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| New Jersey pastor Bruce Gillette writes
from # 1 Superfund cleanup site, urges action for the creation
Arsenic is one current concern
[5-1-01]
My wife Carolyn and I serve as Presbyterian pastors in
a community that was once our nation's number one Superfund cleanup
site. Pitman, New Jersey began in the 19th century as a Methodist camp
meeting (C. Austin Miles was the music director and his hymn "In
the Garden" was first sung here). Alcyon Lake became filled with
toxic pollution that came from a landfill, but it has now been cleaned
up at the cost of millions of dollars.
We Presbyterians believe that it is sinful to misuse
God's creation: "Ignoring God's commandments, we violate the image
of God in others and ourselves, accept lies as truth, exploit neighbor
and nature, and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care. We
deserve God's condemnation. Yet God acts with justice and mercy to
redeem creation" (Brief
Statement of Faith, 10.33-40).
Sadly, the Bush administration has taken a series of
backward steps in caring for God's creation which has met with criticism
not only from the scientific community, but also from religious leaders
in the USA and Europe; see the April 4th Presbyterian News Service
article titled "Religious
leaders rebuke Bush administration over Kyoto Protocol"
Some good news can be found in Saturday's NY Times with an
article titled "Bush Calls In Experts to Help Set Course on
Climate" that shows there seems to be some reconsideration by the
administration of its recent decisions due to their unpopularity.
People of faith can make a difference when they
express their views to those serving in government. Now is the time to
voice concern about another important issue related to caring for God's
creation. The Bush administration has decided to yank the new rule that
reduced the acceptable level of arsenic in our drinking water and
re-open the issue to further study. They have given the public an
appallingly short time period, only two weeks, to officially be heard on
this decision.
The bipartisan Natural Resource Defense Council
reports "The current U.S. arsenic-in-drinking-water standard of 50
parts per billion (ppb) was set in 1942, before health officials knew
that arsenic causes cancer. The revised rule would have lowered the
acceptable arsenic level to 10 ppb, the same international standard
adopted several years ago by the World Health Organization and the
European Union. The National Academy of Sciences in the USA has
determined that arsenic in water causes bladder, lung and skin cancer,
and may cause kidney and liver cancer, birth defects and reproductive
problems. Drinking water at the current arsenic standard could easily
result in a total cancer risk of one in 100 -- about 10,000 times higher
than the risk the EPA would allow for carcinogens in food. Arsenic also
harms the central nervous system and heart."
You can help better care for God's creation several
different ways:
1) Read
more about the issue of arsenic in water:
2) Share this information with your friends, church
and online friends
3) Call your Senators and US Representative, write or
email the EPA before May 7th. Snail Mail for EPA: Water
Docket (MC-410), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460
Email at http://www.nrdc.org/action/a_arsenic.asp
4) Check out web sites for PCUSA Environmental
Justice Office, and the Presbyterians
for Restoring Creation web site.
5) Check out the ecumenical Web
of Creation web site for worship and educational resources for
adults, youth and children:
Blessings on your ministry.
Grace and Peace,
Bruce
Bruce & Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, Co-Pastors
First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, NJ
Email: Bruce.Gillette@ecunet.org
or bcgillette@snip.net
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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