Patriarch Bartholomew on Fukushima

This is a couple weeks dated at this point, but it is nonetheless important to disseminate. The Ecumenical Patriarch has issued a statement regarding the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. In it, he offers a standard message of condolence and support for the people of Japan. He also takes the disaster as an opportunity to remind us all that the way we interact with God's world has and will continue to complicate and intensify the ramifications of already cataclysmic events. Here is a portion of what the Ecumenical Patriarch had to say:

The disastrous ramifications of this event will become more evident over the next days. Of course, with regard to the earthquake, no human response is adequate. The causes and results eclipse human words. Nevertheless, with regard to the explosion of the nuclear reactor and the aftermath of a nuclear adversity, there is indeed a response that we are called to make. With all due respect to the science and technology of nuclear energy and for the sake of the survival of the human race, we counter-propose the safer green forms of energy, which both moderately preserve our natural resources and mindfully serve our human needs.

Our Creator granted us the gifts of the sun, wind, water and ocean, all of which may safely and sufficiently provide energy. Ecologically-friendly science and technology has discovered ways and means of producing sustainable forms of energy for our ecosystem. Therefore, we ask: Why do we persist in adopting such dangerous sources of energy? Are we so arrogant as to compete with and exploit nature?

I do not know that I agree with everything he has to say and I certainly do not like the way he has phrased some things, but the Ecumenical Patriarch does Christians a service in reminding us that we have a comprehensive duty to work for God on behalf of creation and with creation.