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Radio 4,2 mins

Rev Dr Michael Banner - 05/10/2022

Thought for the Day

Available for over a year

Good morning. Generations of exasperated parents have relied on the pithy mantra 'life's not fair' to try to bring an end to what threaten to be interminable family disputes. Whether you call it gloomy pessimism, or healthy realism, children are told in effect - that's what life is like, you better get used to it. Two different stories of unfairness caught my eye in the last 24 hours. First of all, the new President of Kenya, writing ahead of the upcoming Cop27 meeting in Africa this November, has stressed the urgency of effective action on climate change - and he makes the point that 'Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, but least responsible for it.' In other words, the industrial revolution took place mostly in the developed north which took most of the benefits; the consequences, including droughts, extreme temperatures, and crop failure, are distributed across the globe, with Africa getting much more than its fair share. You may also have seen the report from Friends of the Earth, relying on Government data, which shows that people in the UK from minority ethnic backgrounds are at least three times more likely than others to live in neighbourhoods with very high air pollution, putting them at greater risk of heart attacks, cancer and strokes. To add insult to injury, the cause of some key pollutants is cars - and yet people in poorer areas as less likely to own and use cars than those living in more wealthy and less polluted districts. The prophet Amos declares to the people of Israel 'let justice run down like water, and righteousness as a mighty stream.' And when Zacchaeus, the less than wholly honest tax collector, promises to return his ill-gotten gains - to do justice - Jesus proclaims 'Today salvation has come to this house'. The distribution of the effects of climate change across the world and the distribution of the effects of pollution within the UK are not just unfair but reflect long standing unfairnesses. Africa had no proper share in development in the 19th and 20th century; and the people in the UK most affected by air pollution are typically deprived on other metrics too. 'Life's not fair' is meant to foreclose further discussion, especially when the clock is ticking down to school time. But the declarations of the prophets and of Jesus - and even of that insistent voice at the breakfast table saying 'it's not fair' - rightly challenge us to look for and act for the sake of a different and fairer future.

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