In this Issue:

Beyond Warm: Commentary by Rev. Michael Piazza
Pat Robertson reverses position on Global Warming
Rev. Piazza to Release Sixth Book: The Real Anti-Christ due in October
22 Cities Join Clinton Anti-Warming Effort

Beyond Warm
Commentary by Rev. Michael S. Piazza

This summer has been hot enough to convince even George W. that global warming exists. We who are Christians or Jews believe that we have all been called to be a part of the oldest profession … that’s right: gardening.

God created humans of the stuff of the earth, breathed into us the breath of life, placed us in a garden and said, “Take care of it for me.” For thousands of years, we have tended the garden, and the earth has provided for our every need. Now, though, we are like a greedy farmer eating his seed corn, or a selfish gardener poisoning her own land.

How we treat the earth is bearing a harvest of great grief for us.

As Albert Schweitzer said:

Until humans can extend the circle of their compassion to include all living things, they will never, themselves, know peace.

Al Gore proved to be a pretty poor politician, but if the earth survives it will be in part because of his devotion to calling us to do better in caring for our home. So far, nothing he has written or said has been as powerful as the new film he has produced called An Inconvenient Truth.

The title is well chosen, because we Americans want to save the earth, so long as it doesn’t require us to change our lifestyles. We who comprise five percent of the world’s population want to continue using over 25 percent of the world’s resources. While in Minnesota they may spend summer weekends at the lakes, in Dallas we spend our free time shopping. It is a competitive sport here, especially if you don’t have sufficient funds to spend the summer traveling. Either way, we are contributing to the destruction of the planet. We want to save the planet, but what are we willing to give up to do so? What changes are we willing to make?

It seems easier for most folks to ignore the poison air we are breathing and keep right on driving. Our friends in the oil and auto industries seem to know this. It is no coincidence that the current parody of Al Gore that is making the rounds on the Internet was secretly produced by the DCI Group whose major clients include Exxon-Mobile. I had to write to them to remind them that, when Al Gore meets his maker, he at least can go feeling he left the world a better place. That won’t be the case for them. Will that be the case for us?

My friends, there is an old book that tells a story about a woman and man who were put in a garden to care and tend to it with the promise that the garden would provide for all their needs. A Jewish folk tale goes like this:

Two men were fighting over a piece of land. Each claimed ownership. They put the case before their rabbi. He listened to their arguments but could not come to a decision. Finally, he said, “Since I cannot decide to whom this land belongs, let us ask the land.” He put his ear to the ground, and then straightened up. “Gentlemen, the land says that it belongs to neither of you, but that you belong to it.”

In our day, we have Fundamentalist Christians who don’t seem to care about creation at all. Instead, they are expecting Armageddon when they will be raptured and the rest of us destroyed.

On the other side of the political equation there are the radical environmentalists who seem to believe we have done so much damage to the earth that global annihilation is our destiny.

Armageddon or annihilation? That seems quite a choice. However, I am a Christian and have at least some hope: We who are God's children and people of resurrection faith have a responsibility to care for the wonderful world that has been entrusted to us. In particular, we are a gentle, compassionate, creative people who should be especially sensitive to caring for the beautiful life around us. If we allow the feminine side of us, which would nurture life to be manifest, and if we become people of the empty tomb, which gives birth to new life that is eternal, then we can give birth to a whole new movement away from death and toward life.

Related Links

An Inconvenient Truth
Ten Things to Do to Stop Global Warming (PDF)

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Pat Robertson reverses position on Global Warming
Originally published by Reuters News Service

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said on Thursday the wave of scorching temperatures across the United States has converted him into a believer in global warming.

"We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels," Robertson said on his "700 Club" broadcast. "It is getting hotter, and the icecaps are melting and there is a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air."

This week the heat index, the perceived temperature based on both air temperatures and humidity, reached 115 Fahrenheit in some regions of the U.S. East Coast. The 76-year-old Robertson told viewers that was "the most convincing evidence I've seen on global warming in a long time."

Last year, Robertson said natural disasters affecting the globe, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita that wrecked the U.S. Gulf Coast, might be signs that the biblical apocalypse was nearing.

The issue has divided conservative Christians.

In October, Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate, said the National Association of Evangelicals was teaming up with "far left environmentalists" for saying global warming was caused by humans and needed to be mitigated.

Signers of that statement included California mega-church pastor Rick Warren, author of the bestselling "The Purpose Driven Life."

In the late 1990s, Robertson paid at least $300,000 to investigate the revival of an oil refinery east of Los Angeles. The bid was unsuccessful.

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Rev. Piazza to Release Sixth Book
The Real Anti-Christ due in October

Since September 11, 2001, the Religious Right has used fear to manipulate America. It has used 19 terrorists to make us so afraid that we are willing to abandon our values and do things that are virulently anti-American and un-Christian. The sale of millions of books in the Left Behind series, which portrays the Religious Right’s apocalyptic vision, is just one example of how fear-based religion is foundational to what is going on in this country. That demon has to be named and called out if we are to be free of it.

Rev. Michael S. Piazza, President of Hope for Peace & Justice and Dean of the Cathedral of Hope, will do just that in his new book, The Real Anti-Christ. “There IS an anti-Christ and it isn't Russia or Osama bin Laden,” Rev. Piazza says. “It isn't even George W. Bush. I believe the real anti-Christ is the way in which America, and in particular the evangelical church in America, has come to embody a vision and values that are diametrically opposite of Jesus, therefore, ‘the Real Anti-Christ.’”

Rev. Piazza will take the various issues of concern to and talk in lay terms about:

• Where we are as a country on these issues;
• The reasons why we are there;
• Where we ought to be, based on the teachings of Jesus; and
• A strategy for getting there.

To read the book’s introduction and to preview a chapter, please go to www.therealantichrist.com.

The Real Anti-Christ Book Cover Contest

In preparation for the release of The Real Anti-Christ, the staff of Hope for Peace & JUustice is seeking submissions for artwork and/or a design to grace the cover. IF you are an artist or graphic designer and have a great idea for the cover, please visit www.therealantichrist.com for more information. If you have any questions, please contact David Plunkett at 214-351-1432 or via email at dplunkett@h4pj.org. Design/art work are due Monday, August 14. Coy James, Managing Director, is putting together a team to evaluate submissions for possible use as the cover.

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22 Cities Join Clinton Anti-Warming Effort
Originally published by the Washington Post

Cities worldwide, including Chicago, have vowed to work with Clinton to fight global warming. (2005 Photo By David Klobucar -- Chicago Tribune)

Twenty-two of the world's largest cities announced yesterday that they will work together to limit their contributions to global warming in an effort led by former president Bill Clinton.

The Clinton Climate Initiative -- which will create an international consortium to bargain for cheaper energy-efficient products and share ideas on cutting greenhouse gas pollution -- includes Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York as well as Cairo, Delhi, London and Mexico City. While the group is not setting specific targets for reducing emissions, Clinton said he is confident the effort will both cut pollution and create jobs in the cities that contribute most to higher temperatures.

"It no longer makes sense for us to debate whether or not the Earth is warming at an alarming rate, and it doesn't make sense for us to sit back and wait for others to act," Clinton said, speaking at a Los Angeles news conference with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) and London and San Francisco city leaders. "The fate of the planet that our children and grandchildren will inherit is in our hands, and it is our responsibility to do something about this crisis."

The endeavor comes on the heels of Monday's announcement by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) that he will work with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to trade carbon dioxide emissions and share clean-energy technology.

It is unclear how much Clinton's initiative can achieve in the absence of broader mandatory limits on greenhouse gases. The 40 cities he is targeting account for 15 to 20 percent of the world's emissions, according to Clinton aide Ira Magaziner. City officials can cut their governments' energy use and govern local building codes and land use, but they do not regulate the automobiles or power plants that account for much of a city's carbon dioxide emissions.

Climate experts said the effort could help but by itself it will not achieve the major reductions needed to curb global warming. Drew Shindell, an atmospheric physicist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said emissions must be cut in half by mid-century to keep Earth's temperature from reaching dangerous levels. "They can make progress, but it will be quite limited, I would think," Shindell said.

But London Mayor Ken Livingstone -- who spoke at the news conference and whose city charges a daily fee to drive cars downtown during peak traffic times -- said cities are already "at the center of developing the technologies and innovative new practices that provide hope that we can radically reduce carbon emissions."

The Clinton Foundation will focus on providing technical assistance and bargaining power to the participating cities, all with area populations of 3 million or more, employing the same model it has used to lower the price of AIDS medicine for poorer countries.

In a telephone interview Monday, Clinton -- who was criticized by some environmentalists for not moving aggressively enough as president to curb greenhouse gases -- said he cared about climate change before but feels "a greater sense of urgency" about the problem now in light of the mounting scientific evidence.

"The thing that's different is the combination of a new sense of urgency about the problem and a sense of optimism that dealing with the problem can produce economic prosperity," he said.

President Bush has promoted voluntary measures to curb greenhouse gases, such as promoting cleaner technologies, but has consistently opposed mandatory targets.

"The administration welcomes and encourages all levels of government to find ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions," Kristen Hellmer of the White House Council on Environmental Quality said of Clinton's initiative.

The Clinton Foundation plans to help major cities measure their emissions and track their reductions, as well as share information about energy-efficient building design and street lighting. Smaller cities such as Baltimore and the District cannot formally join the initiative, but they will be able to buy energy-efficient products at the same low negotiated prices as larger cities, which D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said he would welcome.

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