Catholics around the world are probably familiar with the phrase, 'preferential option for the poor.' This commonly used talking point within the Catholic Church may seem isolated to discussions of Catholic theology, but in actuality, it is a critical component of all religious traditions.
This may explain the powerful initiative(s) of faith leaders to combat climate change, a crisis that has displaced millions and is anticipated to displace 250,000 million poor people by 2050.
Our Voice, an interfaith coalition, have asked everyone to take advantage of this year's Passover and Easter, to join together and find ways in which their congregation may care for God's creation. Visit Blessedtomorrow.org for ways to organize a creation care event in your congregation!
At Passover and Easter, Remembering Climate Change Refugees
By Rabbi Lawrence Troster for Huffington Post: Religion
"I have marked well the plight of My people... I am mindful of their sufferings." (Exodus 3:7)
For Makay Borrow Shuriye, climate change is not a far-off concern. She and her five children live in Kenya's Nanighi community, in Garissa County, raising camels and other livestock. But the increasing frequency and severity of droughts, a clear consequence of climate change, is taking its toll. Less food is available for the camels as pastures disappear. The animals have become more susceptible to disease, and their migration to areas where food is still available introduces new diseases. She and the other mothers in the community work with the development organization CARE to explore climate change mitigation strategies, but Makay may well become a climate change refugee in the near future, living on the margins of a parched land.
