“I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before Me.”

Faith leaders ask for Christmas gifts that ‘honour the Earth’

The seventh UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) met in Nairobi on December 8-12, under the theme “Advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient environment”.

“We all want the same thing: a better future for ourselves and families. This means stable climate, safe clean and sustainable environment, and pollution free future,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Program said.

UNEA is the top decision-making body on environment issues. While addressing climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste crises, it sets the global environmental agenda and develops international environmental laws.

So, many took long, fossil fueled trips?

During discussions on environmental sustainability, Ashley Kitisya, Laudato Si’ Movement’s Africa Program Manager, said that during Advent faiths were looking at Christmas giving through the lens of the three planetary crises.

“We can choose gifts that honour both people and the Earth,” she said, voicing faith groups’ concerns about overconsumption, waste, and environmentally harmful practices during the Christmas season.

Ms Kitisya specified plastic pollution, food waste and unnecessary energy use spike during the festive season.

In their statement, the faith leaders emphasised their role as custodians of the values, ethics, moral courage and global reach needed to fight environmental degradation.

“Integrity is key to ethical leadership; let us hear the call of Mother Nature and live a life that embodies our teachings and guides others,” their statement, titled “A call to Action-Faith for Resilient Planet”, said.

Can they still be Christian leaders, faithful to God when they are putting him after their cult?

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

These “faith” leaders have lost the plot, and are using a Holy time for their cult beliefs.