Birds, Cats and Kids
Oh the press is a funny entity indeed. So the Globe posts this article about how an oil spill from a conventional out-of-service oil well has killed 500 birds somewhere in Alberta and everyone is outraged at the evil oil and gas industry and it's senseless destruction of the environment. It's funny to hear about how people are so outraged about the death of 500 birds from this accident when oil and gas extraction rank 9th on the list of bird killers in the United States. I don't know how accurate this source is but according to Curry & Kerlinger, the best way to kill a bird is to use a glass window (of course spotlessly cleaned with Windex or some other comparable product).
#1. Glass Windows - 100-900+ million/yr
#2. House Cats - 100 million/yr (7 million/yr in Wisconsin alone - man those Wisconsin cats are vicious!)
#3. Automobiles/Trucks - 50-100 million/yr.
#4. Electric Transmission Line Collisions - up to 174 million/yr
#5. Agriculture - 67 million/yr
#6. Land Development - unknown (from destruction of bird habitat)
#7. Communication Towers - 4-10 million/yr
#8. Stock Tank Drowning - unknown, but sources say that a fair number of birds drown in livestock water tanks...natural selection in action
#9. Oil and Gas Extraction - 1-2 million/yr (as reported by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from birds landing in oil pits to bathe/drink. No estimates for deaths caused by spills and transporting oil and gas.
I walked past a dead bird on the side of the street just the other day AND I ate chicken curry last night for dinner. Add another 2 birds to the list for this year.
What's not funny and just really sad is that 2,880 African children die from malaria every day (one every 30 seconds) and we don't read about that very often in the news. Now I'm not saying a "lesser evil" is not evil, but let's rethink the priority of our concerns here. We get upset at how un-environmentally friendly the oil and gas industry is (when we all use plastic products, vehicles, or electricity) and call 500 birds dying a catastrophe. I wonder what millions of children dying from malnutrition each year is called? I guess awareness is a start but where do we go from here? How can we actually do something about it? How can I act to make a difference? I mean, it's not like these are incurable conditions like HIV/AIDS or cancer. WE HAVE THE CURE!! It's food and resources to get food to people! It's primaquine/mefloquine/chloroquine/doxycycline/mosquito nets/bug spray/etc! What's the hold up?!? ARGH!!!!
The book of Proverbs has some words of wisdom about looking after those in need. I really pray that these words won't fall on my deaf ears and that I will be able to live out my life in such a way that listens to the cries of the poor and defenseless and does something about it.
"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." - Prov 14:31 (NIV)
"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." - Prov 21:13 (NIV)
"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern." - Prov 29:7 (NIV)
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Prov 31:8-9 (NIV)
The Final Judgment (Matt 25:31-46, NLT)
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
#1. Glass Windows - 100-900+ million/yr
#2. House Cats - 100 million/yr (7 million/yr in Wisconsin alone - man those Wisconsin cats are vicious!)
#3. Automobiles/Trucks - 50-100 million/yr.
#4. Electric Transmission Line Collisions - up to 174 million/yr
#5. Agriculture - 67 million/yr
#6. Land Development - unknown (from destruction of bird habitat)
#7. Communication Towers - 4-10 million/yr
#8. Stock Tank Drowning - unknown, but sources say that a fair number of birds drown in livestock water tanks...natural selection in action
#9. Oil and Gas Extraction - 1-2 million/yr (as reported by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from birds landing in oil pits to bathe/drink. No estimates for deaths caused by spills and transporting oil and gas.
I walked past a dead bird on the side of the street just the other day AND I ate chicken curry last night for dinner. Add another 2 birds to the list for this year.
What's not funny and just really sad is that 2,880 African children die from malaria every day (one every 30 seconds) and we don't read about that very often in the news. Now I'm not saying a "lesser evil" is not evil, but let's rethink the priority of our concerns here. We get upset at how un-environmentally friendly the oil and gas industry is (when we all use plastic products, vehicles, or electricity) and call 500 birds dying a catastrophe. I wonder what millions of children dying from malnutrition each year is called? I guess awareness is a start but where do we go from here? How can we actually do something about it? How can I act to make a difference? I mean, it's not like these are incurable conditions like HIV/AIDS or cancer. WE HAVE THE CURE!! It's food and resources to get food to people! It's primaquine/mefloquine/chloroquine/doxycycline/mosquito nets/bug spray/etc! What's the hold up?!? ARGH!!!!
The book of Proverbs has some words of wisdom about looking after those in need. I really pray that these words won't fall on my deaf ears and that I will be able to live out my life in such a way that listens to the cries of the poor and defenseless and does something about it.
"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." - Prov 14:31 (NIV)
"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." - Prov 21:13 (NIV)
"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern." - Prov 29:7 (NIV)
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Prov 31:8-9 (NIV)
The Final Judgment (Matt 25:31-46, NLT)
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Labels: News, Personal Reflection, Random
posted by Matt at 1:29 AM
2 Comments:
wow.. that's tough!!!
wonder how we can get involved in the community.. as a cell or as YF.
there must be stuff we can do.. soup kitchens and stuff like that...
good post Matt!
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