Easter Week Celebration

This Easter Week we celebrate the memory of someone who was willing to die for his principles. For some people he is the Son of God, for some a Prophet, and for many Jesus of Nazareth is a very inspirational person. What makes him so inspirational? I think it is because the message of charity that he spread was and still is very valuable, and his willingness to die for it has earned him great respect. Is the story about Jesus obsolete, or is it still relevant today?

Let's look at one of the 'hot items' of the present day: energy companies drilling for shale gas. In doing so, they willingly ignore the disastrous effects of the technology that it requires, involving the use of immense quantities of fresh water and harmful chemicals. For a short term advantage – profit - they are prepared to irreparably destroy the ground water layers that our children and grandchildren will depend on to live from and to produce their food with. Governments clearly play the role of Pilate here.

Every child understands that this shale gas drilling is a bad development, but instead of investing in sustainable energy, most governments allow energy companies to invest in destructive energy. So the Easter story of Jesus of Nazareth is not just a 2,000 year old story, it is also a contemporary real life experience that we ourselves are going through right now. We are the audience of our own Pilate governments, who wash their hands in innocence in the knowledge that our fresh water stocks are being contaminated and destroyed forever. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether we can afford to act just like the people 2,000 years ago, who did nothing to prevent the murder of Jesus. Do we accept the fact that, if we do nothing, our fresh water stocks will be destroyed forever on a world wide scale, and wash our hands in the last fresh water that we have, preferring to ignore what is happening? Or do we stand up for the sake of our children and grandchildren, so that they may have fresh water? If you want to stand up as a Green Musketeer, then spread this motto among your friends: 'Don't fail, oppose shale'. The energy companies could also compensate their damage partly, if they want. They could restore the ecosystems with trees above the areas that they destroy below. This way the underground water layers that are destroyed can be partly recovered by water entrance from above.
Courtesy Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas

EIA World Shale Gas Map

Pieter Hoff,
The Green Musketeer