Extinction Rebellion: Why I was drawn to it

I am an ordinary man, with a wife and teenage children, a practicing Roman Catholic, who for the last ten years has worked in academia as a researcher and lecturer. I am (I hope) well-respected in my field of research, my church and my community. In May of this year I joined Extinction Rebellion. In fact I then went on to found a new local group (which is growing in numbers every week), I have participated in numerous demonstrations, I distribute their newspaper (The Hourglass), and I deliver outreach via their talk - "Heading for Extinction and what to do about it" to community groups throughout my region. I am spreading the movement.

Reflecting on the experience I feel that this is absolutely the most meaningful and Christian thing that I have ever done. Their meetings are like a white space in the middle of darkness. This last six months have been the best in my life. I feel that I am really living as Christ would do, being Christ's hands on earth. I have also made some wonderful new friends, learned lots about myself and developed new skills, and I feel hope for the future.

Why have I done this?

Well, I have always cared about the environment for as long as I can remember. I have grieved at the destruction of rainforests, urban sprawl, agribusiness farming, and the coincident demise of wildlife such as hedgehogs, bees and birds; in more recent years I had agonised at the horrific pictures of sea creatures entangled in plastic or with their guts full of this blight on modern society. I have also become increasingly frustrated and angry about how big corporate power, with government complicity, is able to create social injustice. Working as a renewable energy academic I have known for decades that the science of climate change and the ecological catastrophe - the 6th Mass Extinction or Biological Annihilation - is terrifying. Like many scientists I have rung the alarm bells and tried to make those in power listen and take action. They have not listened to me or my colleagues. We have been ignored.

As a Roman Catholic I have for a long time felt a calling to do something about this - to protect God's earth. I was therefore very heartened to read Pope Francis' Laudato Si' in 2015 for it spoke to my own feelings. I thought that now at last the Catholic Church in Britain would take action, for they had been given a clear and direct mandate to do so. How could they not?

Yet, I was wrong. When I saw no action I tried to be a driver of Laudato Si' in my diocese. As to my attempts, well they were draining and futile: I encountered at best apathy or lip service, and at worst either complete disinterest and in one case the rebuttal (from a diocesan clerk) that he didn't get paid enough money to help. As this was in contrast to my interpretation of what it meant to be a follower of Christ - the Christ who not only helped the poor but who got arrested and was ultimately crucified, and one can include the early Christians in this as well - I felt grief.

I then saw Extinction Rebellion in this April's news. I saw educated people talking about the issues which I had grappled with for years. I saw Christians getting arrested, elderly people superglueing themselves to trains for my sake and for our children's. And I was compelled to be part of it.

At my first Extinction Rebellion meeting (in Sheffield) I was welcomed. There was a mix of people, from the under 18's to the over 80s. We were asked to chat with other newcomers about why we were there, and I found a common bond. At the end of this meeting the Extinction Rebellion Vision for the World was read out. It starts as follows: "Our vision is a world where love and kindness are the fabric of life". It then continues with... "It is a world where all nature and beings are seen as equal, appreciated and understood as interwoven strands. Here we have regained a sense of magic and mystery to life. Our children are safe to grow, play and explore. The future is assured for them and for generations to come. Some might say this is an idealistic vision. We don't agree. The map to it is the map of the human heart."

Upon leaving the meeting, my wife, daughter and I all agreed that Christ was present in that room. Last month I gave up my job to work full time for Extinction Rebellion.

Dr Andrew Rollinson is founder and co-ordinator of Extinction Rebellion, Pontefract.