ARC launches liturgy to combat toxins

	"Unless we change, we, not God, will destroy life. Unlike God however, we cannot bring to life again, nor can we create a new heaven and a new earth. Painting by Hilary Goddard

In November 2005 the European Parliament will debate a critical piece of legislation to combat toxins. Titled "REACH", the bill concerns itself with the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of chemicals.

WWF and ARC have combined forces with the Church and other faith groups in Europe to campaign for the acceptance of REACH through a liturgy for the month of All Saints, starting on Hallowe'en and All Hallows Day on October 31 and November 1, and continuing through November.

It also includes a shorter version (see below) designed for use throughout this season.

Until now, European rules mean that chemicals registered before 1981 do not have to be assessed for safety or toxicity. These constitute some 90 percent of the chemicals on sale in Europe today. It is likely that some chemicals are extremely toxic, causing cancer, abnormalities of the endocrine system, and damage to wildlife and plants. Without any legally enforced testing, we cannot be sure which ones these are.

In the new liturgy, these toxics are represented by the dark forces of Hallowe'en: the ghouls and demons traditionally believed to be let loose on earth at the end of the old pagan year. The liturgy recognises these forces, but it also recognises the Community of Saints - all whose human beings who, through time, have stepped in to protect the earth.

The proposed legislation has met strong opposition from sections of the chemical industry, who have suggested that it will result in high prices and job losses. And that they are capable of self-monitoring. However, in the long term, WWF and other environmental lobbyists have suggested that its introduction will bring in considerable savings, in healthcare, and in a healthier natural environment.

This is our chance - our generation's chance - to combat the toxic forces let loose on the world.

	"For we have unleashed upon the world that God created, powers that are eroding Creation’s balance and poisoning the very fabric of life."

For more information on REACH.

To sign the WWF REACH petition.

Link here for the full liturgy for All Saints and Hallowe'en.

To contact ARC about how faiths can participate and support REACH, email John Smith, at johns@arcworld.org. The shorter liturgy, for use from Hallowe'en through Advent, follows.

HURT NOT THE EARTH, AND THE SEA NOR THE TREES

	"Until now, European rules mean that chemicals registered before 1981 do not have to be assessed for safety or toxicity. These constitute some 90 percent of the chemicals on sale in Europe today."

Creating a New Covenant

In the story of Noah told in Genesis, God makes a great Covenant with humanity and with creation. God has flooded the world, but as he brings Noah and his Ark to dry land he promises never to destroy life in such a way again. As the Bible says, God makes the covenant with “every living creature of every kind that is found on earth.” And the rainbow is given to be a perpetual reminder of this promise.

Now we need a new covenant. We do not doubt God’s promise: it is humanity that we cannot always trust. As humans, we all hold the power of life or death. We are altering the very balance of life on earth, polluting it with toxics and poisoning it through misuse.

In the past, our fears of unmanageable forces found expression through descriptions of demons and devils, witches and ghosts. To our ancestors these were a way of representing the reality that the balance and harmony of life was threatened. However today, we have new forces. They are forces that are of our own making and they include the vast array of chemicals and toxics we have created over several hundred years.

For we have unleashed upon the world that God created, powers that are eroding Creation’s balance and poisoning the very fabric of life. Most of these forces were originally designed to make life better. But they have ended up by gaining a terrifying power and life of their own. We can scarcely control them

Ninety percent of the chemicals currently on sale in Europe have never been assessed for safety. Which means that we do not know for sure what they do. But we do know that their impact stretches far beyond our own communities and generations.

PCBs have been found in the tissue of Polar Bears in the Arctic, and in other animals – and plants - living far removed from any human settlements. Banned in 1977, these toxics are still active in creation today. Chemicals that enter a woman’s body while she is pregnant, can sometimes disrupt, and change, the hormones of her unborn child. Other chemicals can give us cancer. Other chemicals are harmless. But we don’t know which ones.

Humans have already swept away countless “living creatures of every kind that are found on the earth”. Unless we change, we, not God, will destroy life. Unlike God however, we cannot bring to life again, nor can we create a new heaven and a new earth.

	"In the story of Noah told in Genesis, God makes a great Covenant with humanity and with creation." Painting by Hilary Goddard

This is why we need a new covenant based upon the one God made with Noah. This covenant is between us and our neighbours; between us and God; between us and the rest of nature. It is a covenant to the generations who have not yet been born, yet whom we are already endangering by the poisons we are producing now. It is a covenant between us and those who came before us who helped preserve the very balance of creation itself.

We ask you today to make this public covenant and then to seek ways in which to live it out – supporting cutting back the use of chemicals in your own homes and places of work and worship as well as seeking other ways to help restore the balance and harmony of all life.

It is spoken here today in a church, but it is designed to be used by all people of good will - of any religion or of none.

The Rainbow Covenant