> From the 18th to the 24th concerned individuals will fast and
carry out vigils in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Hobart and
the Gold Coast to protest the impact of overconsumption on the
Earth, the majority of the world's population and future
generations.
It is a peaceful action of a spiritual nature to question the
fundamental issues which have brought the planet to the brink of
ecological collapse. The Christmas celebration in particular has
been turned into a mockery of its original intention - a time of
giving, sharing and joyful celebration of life into a time of
greed and blind materialism.
Although we are not necessarily approaching this from a Christian
perspective - we acknowledge and feel inspired by the example of
Jesus Christ in living a life of simplicity and his 'radical'
protests against materialism.
This year in Australia, we are dedicating this year's vigil to the
Penan tribe of Sarawak, Malaysia -among the worlds few remaining
tribes of nomadic hunter-gatherers. They are a living example of
the potential of the human species to live a peaceful and gentle
life in harmony with the earth. Latest reports indicate that,
despite severe intimidation and harrasment, the Penan may be
preparing to blockade the logging roads once again to try to
protect their forest.
In Hobart, the vigil will also support protesters who are in jail
following their non violent attempts to stop the construction of a
road through Australia's largest unprotected wilderness -
Tasmania's Tarkine. The road would split the Tarkine in two and
open the entire area up to increased exploitation from logging and
mining. Among the protesters, the world respected environmentalist
Dr. Bob Brown has refused bail conditions which would stop him
returning to the Tarkine to continue the protest.
On the Gold Coast, where the vigil has taken place over the last
two years, resistance by the local Council in allowing it to go
ahead is helping to expose threats to freedom of speech and
democratic civil rights.
We will dedicate each day of the fast to a certain theme and have
information available on these issues to passers by (I'm sure
there are many other very important topics - but we would be
fasting for the entire year if we were to include them all!).
1) Impact of first world overconsumption on indigenous peoples and
third world poor, and resulting suffering and human rights abuse
(examples include the recent Nigerian executions caused by greed
for oil).
2) Impact of Food overconsumption - especially that of meat
production (one of the primary causes for forest destruction in
Queensland as well as South America), the effect on our health,
and cruelty to animals.
3) Impact of Land overconsumption - treating land as a commodity
or resource rather than a collective gift to respect - the impact
of current definitions of 'development'.
4) Impact of Tropical and Temperate timber consumption, call to
boycott tropical timbers until sustainable sources can be verified
(99.9% is currently unsustainably produced).
5) Impact of overconsumption on Women of the world - whether in
the 1st world, where women have often become the mass consumers
and in the 3rd world where women are suffering as a result,
6) Impact of World Trade through multinational corporations and
the World Bank, rich countries 'ripping off' poor countries and
forcing their doors to open for trade and exploitation, the
impact of the mismanaged distribution of wealth - particularly
into weapons production.
7) The search for solutions, simplicity, and our collective
survival.
Despite the depth of the issues which are being examined - we
don't feel that this is a depressing action to be engaged in. We
are motivated by trying to express a sincere, humble and adequate
response to fundamental questions of survival. It is in essence a
prayer.
Although time is very short in terms of organising other event's
around the world - we would still like to encourage any personal
response to the intention of this action. Some people have
expressed a willingness to simply not consume this Christmas -
instead sending support for other issues and other peoples around
the world engaged in the struggle for life to continue. Maybe you
know of other groups or indiduals who are doing something of this
nature this year, or would be interested in planning events for
next year - please let us know!
For More Information contact:
Anja Light or Inge Light,
Rainforest Information Centre, Gold Coast, 9 Alkira Street, Tugun,
Q4224, Australia.
ph: 5534 4583 fax: 5534 7416
email: alight@peg.apc.org