Down to Earth

Has anyone translated into Latin the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment?

It would be a smart move to hand it over to the Catholic cardinals when they lock themselves up in that large room to appoint their new leader in a few days. In 1978 when their predecessors elected the last Pope, they made a daring choice (whether we liked that choice or not) to address Human Rights issues (in their own dogmatic and selective ways...i.e. what about the human rights of people with HIV-AIDS and their relatives?). Now, commentators are saying that poverty erradication could be their next central mission. Right, but the Millennium Assessment shows very clearly that unless we tackle environmental issues seriously, poverty will continue to grow. And that what religious people call "the creation" (that is, the environment) will continue to go down the tube very quickly unless we all wake up.

The Biblical religions have a special responsibility: they developed and still maintain the homo-centric view of the Universe. Thus they have a special role to play to correct that non-sense, and help humankind move to an eco-centric view of the Universe. Wouldn't it be a signal of hope if these guys decided to protect the Earth, instead of worshiping it (or as an effective way to worship it, if you want)?

A lot of food for thought on all that stuff can be found in the Forum on Religion & Ecology.