Land=Life, Life=Land

"Land is Life" is a phrase that is often repeated in the Philippines. The soil and earth of the Philippines, coupled with its climate, is among the most fertile land on the planet, able to sustain a wide variety of crops.  Since agriculture makes up the lives of many Filipinos and has been a staple in many communities for hundreds of years, the phrase takes on a more literal meaning.

The land is able to sustain humanity because it is alive. The land itself is a community that is rich in diversity, energy, and beauty. By consuming and treating the land like a toy for humans to play with and then discard, we are unknowingly leading to our own extinction. As inhabitants of the planet, we must not try and dominate but rather collaborate and improve our relationship with Earth. Not just for the good of our families, but for the sake of humanity and the others that we would otherwise doom to extinction.

Climate Justice is not just an issue of science, it is an issue of justice. The poor are continually pushed out and marginalized by ruthless capitalist expansion. Community leaders and environmentalists are met not with words of peace, but with bullets. By consuming and discarding land, humanity faces the destruction of whole communities in favor of huge empires that will inevitably collapse due to a huge lack of resources.

God did not just create humanity. Animals, plants, and other organisms of different sizes and shapes were created as well. By subverting and treating the living Earth as a plaything, humanity has unknowingly caused more destruction to the planet than any other living being that existed in Earth's billions of years of history. As Christians, it is our job to live sustainable lifestyles and to fight the injustices that plague the living land. It starts with ourselves, and it starts with our communities.

Justice for Earth.