{"id":1725,"date":"2020-01-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www-prod.greenpeace.org\/usa\/campaign-updates\/1725\/ro-kwon-on-our-climate-in-crisis\/"},"modified":"2025-03-12T19:00:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T19:00:11","slug":"ro-kwon-on-our-climate-in-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/usa\/ro-kwon-on-our-climate-in-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"R.O. Kwon on our Climate in Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Essay for the #ClimateVisionaries Artists’ Project for Greenpeace<\/span>
I believe we can all still help it, us, do so. If nothing else, why not try? Why not hope, and then act as if? This is our one wild, lone home; what other choice do we have?<\/span><\/p>\n

R.O. Kwon, Author and contributor to our #ClimateVisionaries Artists
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bridge<\/h2>\n

Back when I was a child evangelist, I used to tell people, friends, in the attempt to save their souls, that all that stood between them and paradise was a single line, five words like a bridge over a gulf: I believe in Jesus Christ<\/i>. That\u2019s all, I said. Recite the line, and they\u2019d be saved.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what if I don\u2019t believe it?\u201d they\u2019d ask, sometimes, or \u201cWhat if I\u2019m not sure?\u201d I told them that if they said they believed, if it was what they wanted, then it\u2019d be enough: Christ would turn the proclaimed desire into truth. I used to love putting my hand on top of their heads, the scalps hot with life as they uttered into being a newborn credo. Souls rebirthed, sallying over the bridge of salvation. Once spoken, the wish became a fact. Desire as truth\u2014if only, I thought, by the time I left the faith.<\/p>\n

These days, though, I think a lot about the value of wanting. Of at least saying I believe, and of acting accordingly. I want to live on a planet that can hold us. I believe we can all still help it, us, do so. If nothing else, why not try? Why not hope, and then act as if? This is our one wild, lone home; what other choice do we have?<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As we begin this critical new year in the fight against climate change, Greenpeace is giving over space on our channels to authors and artists working within the climate crisis. Acclaimed author\u00a0Lauren Groff<\/a>\u00a0prompted artists and thinkers to write essays and art about climate change for us, and so every day this month we\u2019ll have a new piece from that project that addresses, in some form, what it means to create in the midst of this crisis. The forces fueling climate change have the most powerful networks in history pumping out their devastating propaganda at unimaginable scale. It\u2019s going to take everything we have from all of us \u2013 imagination equal to the task \u2013 to create the climate we\u2019ll need to stop the crisis.<\/em><\/p>\n

We need these voices and these visions, but they won\u2019t be enough. We need you, too. We encourage you to check back on the\u00a0Climate Visionaries Artists\u2019 Project<\/a>\u00a0every day to see what\u2019s new, and to join the conversation by sharing your work on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and tagging it #ClimateVisionaries.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bridge Back when I was a child evangelist, I used to tell people, friends, in the attempt to save their souls, that all that stood between them and paradise was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[6,285],"p4-page-type":[31],"class_list":["post-1725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-campaign","tag-climate","tag-climate-visionaries","p4-page-type-campaign-updates"],"yoast_head":"\nR.O. 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