Climate anxiety: ’Delay means death’, Extinction Rebellion, throwing pebbles into God’s river, and rediscovering lament

Matters of Life and Death

This week we’re bringing you an episode from our back catalogue, this time from March 2022. The latest report from the UN's climate scientists was both incredibly downbeat about climate change and almost entirely ignored by a media fixated on Ukraine. In this episode we consider the communication and changing narratives around climate change, why an unscientific hyper-fatalism has set in with many activists, and what impact this might be having on younger generations terrified humanity itself is going extinct. We then discuss what an authentically Christian response to our environmental crisis would look like. How can we steer a middle path between complacency and despair? Does our different theology of the future change how we act on climate change? • Christian Aid's climate change projects https://christianaid.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/campaign-climate-justice • A Rocha's Eco Church scheme https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/ • Christian Climate Action’s principles and values for Christian climate activism https://christianclimateaction.org/who-we-are/cca-principals-and-values/ • 'The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis' - 1967 essay by Lynn White https://www.cmu.ca/faculty/gmatties/lynnwhiterootsofcrisis.pdf • Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 • If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com • For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com