OHIO VALLEY YEARLY
MEETING - SUSTAINABILITY MINUTE
Approved eighth
month, 2002
We of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends believe that the web of life, and each being within it, are expressions of the Spirit. We further believe that all our actions resonate throughout the symphony of Creation, flowing through space and time. We affirm the inherent worth of the natural world and all its beings, beyond their economic value for humans.
We recognize that
the Earth community is in a crisis that is increasingly visible. We witness the
decline of world resources, and especially biological diversity. With great
concern, we witness an increase of toxic contaminants in our soil, air, and
water. This exploitation is not in accord with good stewardship, which calls
for us to care for, protect, and preserve the Earth.
As we search for
the roots of these problems, we keep coming back to ourselves. We see
industrial production spiralling out of control and personal consumption
increasing at an intolerable rate. These are not in accord with our testimony
of simplicity.
The disparity in
right sharing continues to grow. We know that the poor of the world bear the
greater hurt. As increasing production and consumption amplify the impact of
continuing population growth, the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer.
Toxins find their way far more often into the lives of the poor. This is not in
accord with our testimony of equality.
We are therefore
called to walk more gently on this Earth. The right sharing of the world's
remaining resources requires that we in "overdeveloped' nations reduce our
present levels of consumption and pollution, so people in non-industrial
nations may live better, and so ecological systems may heal. Living more simply
can be a source of enrichment for ourselves as well, as it opens us to more
direct and grateful contact with the mysteries of life and therefore with the
Spirit.
But our individual
efforts toward simplicity are not enough. For deep changes to occur in our
corporations and governments, we must also speak and act as a religious
community. We especially want to stop blind expansion beginning in our own
neighborhoods and home region. We must instead support ecologically sustainable
activity, that which will allow future generations to flourish. The route to
sustainability is not clear. Historically, we have misjudged the results of our
actions. But for any activity to be sustainable it must, at the very least, withdraw
renewable resources no faster than their natural sources are replenishing
themselves. It must also replace the use of non-renewable resources with
renewable: alternatives, and release pollutants no faster than they are being
recycled by nature,
Ø As a first step we minute our commitment to
live more sustainably.
Ø We will speak and act both as individuals,
and as a religious community, for the cause of sustainability.
Ø We will encourage and join with other
spiritual and social groups in similar action. We will strive for deep
structural changes in our communities, corporations, and governments.
Ø
We affirm all
beings and elements, beyond humans alone, as unique embodiments of the Creator,
the Ground of all Being, who inspires us and enables us to change our lives.
We take these first steps toward speaking truth to power, even when it is to ourselves. We will seek further leadings as the light guides the way. We will strive for sustainable lives in order that all living beings, as well as those yet to be born, might flourish.