I am writing this for you...whether your name is Allah or
Jehovah, whether you are God or Goddess, whether you even
exist at all. I remember my childhood, growing up in Pine
Plains, New York...the lazy days of lying back in the grass
during the summertime and watching the clouds roll by...the
shortening days of autumn, and the smell of burning wood. The
trees changing colors, the first snow of the year, cold,
beautiful days. There were nights where we would go out and
shovel snow to keep the cars from getting buried...it'd be so
quiet you could hear the snow falling.
This year, things have been different. It's January 1st,
and yet there hasn't been any snow. The autumn was alternately
cold and hot, the leaves didn't look as pretty, and everything
felt wrong. A month ago, an ice shelf broke free up in Canada,
shocking scientists. In North Carolina, factory pig farms have
produced tons of pig feces, to the point where toxic marshes
stain the land, creating pits of death in the name of
supporting American love of pork. A vast portion of the
Pacific Ocean has literally been turned into an oceanic
landfill. Elsewhere in the oceans, the process of evolution
has reversed, as advanced species are giving away to more
primitive ones. As we keep dumping more and more crap into the
oceans, and depleting the stock of fish, we only accelerate
the process. Fishermen themselves are no longer safe, as
nightmarish fireweed grows in abundance, causing horrific
burns and rashes, eating through protective gloves like acid.
At some point, the world came into existence, whether
through the hand of God or not. What came into being was a
pristine world, constantly changing but unmarked by the taint
of mankind. Now it is the world that man has created. It is a
world of violence, where people ring church bells to celebrate
a death, where people kill and kill in the name of God or some
other Devil. It is a world that is sick and diseased because
of the damage we have caused it through our selfishness. As
more and more danger signs stare us in the face, it is evident
that grave consequences for our actions loom close on the
horizon. We have grown, been fruitful and multiplied, we have
covered the globe, and with us we have brought our greed, our
want of comfort, and our love of destruction.
Yet, as much as we know now, as much as the evidence
seems to be everywhere, there are far too many people who
don't believe. People who call global warming a hoax, who
scoff at the concerns of the environment. People who only care
about profits, about making money, not caring one whit about
the damage they cause. Many of them have families, yet seem
not to care at all about what kind of world their children or
grandchildren will live in. They can only see as far as the
nose on their face, and don't care to see further. For many
others...the evidence of the crisis before them makes them
worry that they will have to give up some comforts, that they
will have to change the way they live, and so they resist.
There are others, dear God. There are others out there
who deny what we see happening around us...or outright don't
care. They follow Ann Coulter's battle cry to 'rape' the
planet, because that is what you, dear God, wanted of us. In
your name, they refuse to change or help the world, because
they want to bring about the end times all the quicker. In
their twisted minds, hurting the planet will cause the second
coming to happen...any day now! All of this, they do in your
name. Some refuse to listen...some hear, but ignore...some
just shake their heads and laugh while they do more and more
evil to this beautiful world, that I have loved.
I have loved the blue skies on a summer day, the cool
feeling of a spring morning, the smell of rebirth and renewal.
I have loved the cold autumn nights in Baltimore, where the
wind blows dead leaves down lonely alleys. I have loved the
frigid days of winter, the bright blue sky, the crunch of
packed snow. During the summer of 2004, while living in
Baltimore, I experienced the coming of the 17-year cicada. For
a couple of months, they were everywhere, and the noise of
their buzzing made a deafening racket during the day. I also
had the opportunity to experience monsoon season firsthand
while in China in 1999. I have loved these moments that I have
shared with the earth, and look forward to many more in my
lifetime.
Due to this love, I feel a great sadness when I see what
we have done, and feel a great shame. We have depleted
resources, sucked the world dry, driven species after species
into extinction, ruined the oceans, and caused untold
suffering for the world. This world, dear God, that we live
on, and that we share with all of the animals and planets that
depend on us to be responsible, for we wield a great and
terrible power. We have the ability to forever changed the
planet for the worse, even destroy it...and all of those who
share this world with us must rely on our restraint. Yet, we
have not lived up to this trust, and now all life is at risk.
World leader posture and threaten with weapons that could
reduce all life to dust. People rage and debate over
celebrities, over little things, over comforts. Yet meanwhile,
time is running out for this world that I have loved. There
are some...heroes among men...that have risen to the challenge
and made their voices heard. Most of us here have seen the
jeopardy that we are in, and are wondering what we can do to
help. Dear God...there is hope for us fools, even now. In
America, the biggest contributer to global warming, we are
faced with a president who refuses to listen, who cares only
for profits. This month, we will no longer be faced with a
government that aids and abets him in this endeavor. We will
have an opportunity for change, and it is our DUTY to make
sure that it is seized.
For we have heard the cries of the planet for our aid,
and it is time for those cries to be answered. The world is
not ours alone, to do with as we please. We only live on this
planet, just like all of the animals that we slaughter. Just
like the plants we cut down, slash away, burn and destroy to
make room...for us. We all live here, and we are all in this
together. The democrats have the power to MAKE CHANGES
HAPPEN...but only if we keep pressure on them! Bush will
fight, but if we are united in our devotion to the planet, he
cannot defeat us. This is our mission, our quest, our
obligation. For our children, for our grandchildren, for the
animals and plants that cannot speak, for ourselves, and for
our planet that we have loved.
Why, then, God, did I write this for you? I wrote this
because...I am sorry. I am sorry that you, wherever or
whatever you are, have to see this beautiful world in such a
state, and so few people actually caring. I am sorry that we
have done this to the world. I am sorry that animals and
plants who only want to survive, are dying out, by our hand. I
am sorry that it has taken me this long to realize how much
harm has been done. I only hope that we are not too late...no,
I must believe that there is still time. I...we...can't lose
hope.
Hope you've enjoyed reading this...whatever it is. I
just wanted to finish with the poem 'There Will Come Soft
Rains' by Sara Teasdale, as quoted by Ray Bradbury:
'There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, not bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.'
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
