Some have the right moves, hopefully those described below will carry the
message (using whatever terminology they need) to convert as many immanent
eminent domain people as possible.
/donna
RELIGIOUS LEADERS BRING FOREST PROTECTION MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON
Washington, D.C.
February 3, 1999
Amy Hanson Phone: 626-793-0754
> Nearly 50 Christian and Jewish religious leaders converged upon
Capitol Hill this week to call for an end to the timber sales program on
national forests, and a halt to logging in ancient forests throughout
Creation. Their visit culminates today with a meeting at the White House,
in which they will urge the Administration to issue an executive order to
end logging on our federal public lands. The coalition, known as the
Religious Campaign for Forest
Conservation, represents nearly every Protestant denomination, including
Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, Brethren and
Eastern
Orthodox; Catholic leaders; and Jewish leaders. On Monday, they held a
prayer
breakfast with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and have since visited over
>100 Congressional offices, and met with Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck
and
staff.
"This is a moral issue. Logging on our national forests is wrong and must
stop", said Connie Hanson, Founder and Director of Christians Caring for
Creation ("CCC"), a nationwide prayer network based in Los Angeles,
California. Added Hanson, "The Bible teaches us to protect and care for
God's
Creation, not destroy it."
The Religious Campaign urges not only that all commercial logging be stopped
on America's national forests, but also that current logging subsidies be
redirected into worker retraining, ecological restoration work, and taxpayer
savings. The bipartisan National Forest Protection and Restoration Act
(formerly H.R. 2789), which is led by Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) and Rep. Cynthia
McKinney (D-GA), would do just that, and is advocated by Christians Caring
for
Creation and members of the Campaign.
"Logging on our national forests is unjustified environmentally,
economically,
and, most importantly, spiritually," said Amy Hanson, Co-Director of CCC.
"When you look around you and truly grasp the scale of environmental
degradation that has occurred, you cannot help but consider that we are in
danger of losing Creation. We feel a moral obligation to do something about
it," she stated.
>
Christians Caring for Creation will remain in Washington the rest of the
week,
visiting additional Congressional offices and handing out copies of a
calendar
produced by CCC entitled "A Celebration of Creation". Each day of the year
in
the calendar contains a pro-environment Bible verse or quote from a famous
religious leader.
>
>###
