Catholic Bishop Strikes Out at Brazilian Deforestation
I’m a huge supporter of the separation of church and state, and get very antsy whenever the line is stepped on or crossed. However, sometimes I’m willing to turn a blind eye when it is done this way. Hopefully, in the near future, our thanks will go out to Brazilian Catholic Bishop Guilherme Antonio Werlang.
Last week the senior Roman Catholic bishop struck out at the Brazilian government’s continued deforestation of the Amazon. He criticized their energy and agriculture policies, accusing them of destroying the Amazon forest and threatening the livelihood of local populations.
“We cannot ignore deforestation by loggers who violate the country’s laws and … threaten tribal Indians and others who depend on (the Amazon),” he said. He was launching the church’s annual Lent campaign to mobilize followers on issues of social concern.
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Now many of you will just dismiss this as another religious man or woman stepping into an arena far from their own. First of all, you’d be talking rubbish as the Bible often tasks us with protecting the God-given land. But even if you are not religious, you have to admire the man’s political timing.
Brazil is still heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, and even with dwindling numbers, the say-so of a senior bishop is going to pull some weight. The government will, hopefully, bow to the wishes of a newly convinced public.
Werlang’s warning comes at a time when governmental disagreement over such issues is rife. Brazil’s environmental ministry has blamed farmers and cattle-ranchers for moving deeper into the forest, searching for cheap land. However, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the agriculture ministry reject such claims.
Between August and December an estimated 2,703 square miles, or two-thirds the annual rate for the 12 months ending in July 2007, were chopped down.
“We have to question the energy programs that deteriorate our rivers and land with the construction of ever more hydroelectric plants and monoculture farm production,” said Werlang, member of the Brazilian Bishops Conference CNBB.
Photo Courtesy of Gidsicki via Flickr
This statement by a bishop about governmental action seems to me NOT to cross the church/state separation. What would violate that valuable principal would be religious leaders actually taking over political control, or political leaders pushing a specific religion onto the public of their country.
My feeling is that God has nothing to do with this. It is our moral responsibility to speak up about protecting our land and way of living when we can do so, whether a bishop or an ordinary citizen who has an opportunity to be heard. No government, through action or through negligence, has the right to allow one small group to gain financially at the cost of survival of the much larger group, in this case, possibly the whole planet. We had better all learn to work together, to help those who may desperately need help growing food by providing them information on techniques, natural fertilization, and so on, while penalizing those who violate national values of rainforest protection (in the case of Brazil).
Two countries that I know of, Japan and the Dominican Republic, took strong (in the latter case even violent) steps to protect their forests, and as a result their national environments are strong and contribute to their economies. Those who unfortunately, through weakened governments or bad policies, allow their forests to be destroyed, are in deep trouble long-term. Haiti is one such case.
[...] was created in 1937, just to protect those Alerces with thousands of years, because they were being cut down indiscriminately to build wood tiles. The Alerces have a very straight trunk, so they were perfect for construction. [...]
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