Adherents of the world's major religions are urging political leaders, businessmen and individuals to renounce short-term gains and greed, telling a U.N. climate conference in Bangkok that reversing global warming is a moral duty, the Associated Press reports.

"Stewardship and reverence for creation are central tenants of all faiths on Earth," said the Interfaith Declaration on Climate Change, endorsed by prominent adherents of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism and handed to U.N.Climate Chief Yvo de Boer on Wednesday.

The declaration came as the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned that global waming could cut food production in poor countries by 21 per cent by 2050, and the Asian Development Bank said it could lead to a surge of migration into the region's already crowded cities.

"The food and energy security of every Asian is threatened by climate change, but it's the poor - and especially poor women - who are most vulnerable and most likely to migrate as a consequence," Asian Developlment Bank Vice Pesident Ursula Schaefer Preuss said in a statement.

Negotiators from around the world at the two-week conference are working on a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012. They are working on an agreement for a major climate forum in Copenhagen in December.

Religious leaders chastised governments for placing national advantage ahead of preserving the human species and negotiators for lacking a sense of urgency.

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Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Dalai Lama says his visit to the site where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated was sad but also inspirational, the Associated Press is reporting.

In Memphis on Wednesday to receive the International Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, the Tibet spiritual leader toured the site with the Rev. Samuel Kyles, who was with King when he was gunned down, and Museum Board Chairman Benjamin L. Hooks.

The Dalai Lama draped a white shawl over a wreath that hangs over the balcony that marks the spot where King was standing when he was shot in 1968.

 Associated Press photos

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others will gather in Washington on Wednesday for what organizers are calling the largest faith-inspired mobilization for health care reform.

Rabbi David Sapperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America, the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr. of Riverside Church in New York and others will speak at an “interfaith service of witness and prayer” to “express strong unified support for health care reform,” according to press materials. Organizers are predicting a turnout of nearly 2,000 people representing 40 faith organizations.

The event is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. at Freedom Plaza, just west of the White House. It will be preceded by a health fair offering free health screenings beginning at 4 p.m.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)