors upon which we get the Bible that we have now.

From the Greenpeace Philippines blog

Yesterday, the Rainbow Warrior has set its course towards the Philippines after wrapping up our the first leg of its Turn the Tide Tour of Southeast Asia early October. The tour, which aims to call on governments to Turn the Tide of dirty development to pave the way for a green and peaceful future, kicked off in Bangkok on September 17.

In Thailand, the Warrior called on the Thai Government to prioritize and support investments which will help put Thailand on a green development pathway, by technological leapfrogging with bold policy innovations and a new solidarity across social classes and generations. While in Thailand the ship travelled from Nakhon Si Thamarrat, Surathani, Koh Samui, Chumphon and Prachuab Kirikhan to promote a common vision of green development as well as to stand in solidarity with the grassroots and the people’s movement that are working in Thailand for the cause of environmental preservation.

While Indonesia is a different story, which started with high hopes that our peaceful campaigning ship would be able to support the Indonesian president's stated aims of ending deforestation in Indonesia. It ended with the Rainbow Warrior being denied vital supplies and being ordered – and escorted – out of Indonesian waters and well into international waters by two navy vessels, in breach of international maritime law.

We can only say that it seems very possible that there are some things that short-sighted political and economic interests did not want us – or you – to see, and that Indonesia's government capitulated to these vested interests.

After stopping for maintenance and supplies in Singapore the Rainbow Warrior is heading North-East towards the Philippines where it will join the clamour for an Energy [R]evolution, in the Philippines a country that has been labelled as among the most vulnerable and least prepared countries when it comes to coping with the impacts of climate change, there we hope to turn the tide by getting President Noynoy Aquino; to live up to the people’s aspirations of change by taking action against the greatest threat that mankind faces today ---climate change.

Remembering our roots

From the Greenpeace Philippines blog

It was already 4AM when I was finally able to get myself to bed.

We had a very long day.

Yet, somehow I found it quite difficult to sleep.

It has been a long time since I’ve been to a do-it-yourself (DIY) show (not to mention perform in one) and this week I was able to go to two shows in two consecutive days and in both shows I was able to give a talk about Greenpeace’s call for an Energy [R]evolution which offers a sustainable path to quit dirty, dangerous fuels by transitioning to renewable energy and energy efficiency. Read more>>>

Creation spirituality, eco-theology and the quest for equality

I haven't really gotten the chance to blog the past few weeks as I was buried deep in paperwork for our finals at the seminary and not to mention that it also coincided with the Global Work Party on Climate Change that I was given the task of overseeing our work for Greenpeace. A lot has been learned in the past few weeks and I would just like to share some stuff that I've found around the net that I believe might be of interest to those who often visit this blog.

The Earth is Alive - a prose written by Ruel F. Pepa that I stumbled upon via ning.com which I think is a good point of reflection for those engaged in the struggle for ecological justice and environmental equity.

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and its international mission partners last June released a statement entitled: Ecumenical Challenge Statement by International Partners of the Philippines, which is a good document that other Christian bodies might like to see as a reference with regards to its church policy recommendations like:

That UCCP seriously considers its own personal use of bio-degradable containers and packages. (Plastics and Styrofoam are immortal and infinite and cause pollution and pose health hazards. The use of plastics or the combination of plastic and aluminium packages for food and other products should be minimised).

That UCCP encourage the establishment of a nursery for tree seedling or wildlings in home, church yards and places which are made available for tree planting purposes.

That UCCP members consume healthy and locally produced farm products. (It has been observed that food served to General Assembly delegates are characteristic f the scarcity of locally grown vegetables and locally sourced marine products eg. fish and others)

If only Evangelical bodies would also as radical as the UCCP with regards to creation care and stewardship....

Lastly, I've also been busy writing over what I have come to dub as: The Scandal of Partiality in the Epistle of James, which I've been posting as a series over at Fide Quarens Intellecttum if you're keep on issues related to equality within faith communities you might want to read the introduction that I wrote for the series.

Anyways I hope in the coming days I'd get more time to write a decent post...

Not enlightenment but wholeness

It is no secret to us all that as human beings we are always bound to feel pain to feel alone let alone feel insignificant. Because our humanity lies in how it is lived in the essence of relationship with oneself with others and most importantly with God. This constant interaction I believe helps us clarify our life perspectives, views and aspirations and how they fit in the goal of becoming fully human in Christ.

In the focal point of all this stands the cross...

...the best-known religious symbol of Christianity. The icon God's act of love in Christ's sacrifice at Calvary—"the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." It stands as a reminder of Jesus' victory over sin and death, since it is believed that through His death and resurrection He conquered death itself.

From the Greenpeace Philippines blog

The past week leading up to last week was a rush. It has been quite a while since we have seen ourselves as part of something bigger, but then again it’s easy to be anaesthetized if much time is spent working within the framework of your organization only.

However, the Global Work Party comes as a wake-up call, not only to world leaders but for people like me, as I’ve often worked within the confines of the office.

I remember yesterday as I was speaking at the last of the various Global Work Party activities that we went to and I was wearing a TckTckTck t-shirt and I said: “I’m wearing this t-shirt to demonstrate the irony of the climate problem as TckTckTck is an unprecedented global alliance, One of over 10,000 events in nearly every country on earth organized by TckTckTck partners and supporters in 2009 representing hundreds of millions of people from all walks of life, who are united by a desire to see a strong global deal on climate change. It was made up of leading environment, development, and faith-based NGO’s, youth groups, trade unions and individuals, and we are calling for a fair, ambitious and binding climate change agreement. Read more>>>

Thank you for the clarification Bishop Wright

In this video Conversation, senior biblical fellow Peter Enns asks Rev. N.T. Wright to respond to a reader question about science and faith. Specifically, the reader asks, "If you take Genesis in a non-literal fashion especially the creation stories, why take anything in the Bible literally—such as the Gospels? Do you take the Gospels literally?"

Bearing witness to the Green Life

Earlier I was invited as a Greenpeace activist to give a short talk at an event in the Asian Theological Seminary entitled The Green Life, organized by a care group called Friends of Life.

As a Christian coming from an environmental organization I count myself blessed to be a part of that ceremony because it is a wonderful thing that is experienced rarely inside Christian churches.

I shared a bit about the Greenpeace core value of ‘bearing witness’ which I defined as an obligation to act according to our conscience –and it is my hope that the event would sow the seeds for more Christians to ‘bear witness’ to the need for a greener and peaceful future where life in its fullness is shared and enjoyed by all creatures great and small.

For those of you interested in the details of the talk I gave click here for the transcript