Upcoming Events:
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Concern for Earth
It would go a long way to caution and direct people in their use of the world that they would be better studied and known in the creation of it. For how could man find the confidence to abuse it, while they should see the Great Creator stare them in the face, in all and every part thereof? — William Penn, 1693
If we call for reduction in fossil fuels, will this not cause hardship? Can we balance our lives with the need to protect earth's climate? Are alternative energy sources available, to meet human needs?
- To find the best answers to such questions, let us see ourselves as a family. A family must care for the young, must acknowledge the needs of future generations. A family applies ideas of fairness among its children. With this principle we can find ways to care for our planet that consider the needs of all its creatures. Since the impacts of a neglected earth fall most heavily on the innocent, the poor and on future generations, justice calls us to speak and act in part for them.
- The Baltimore Yearly Meeting's 2015 Shared Statement on Climate Change begins with these words: As Quakers, we are called to work for the peaceable Kingdom of God on the whole Earth, in right sharing with all peoples. We recognize a moral duty to cherish Creation for future generations.
It is simpler than science and simpler than morality that a thriving dominant family, continually growing and expanding, may someday press up against the finite capacity of its home. We are that family, earth the home, and that day is now. — N. Akira
Friends are advised to consider our possessions as God's gifts, entrusted to us for responsible use. Let use cherish the beauty and variety of the world. Friends are urged to speak out boldly against the destruction of the world's resources and the difficulties that destruction prepares for the future generations. Let us guard against waste and resist our extravagant consumption, which contributes to inequities and impoverishment of life in our own and other societies.
— Advices, New England Yearly Meeting
As George Fox spoke of living "in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars", let us now find ways to live that enable us lay down the sources of pollution which degrade the earth and thereby bring injury, want and hardship to remote countries and future innocents. — P.V. Allen
As to our own planet which God has given us for a dwelling place, we must be mindful that it is given in stewardship. The power over nature that scientific knowledge has put into our hands, if used for lust or greed, fear or hatred, can bring us to utter destruction. If we choose life we may now feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick on a world scale. But many of our resources are limited. If by condoning waste and luxury we overspend the allowance God has given us, our children's children will be cheated of their inheritance. — Norfolk Quarterly Meeting, 1957