Prompt and Proper Response
September 22, 1997
An international symposium, in which distinguished representatives of religion, science and the competent organizations for the protection of the environment participate, could be characterized as an opportune initiative for greater conscientiousness of the dangerous dimensions of the modem ecological problem. However, this international ecological symposium, which has as its main topic the recognized danger of the destruction of the Black Sea assumes special importance since it analyses through well-founded reports the destructive factors of the specific problem and proposes specific solutions for its timely confrontation. At this symposium, the theoretical declarations of international organizations dealing with the seriousness of the modern ecological crisis come into contact with the specific dimensions of the problems of the Black Sea, the correct confrontation of which calls for the immediate move from theoretical accounts to practical proposals for its prevention or cure.
The visit to this splendid city of Yalta offers a representative picture of the exceptional importance of the Black Sea for the life of the peoples of the area around it, while at the same time making more tangible the threat of the results of this proven ecological crisis for subsequent generations. It is now a common position in science that the correct confrontation of whatever problem presupposes the correct description of all the factors that bring it about. The proposals of the specialist speakers at the symposium are describing with characteristic completeness the causes of the problem and submitting well-founded proposals for its timely and effective confrontation.
Nevertheless, in the final analysis, all the disturbing descriptions of the causes which relegate the Black Sea to a storehouse of radioactive and other waste materials of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as all the proposals for the confrontation of the problem, hold man himself as their common denominator. This is the tragic reality of the problem. The arrogant apostasy of humanity from the deeper reason of its relationship with our divine Creator’s creation incites the presumptuous and improper exploitation of the ecological environment. However, the painful consequences of this apostasy for human life itself and for life on our planet, as is now indicated by the anxious declarations of all the responsible international organizations, render essential the restoration of humankind’s inner spiritual equilibrium, so that we may become more fully aware of the threat.
Passive Observers or Active Participants?
The visible danger of the destruction of the Black Sea, as this has been described with tragic clarity in the addresses of the specialist speakers and in the interventions of the distinguished members of the symposium, constitutes what is perhaps the most characteristic confirmation that humankind, with its arrogant preferences for the violent submission of its natural environment, has eventually become a timid and ineffective observer of the tragic results of his choices. The purpose of our symposium is to evaluate the conclusions of science and the principles of religion for the restoration of the genuine relationship of humanity with the natural environment, in order to assume personal responsibility for the specific problem of the Black Sea and more generally the problems of our planet.
The warm reception accorded to our symposium by the civil and intellectual leadership of the beautiful city of Yalta constitutes not only a significant encouragement for our initiative, but also an expression of active participation in the struggle to save the Black Sea. If all the cities of this region support the final proposals of the symposium with consistency and continuity, then the hopes of us all will not be disappointed, and the Black Sea will become a credible commendation for confronting similar ecological crises.
