Saturday, September 10, 2022

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022

Emma Helfrich - Yesterday

The U.S. Air Force has released a number of striking photos showing 37 A-10 Warthogs in an orderly formation on the flightline at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho. The Warthogs are from multiple units across the globe, which have gathered in Idaho for the latest iteration of a biennial bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10s dubbed Hawgsmoke.

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022© U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds

Hawgsmoke 2022 kicked off on September 6 and will wrap up tonight. This year’s event was hosted by the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, and the snapshots that have already come out of it are impressive. The 37 Warthogs involved in the competition make up more than a tenth of the Air Force’s entire 281-strong fleet all in one place. 150 Pilots, as well as maintainers and weapon teams from 15 active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve units, are participating in the overall competition, including the following outfits:

25th Fighter Squadron from Osan Air Base, South Korea47th Fighter Squadron from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona66th Weapons Squadron from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada74th Fighter Squadron from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia75th Fighter Squadron from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia76th Fighter Squadron from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia104th Fighter Squadron from Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland107th Fighter Squadron from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan163d Fighter Squadron from Fort Wayne Air National Guard Station, Indiana190th Fighter Squadron from Gowen Field Air National Guard Base, Boise, Idaho303rd Fighter Squadron from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri354th Fighter Squadron from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona357th Fighter Squadron from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona358th Fighter Squadron from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri422d Test and Evaluation Squadron from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada On Sept. 7, over 30 A-10s from across the nation parked at Gowen Field's flightline in preparation for the competition. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur More than 150 pilots, maintainers, and weapon teams from approximately 14 active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve units from across the globe are in the competition. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022

© Provided by The Drive

To start the competition, the 124th performed a missing man formation on Tuesday to honor fallen soldiers and mark the beginning of the traditional Hawgsmoke opening ceremony. The Air Force noted that Idaho's Warhawk Air Museum also performed a flyover with a Curtiss P-40N Warhawk and a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt. It is important to note that the A-10’s official nickname is actually Thunderbolt II, a direct reference to the P-47, and both aircraft were built by the same manufacturer.

Hawgsmoke — a play of the 'Gunsmoke' aerial gunnery competitions dating back decades — was first established in 1996 by Col. Cliff Latta, the operations group commander of the 110th Fighter Wing in Battle Creek Michigan, according to Hawgsmoke.com, an unofficial website dedicated to the competition. Latta wanted a way to showcase his unit to the other Air National Guard A-10 squadron at the time, and thus the world’s first Hawgsmoke competition was held that same year in conjunction with the annual Air National Guard A-10 Operations Group Commander meeting.

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022

© Provided by The Drive

A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots participate in an opening ceremony after arriving at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, to compete in Hawgsmoke 2022. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds A-10 Thunderbolt IIs arrive at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, to compete in Hawgsmoke 2022. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds

The 175th Fighter Wing out of Martin State, Maryland, was crowned the winner of the inaugural Hawgsmoke in 1996 and started what would later become a tradition among winning units to host the next competition. However, the military started to lose interest in Hawgsmoke over the next four years, so Latta attempted to reinvigorate the event in 2000 by including every A-10 unit in the Air National Guard, Active Duty, and Air Force Reserves, as continues today.

“Hawgsmoke was established to allow current Hawg Pilots an opportunity to show their stuff,” Latta once said. “The goal was to have a low-key fighter pilot weekend with the comrades … that just happened to have a competition attached.”

The Warthog, however, came long before Hawgsmoke, nearly 20 years before to be exact. The first A-10A was delivered to Arizona’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 1975 intended specifically for close air support missions. The Warthog went on to receive a significant amount of notoriety for its role in the Gulf War where it had a mission-capable rate of 95.7%, flew 8,100 sorties, and launched 90% of the war’s AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The Hawgsmoke competition was introduced five years after the Gulf War ended and by then the aircraft had already retained a legendary reputation.

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022

© Provided by The Drive

Three A-10 Warthogs taxi on the runway ahead of the Hawgsmoke competition. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan An A-10 Warthog as it speeds up for take-off during the 2022 Hawgsmoke competition. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan

The most recent competition was Hawgsmoke 2020/2021, which was held last April after being pushed back a year due to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the event’s three-year hiatus, the 190th Fighter Squadron from Boise, Idaho came back to win their third Hawgsmoke competition overall having also been the reigning champions back in 2008 and 2010. The 190th, also known as the Skullbangers, outperformed a total of 12 units to win their third title after exceeding in a number of competitions meant to test maintenance, weapons load crews, and pilots in various combat-reminiscent scenarios. Points are awarded through a number of drills that range from weapons loading to strafing.

TAn A-10 Thunderbolt II arrives at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, to compete in Hawgsmoke 2022. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds

“It was awesome,” said Lt. Col. Jason ‘Jodi’ Cobb, 190th Fighter Squadron A-10 instructor pilot in an Air Force press release. “Overall, we came together as a group of A-10 pilots with great camaraderie and esprit de corps for the mission that we are focused on. It’s really exciting to get together with people that we don’t ever get to see and go do what we do, it’s surreal. It’s really a high honor in order to [be a part of] Hawgsmoke.”

The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since its inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022

© Provided by The Drive

The true champion of Hawgsmoke, though, will always be the Warthog. The storied aircraft has evaded complete retirement for decades now. While that day may still come in the not-so-distant future, especially now that support is building in Congress to allow for the retirement of another batch of A-10s, the Air Force is nonetheless working to modernize at least a portion of its A-10 fleet to ensure that it remains a key player in future high-end conflicts. You can read all about what those upgrades will entail in this past War Zone feature, here.

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022

© Provided by The Drive

An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from the Idaho National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, performs a strafing run during the Hawgsmoke 2022 gunnery competition. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Joshua C. Allmaras

There is also the possibility, albeit remote, that the Warthog could find new life in the skies over Ukraine as the country continues to fight against Russia’s invasion. In fact, resourceful Ukrainians have made it so the country's fighter pilots have already been able to train on the A-10 with DIY flight simulators in hopes that this day may come. Some Ukrainian officials, however, would instead prefer a more “fast and versatile” system while others ask 'why not both?' Regardless, even top U.S. Air Force officials have stated that transferring A-10s to Ukraine is not off the table, and considering they are the biggest proponents of unloading the aircraft, doing so would, at least to some degree, give them a reason to draw down the USAF A-10 force even further.

If the A-10 finally does leave the Air Force's inventory in the coming years, it will certainly be sad to see Hawgsmoke go along with it. But until then, the A-10 community will continue to make the best out of their aircraft.

With that in mind, it has now been announced that pilots from the 190th have defended their title from last year and won Hawgsmoke 2022. Congrats, Skullbangers!

Contact the author: Emma@thewarzone.com

LONG RIFLES AND AR15 VS THE A10

An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from the Idaho National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, performs a strafing run during the Hawgsmoke 2022 gunnery competition at the Saylor Creek Bombing Range, south of Mountain Home, Idaho, Sept. 8, 2022. The competition traces its heritage back to 1949 and the Gunsmoke gunnery competition. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Joshua C. Allmaras)© Provided by The Drive

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022© Provided by The Drive

Thirty-three A-10 Thunderbolt II’s arrive at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, to compete in Hawgsmoke 2022, Sept 6, 2022. Hawgsmoke is a biennial USAF bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10 Thunderbolt II units which provides unique training. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds)© Provided by The Drive

Bbrrrtttiful Images Of A Flightline Packed With A-10s For Hawgsmoke 2022© Provided by The Drive

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LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for A-10 Warthog

POTASH KEEPS PORT BUSY

THUNDER BAY, ONT. — The Port of Thunder Bay has been busy over the summer and things are about to get busier heading into fall with an expected significant grain harvest and record volumes of potash.

And Keefer Terminal has been receiving import cargoes of steel products and windmill parts.

“We’ve got numerous shipments of pipe and rail from Europe, wind turbines and project cargo, so it’s been very strong at Keefer all year,” said Tim Heney, chief executive officer with the Port of Thunder Bay. “It hasn’t been a slow year for us at all. The potash has been the big news because it’s been such a huge increase this year.”

Heney says western Canadian potash that was shipped from Thunder Bay this year has surpassed the 30-year annual high, with more to come. More than 200,000 metric tonnes of the commodity passed through the Thunder Bay port in August alone and headed to ports in Europe, South America, and North Africa in what Heney called a “modern monthly record.”

The potash is a fertilizer needed to grow certain crops for a better yield depending on the soil type. The commodity comes from Saskatchewan and is used in places like Brazil and other parts of the world.

Meanwhile, grain shipments during August were slightly down from last year.

“We’re shipping last year’s crop, which was small,” Heney said, adding that’s why (grain movement) has been slow here. But farmers are starting to harvest now.

Grain shipments remain 1.3 million tonnes below this time last year. The Prairie grain crop is expected to begin arriving in the Thunder Bay port this month with crop production volumes anticipated to exceed the 2021 volume by at least 30 per cent, according to Agriculture Canada.

“All indications are it’s going to be very good,” Heney said. “That’s very positive compared to the grain shipments all year so far. . . so it looks like the low shipments are over.”

In anticipation of the busy fall ahead, Keefer Terminal has scheduled a strong slate of cargo vessels.

Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal

How a small town in Wisconsin became home to four Dharmic houses of worship

The Midwest has offered the South Asian immigrant families what it has offered any immigrant group: Space to call their own.

A brightly illuminated display inside BAPS Shri Swaminarayan mandir in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. RNS photo by Richa Karmarkar

September 9, 2022

Richa Karmarkar

(RNS) — Tucked away on a hill beyond a vast commercial landscape are the first two Dharmic temples to exist in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin.

The 22 acres that are home to the Hindu and Jain Temples of Wisconsin were situated in “the middle of nowhere” when they were built in 2001, according to Sarvesh Geddam, the secretary of the two congregations. Now, the area is laden with fast-food restaurants and surplus warehouses, and Pewaukee, a village next to Waukesha in Milwaukee’s far-west suburbs, has become home to two more groups: devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba, a 20th-century Hindu saint, and BAPS, or Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a larger Hindu denomination that follows gurus, or swamis, and is often recognizable for its grand temples.

When the Hindu and Jain temples were finished 20 years ago, the community was decidedly unmarked by South Asian culture. Even today, outsiders might wonder that the Wisconsin suburbs — and a state known predominantly for its freezing temperatures (as well as its dairy farming and its importance in national elections) — would draw people from the homelands of Hinduism and Jainism.

In fact, the Indian population of Wisconsin is the second-largest minority Asian group after the Hmong and has grown in population by more than 80% since 2000-2010, according to Wisconsin’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Health Forum.

The midwest offered the members of the four temples what it has offered any immigrant: space to call their own.

Of the nearly 2 million Indians in the United States today, more than half identify as Hindu. The earliest immigrants to arrive worshipped at makeshift shrines in people’s homes, but with the expansion of immigration quotas from Asian countries in 1965, more than 1,450 temples now exist in the U.S. In New Jersey, California and Texas, where the majority of South Asian Americans live, there are enough adherents to populate temples dedicated to particular deities, as is common in India.

The inside of the Jain temple in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. RNS Photo by Richa Karmarkar

Although Jainism also contains multiple sects within it, the JAINA society now has more than 80 Jain centers nationwide and an estimated population of 30,000 worshippers.

“This is a pan-Indian umbrella,” said Geddam. “We are helping people who are struggling to cope with the change of coming here.” When the first worshippers came to the temple, said Geddam, they felt grateful and amazed to find a slice of home.

To cater to the nearly 1,000 Wisconsinites who attend the Pewaukee Hindu temple, the building was built to accommodate what Geddam calls an “arcade” of deities — a collection of marble statues depicting the many manifestations of God that Hindus worship, Krishna, Shiva and Ganesh being just the most widely recognized of dozens of forms of the divine known as deities or gods.

The Hindu temple initially offered to host Jain idols as well, but it soon became apparent that different sects had different needs. The Jain holiday Samvatsari and the Hindu one of Ganesh Chaturthi often fall on the same day, for instance. While the Jain holiday is about quiet meditation and reflection, the latter is an event of great jubilation and noise.

As the South Asian community continued to grow, the two other Indic faiths began to meet at the Hindu temple. The Sai Baba devotees and BAPS members used to schedule worship around each other at the Hindu temple, but soon they, too, wanted their own spaces.

In 2013, the Sai Baba devotees walked into a nondenominational church that had come up for sale in downtown Pewaukee and saw a great hall with no benches or pews to remove. The followers of Sai Baba, who also center themselves on serving others, raised $200,000 in just two days from the small surrounding community, many of whom had never stepped foot in an Indian house of worship.

An inside view of the Hindu temple located in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. RNS photo by Richa Karmarkar

The location, now the Wisconsin Shirdi Sai, has the feeling of visiting Baba’s home temple in Shirdi, India, say its new owners, who claim on their website that it was selected by their founder, Sai Baba himself.

“It was not magic, it was a miracle,” said Satya Karri, the temple’s main trustee. “We were waiting, and with Baba’s grace we got it.”

The BAPS’ Swaminarayan temple got its start in 2018 on the same street as the Hindu and Jain temples in what used to be a mattress warehouse. BAPS temples are nearly uniform wherever they are found, with a store offering Indian snacks and books, classrooms separated by gender and a large assembly hall.

The idea is to create continuity with not only the faith but the culture of western India, where BAPS originated. “When they come here, it gives them a feel of where they grew up,” said Mayur Brahmbatt, the teenage son of the temple’s head priest, about its elder members.

For larger events that cater to a wider audience, like Diwali, the Hindu temple is still the hub. Thousands of Indian Americans, young and old, flock to this little epicenter of Midwestern India.

The ornate entryway into the Hindu and Jain temples located next to each other in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. RNS photo by Richa Karmarkar

The surrounding community, more than 70% Christian and many of them evangelicals, responded with typical midwestern hospitality and practicality, mixed with curiosity. Teachers in the local school district attended seminars at the temple to learn more about their Indian students. The temples have given back to the community as well: In 2020, they hosted clinics that administered 5,000 COVID-19 vaccinations, more than 87% of them to non-Hindus.

“We believe we can attain “moksha” here in this lifetime,” said Geddam, referring to the devotion to service that characterizes Dharmic beliefs.

While the temples have helped anchor new South Asian American families in the U.S., Kamal Shah, president of the Jain Temple, said they also foster hope that basic Jain teachings, like vegetarianism and ahimsa, will pass down to following generations.

“When I first came here, people said, ‘When you come to this country, you can’t continue to be in the old religion,’” said Shah. “Though our belief is very, very ancient, we are able to keep this up in America. That is the biggest transformation.”

Opinion

Suicide is not a sin to be judged

Views among believers and faith leaders concerning suicide have evolved to be more sensitive and compassionate.

Photo by Godsgirl_madi via Pixabay/Creative Commons

September 9, 2022

Jacob Lupfer

(RNS) — The first thing I remember being taught about suicide is that it is selfish. And so in my middling Protestant childhood, while I did not worry about the eternal destiny of people who killed themselves, I did believe suicide was principally a moral failing.

In Catholicism, the situation was more complex. Suicide was thought to be a mortal sin, of course. But as a pastoral matter, in many places Catholics who had committed suicide were denied funeral rites and burial in consecrated graveyards, for concern of “public scandal of the faithful.”

In recent decades, as America has become more secular, it has also become more determined to address the rising rates of suicide. In the United States, National Suicide Prevention Week engages mental-health professionals and the general public about suicide and culminates in World Suicide Prevention Day, sponsored annually on Sept. 10 by the World Health Organization.

Moving away from engrained assumptions about individuals’ selfishness and moral failings, both private associations and government agencies have portrayed suicide as a public-health problem to address through prevention strategies.

Accordingly, religious people and institutions today operate with a more sensitive and compassionate approach to suicide.

The catechism of the Catholic Church now recognizes that “grave psychological disturbances” can reduce the moral culpability of suicide and no longer teaches that people who commit suicide necessarily go to hell: “We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance.”

Even so, survey data shows that, in addition to demographic considerations, religion and proximity to suicide shape Americans’ attitudes on the subject. A new study by Lifeway Research, an evangelical firm specializing in surveys about faith and culture, shows that more than three-quarters agree that suicide has become an epidemic.

Less than a quarter believe people who die from suicide automatically face eternal judgment, with Protestants now more likely than Catholics to believe suicide victims are damned. People with evangelical beliefs are twice as likely (39%) than those without evangelical beliefs (18%) to think suicide leads to hell.

Still, 38% of those surveyed say people who commit suicide are selfish, with more religiously devout respondents likelier to agree.

The Lifeway data suggests Americans consider suicide a serious social problem, with 4 in 10 saying it has claimed the lives of a friend or family member.

It’s good for all involved that religious traditions, aided both by pastoral experience and insights from psychology and psychiatry, have adopted more compassionate beliefs about suicide.

But many faithful still do not understand that suicidality is not a sign of rejection by or of God, but rather a complex result of trauma, deep emotional disturbances and brain-chemistry anomalies.

And even fewer have the spiritual tools to grapple with the reality that suicidal ideation, as with all forms of self-harm, is a spectrum. It may be as benign as passive, low-grade self-sabotage instincts or a one-off passing urge in a moment of distress. Or it can be as profound and intrusive as active wishes to die, whether compelled by delusions and psychoses or simply inescapable emotional torment.

Suicidal people need help, not condemnation. Yet even when faith traditions offer compassion in Scripture, doctrine or policy, it matters little to a suffering soul who experiences religiously fueled rejection by family members or friends.

I have experienced suicidal people who, in part due to active or latent faith commitments, summoned determination to keep themselves alive. Likewise, I have heard stories of crushing pain from people whose own families essentially punished their openness about suicidal ideations with threats that God, the church and their family would abandon them.

Suicide is a near-universal phenomenon throughout history and around the world. It is deeply related to religious themes including meaning, hope, honor and suffering. But religious groups alone rarely have the capacity, competence or inclination to reduce suicide on a societal scale.

Millions of people contemplate suicide every year. Religion at its worst sees them as sinners deserving of condemnation. At their best, faithful people and institutions compassionately accompany people contemplating suicide toward connection, openness and treatment.

And when that fails, clergy and congregations must point to a God gracious and loving enough to hold not only the souls of people who take their own lives, but also to comfort and heal all who love and miss them.

If you are experiencing mental health-related distress or are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

(Jacob Lupfer is a writer in Jacksonville, Florida. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/the-meaning-of-life-albert-camus-on-faith-suicide-and-absurdity

The meaning of life: Albert Camus on faith, suicide, and absurdity

Mar 1, 2018 ... Camus understands this and tackles the problem head-on. He concludes that suicide is of little use to us, as there can be no more meaning in ...

https://onbeing.org/blog/the-absurd-courage-of-choosing-to-live

The Absurd Courage of Choosing to Live | The On Being Project

Sep 27, 2016 ... Nodding toward Durkheim, Camus tells us that suicide has been dealt with only as a social phenomenon and that he is instead concerned with the ...

https://liveideasjournal.com/2021/02/01/article-albert-camus-and-the-desirability-of-suicide

Article: Albert Camus and the Desirability of Suicide - Live Ideas

Feb 1, 2021 ... Camus begins The Myth of Sisyphus with an ambitious claim: “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide” (1).

https://sisyphus089.medium.com/on-suicide-was-camus-right-c0ec5db98442

On Suicide: Was Camus Right? - Ben Thomas - Medium

Jun 22, 2018 ... Written by the French Algerian journalist Albert Camus, the essay concludes that suicide is an inadequate solution to our existential ...

https://medium.com/strawm-n/albert-camus-philosophical-suicide-physical-suicide-and-the-absurd-326014bdfa80

Albert Camus: Philosophical Suicide, Physical Suicide, and the Absurd

Jan 18, 2019 ... First, we must define the notion of philosophical suicide. We commit philosophical suicide when we perform a leap of faith. To perform a leap of ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_(Durkheim_book)

Suicide (Durkheim book) - Wikipedia

Suicide: A Study in Sociology is an 1897 book written by French sociologist Émile Durkheim. It was the first methodological study of a social fact in the ...

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621569/full

The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External ... - Frontiers

Feb 22, 2021 ... Durkheim recognized in Suicide that individual's membership in a specific group or category of people made them more or less vulnerable based on ...

https://www.thoughtco.com/study-of-suicide-by-emile-durkheim-3026758

The Study of Suicide by Emile Durkheim - ThoughtCo

Jan 6, 2020 ... Durkheim concluded that the more socially integrated and connected a person is, the less likely he or she is to commit suicide. As social ...

https://durkheim.uchicago.edu/Summaries/suicide.html

Suicide (1897) - Emile Durkheim

Hence Durkheim's definition: Suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, ...

Evangelical group releases climate change report, urges a biblical mandate for action

‘We worship God by caring for creation,’ the report reads.

A man who scavenges recyclable materials for a living walks past Marabou storks feeding on a mountain of garbage amid smoke from burning trash at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 7, 2021. The alteration of weather patterns like the ongoing drought in east and central Africa, chiefly driven by climate change, is severely undermining natural water systems, devastating livelihoods and now threatening the survival of most of the world’s famed migratory bird species. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

August 29, 2022

Jack Jenkins

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The National Association of Evangelicals unveiled a sweeping report Monday (Aug. 29) on global climate change, laying out what its authors call the “biblical basis” for environmental activism to help spur fellow evangelicals to address the planetary environmental crisis.

“Creation, although groaning under the fall, is still intended to bless us. However, for too many in this world, the beach isn’t about sunscreen and bodysurfing but is a daily reminder of rising tides and failed fishing,” reads the introduction of the report, penned by NAE President Walter Kim.

“Instead of a gulp of fresh air from a lush forest, too many children take a deep breath only to gasp with the toxic air that has irritated their lungs.”

But the authors admit persuading evangelicals is no small task, considering the religious group has historically been one of the demographics most resistant to action on the issue.

The nearly 50-page report, titled “Loving the Least of These: Addressing a Changing Environment,” opens with a section that insists protecting the environment is a biblical mandate.

“Loving the Least of These: Addressing a Changing Environment” Courtesy of NAE

“The Bible does not tell us anything directly about how to evaluate scientific reports or how to respond to a changing environment, but it does give several helpful principles: Care for creation, love our neighbors and witness to the world,” the report reads.

The authors go on to cite passages such as Genesis 2:15 (“God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it”), Matthew 22 (“Love your neighbor as yourself”) and Deuteronomy 15 (“Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart”).

“We worship God by caring for creation,” the report reads.

Another section outlines the basic science behind climate change, but the report, produced in partnership with the NAE’s humanitarian arm World Relief, returns often to the real-world impacts of climate change, such as how air pollution created by fossil fuels can have negative outcomes for children’s health or disproportionately affect the poor.

Kim suggested the emphasis on lived experiences, which are often tied to churches or evangelical organizations, is by design.

“One of the things that you’ll see in this document is not simply scientific information, though that is there, or biblical argumentation, although that is there, but you also hear stories of actual impact on communities,” he told Religion News Service in an interview.

Real-world examples help readers “understand the human dimension of the impact of climate change,” he explained.

“I think people of faith responded very deeply, because we’re wired to follow in the footsteps of Jesus of loving God and loving our neighbor.”

Nia Riningsih, one of few residents who stayed behind after most of her neighbors left due to the rising sea levels that inundated their neighborhood on the northern coast of Java Island, checks salted fish she dries as her daughter Safira plays at their house in Mondoliko village, Central Java, Indonesia, Nov. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Dorothy Boorse, a biology professor at Gordon College and the chief author of the report, agreed.

“One of the things that can be true for evangelicals is they have a very deep desire to care for others, and they often have a deep spirit of hospitality,” she said.

Appealing to concerns about health and care for children, Boorse said, can “spark an imagination” in evangelicals that climate change is “not different from other problems in the world that we feel committed to care about, such as education, food availability or disaster relief.”

The focus on persuasion may be the result of necessity. The NAE has spoken out on environmental issues before (the new report functions as an update of a similar document published in 2011), but while mainline Protestant Christian groups and Pope Francis have repeatedly signaled the urgency of addressing climate change, many prominent evangelical leaders have suggested the opposite: Last year, Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, dismissed climate change as “nothing new” in a Facebook post and compared it to biblical instances of extreme weather — such as the flood in Genesis or the years of famine and drought in Egypt — that are depicted as acts of God.

The result has often been a religious community resistant to acknowledging the source of the issue, much less acting to prevent it. In a Pew Research survey conducted in January, white evangelicals were the religious group least likely to agree that human activity contributes to climate change, with only 54% saying humanity contributed a great deal or some to the trend. By comparison, 72% of white nonevangelicals, 73% of white Catholics, 81% of Black Protestants and 86% of Hispanic Catholics said so.

But as Boorse points out in the report, there has been some movement since the 2011 report was published, particularly among young evangelicals: A year after that document was unveiled, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action was founded.

“One huge pattern that I observed is that young evangelicals are very concerned about the environment,” Boorse, who sits on YECA’s advisory board, told RNS. “There’s an entrenchment of certain ways of thinking that just takes a long time to change.”

Bruce McDougal watches embers fly over his property as the Bond Fire burns through the Silverado community in Orange County, California, on Dec. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

Activists say the change can’t come soon enough. In addition to ongoing droughts in various parts of the world, the NAE report was unveiled the same day as news broke that, given the current pace of climate change, 3.3% of the Greenland ice sheet — around 110 trillion tons of ice — is slated to melt into the sea, raising global sea levels nearly a foot between now and 2100.

Asked if she was hopeful the report and similar efforts could urge evangelicals to muster their resources and help prevent further environmental calamities, Boorse acknowledged she is often frustrated by fellow faithful who espouse baseless conspiracy theories about climate change or express open hostility to science in general.

“That has been very challenging for me in my professional life,” she said. “But I feel God has privileged me with the task of speaking to a group of people that I know and love, and trying, consistently, to talk about this as a real phenomenon — and it needs our attention.”

For Boorse, the necessity of the work — and the tenets of her faith — sustain her for the fight ahead.

“I’ve decided to be hopeful,” she said. “I think everybody has to, or you’d never get anything done.”

Apaches urge rehearing in fight to preserve sacred site in Arizona

‘It affects Indian country as well as all religious organizations,’ said Apache Stronghold founder Wendsler Nosie Sr.

Native American activists rally in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington to save Oak Flat, which is land near Superior, Arizona, on July 22, 2015. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins

September 6, 2022

Alejandra Molina

(RNS) — Members of Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit working to protect the Apache sacred site in Arizona known as Oak Flat, are requesting a rehearing in their case against the United States as they seek to stop a private venture from turning the land into an underground copper mine.

They’re doing so after a judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in August, called for a vote — which is expected to take place by early October — on whether to rehear the case in front of a full 11-judge court instead of the original three-judge panel.

Earlier this summer, the divided federal appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling, held that the government could proceed with the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a company owned by the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.

It ruled that Apache Stronghold failed to show a substantial burden on its religious exercise.

“The government does not substantially burden religion every time it ends a governmental benefit that at one time went to religious beneficiaries: there must be an element of coercion,” according to the ruling.

Apache Stronghold embarked on a spiritual convoy that began in Arizona late last week and on Tuesday (Sept. 6) arrived at the San Francisco Civic Center for a day of prayer as members urged the court to rehear their case. They were expected to file their request for a rehearing on Tuesday. Apache Stronghold has vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if judges decide against rehearing the case.

To Apache Stronghold founder Wendsler Nosie Sr., the possibility of having the case reheard signals the significance of this issue. Resolution Copper’s mine, Apache Stronghold said, will swallow the site in a massive crater and render “longstanding religious practices impossible.” The mine could also consume and contaminate 250 billion gallons of Arizona’s limited water sources, they said.

Nosie has likened Oak Flat to Mount Sinai — “our most sacred site, where we connect with our Creator, our faith, our families and our land” — and has underscored how an attack on Indigenous religion — the oldest religion of this part of the world — is a threat to all religions.

Wendsler Nosie Sr., leader of Apache Stronghold, addresses supporters of Oak Flat, including people from other Native American groups and runners who participated in a protest run in support for Oak Flat, Feb. 27, 2021, in Oak Flat, Arizona. RNS photo by Alejandra Molina

“It affects Indian country as well as all religious organizations,” Nosie told Religion News Service on Tuesday. “When you have corporations and congressional leaders that can supersede a religion … and we’re the oldest, what does it mean for all of the rest of them?”

Jim Lichti, with First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, attended the prayer gathering in support for the preservation of Oak Flat.

“I think it will help us all to understand better as peoples of many religions and nations the sacredness of land, and how we need to reclaim the sacredness of land and our relationship to it,” Lichti said.

Oak Flat, known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, is a 6.7-square-mile stretch of land east of Phoenix that falls within Tonto National Forest.

The Apache people hold a number of important ceremonies at Oak Flat that, according to their court filings, can take place only on the site, which would be destroyed by mining. The Apache believe Oak Flat is a “blessed place” where Ga’an — guardians or messengers between the people and Usen, the creator — dwell.

Congress approved the transfer of the land to Resolution Copper in 2014 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in exchange for 6,000 acres elsewhere.