religious environmentalism

Yes, it's a sacred restoration of our connections to nature, yes it's an environmental recovery and restoration and so on. In fact, we call this "engaged scholarship," very much so. So I think that's an excellent suggestion. In the years ahead, we will see whether the supposedly scientific debates over the environment can really be conducted by fact and reason alone, or whether necessary change, whatever that may turn out be, will require some new Reformation. So how to go beyond sustainability to regeneration with generativity and inherently religious imperative, and to really create any kind of mobilization that that we're able to. He has organized and been helped by the Kela Chimyapa (ph). Many evangelicals are rankled by environmentalists critique of the Genesis depiction of mans place in the natural order. And all of this is for the flourishing of the Earth's community, as we know, for present and for future generations. How would you begin to sell this idea of injecting sulfuric acid into a living being that some view in religious terms? The best asset religion offers is the moral framework by which practitioners must abide. Stone Age religion aided mankinds first ecological investigation of natural reality, serving as an essential guide for understanding and ordering the environment; it was through story and myth that prehistoric man interpreted the natural world and made sense of it. Ecotheologies loosely based on concepts lifted from Hinduism or Buddhism have become popular in some Baby Boomer circles. I mean, the Vatican has is somewhat represented, but there's no representation of the religions and there's been many efforts to do that. The language of the carbon fundamentalists indicates a shift from [seeking to help] the public and policymakers understand a complex issue, to demonizing disagreement, as Braden Allenby has written. They did, however, characterize much modern environmentalism as "religion" because, citing Laurence Siegal, environmentalism makes "claims not backed by evidence," urges "self-denying behavior to assert goodness," and focuses on "the supposed end of times." Today, the answer seems less straightforward than when I was a Boy Scout. My sense is that most people do want to do good, he says. September 7, 2022, Backgrounder Indeed, many are coming to the conclusion that their religious beliefs mandate care and concern for the environment and the species that reside in it. We too want to clean up pollution in nature, Christianity Today demurred, but not by polluting mens souls with a revived paganism. The Jesuit magazine America called environmentalism an American heresy. The theologian Thomas Sieger Derr lamented an expressed preference for the preservation of nonhuman nature against human needs wherever it is necessary to choose. (Stephen R. Fox recounts these responses in his 1981 book John Muir and His Legacy: The American Conservation Movement.). And Jennifer Morgan has done three books, which I highly recommend for young people. Religion has had major positive influences on the natural environment. People at Yale, one geologist, said, "Well, they're building new colleges but, you know, we're right on the sound here, the Long Island Sound. April 3, 2020, The Role Religion Could Play in the 2020 Election, Conference Call Christianityhas a historic concern for nature and the natural world. Applied to the environment, the study of lived religion attends to the ways in which people are shaped by, and draw on, religious resources in their understandings of, and interactions with, the environment. Whites essay stimulated a flurry of responses, ranging from defenses ofChristianityto qualified admissions to complete agreement with his analysis. My living and traveling and studying in Asia made me realize that as China and India began to modernize, a billion people on each of those major continental masses, the whole world would be drawn into the need for resources and pollution issues, water shortages, food pollution issues. Economic development that makes electricity affordable for these people could save millions of lives. ), A deeper concern is the expansion of irrationalism in the making of public policy. Mahatma Gandhi played a major role in Indian environmentalism, and has been called the father of Indian environmentalism. So, you know, your issues in the U.K. are very complex, as well. Indeed, the evidence for it is overwhelming, and there are powerful reasons to believe that humans are causing it. I was going to mention, after 10 years of doing regenerative strategies on three continents we're proposing a mobilization of outreach between the western congregations and the most climate change-affected communities in the tropical belt for restoration and regeneration. I can recommend any of Duay Ming's (ph) book books to you. FASKIANOS: Good afternoon from New York, and welcome to the Council on Foreign Relations Religion and Foreign Policy conference call series. Traditional religion is having a tough time in parts of the world. From todays vantage, it seems that Whites counsel has been heeded far and wide. October 27, 2022 It's nice to be a part of this. And, you know, history does tell us my grandfather was a historian at Columbia and he tried to understand the causes of the two world wars anyone who lives through those wars knows tragedy of such immense proportions. Because when I spoke to those who were dealing with the spotted owl, the extinction up in the Pacific Northwest, it was almost like listening to a great tragedy. Our uniquely Western approach to the natural world was shaped fundamentally by Athens and Jerusalem. The Orthodox Church has led the way with the ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew, and his Religion, Science, Environment conferences for 15 years on water issues across the European community and also in the Amazon and in Mississippi. QUESTION: Hello. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.. Email list, if you like, it just goes out once a month. That suggestion was borne out yesterday when I listened to a podcast in which Michael Shermer interviewed environmentalist Michael Shellenberger. January 31, 2022, A Guide to Global COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts, Backgrounder Thus was the power to control nature achieved by a civilization that had inherited the license to exploit it. And there are efforts to clean up sacred rivers like the Ganges and the Yamuna. In Latin America, I've mentioned this amazing movement of liberation theology and ecology. I do think the difficulty is, we can become, you know, somewhat moralistic. But to have our children who are standing for climate change I'm thinking of the Climate Silence group to tell them and to suggest that they that the statement is that they fly to talk about this, maybe it's not that. It is simply too complex to be comprehensively and accurately modeled. In A Greener Faith , Roger S. Gottlieb chronicles the promises of this critically important movement, illuminating its principal ideas, leading personalities, and ways of . And we like to use, as Thomas Berry did, the word "flourishing." And they have people there who've been drawing in the religious communities: Victoria Strang, Paul Waldau's (ph) daughter, is one of them. Maybe even a radical leftist. My friends in Japan understand the effects of typhoons and so on from global warming, et cetera. In November 1979, a dozen years after Whites essay, Pope John Paul II formally designated Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecologists. And while Americans remain, on average, much more devout than Europeans, there are demographic and regional pockets in this country that resemble Europe in their religious beliefs and practices. By the 1990s, many scholars of religion had entered the debate and begun to generate a substantial body of literature discussing and analyzing how nature is valued in the worlds various religious systems. Now, I just want to conclude with some examples from the Christian churches and also from engaged projects here at home, and then open it up to some discussion. Francis was accountable for nature but to God. But I think we do need to raise it up as a moral issue. Eventually the crimes of the human race will lead to apocalyptic destruction at the hands of the gods disgusted by our depravity. And, you know, to connect this sense of an energy revolution in our homes, in -- in our churches, in our schools, in our civic centers new building codes and so on you know, this is part of not just a protest against something. And (inaudible) all over the (inaudible) or fair trade guys did with this? The New Atlantisis building a culture in which science and technology work for, not on, human beings. I dont look forward to the job., Of environmentalism increasingly being faith-based, Lovelock says, I would agree with you wholeheartedly. In a 2008 survey conducted by the Barna Group, a California-based public opinion firm that concentrates on church issues, 90 percent of the evangelical respondents said they would like Christians to take a more active role in caring for creation (with two thirds saying they strongly agreed with that sentiment). So, it fulfills a religious need and a political need, which is why they hold onto it so tenaciously, despite all the evidence that the whole thing is nonsense. Maybe it's nobody shows up and we're just we're being real about what is. Three areas of focus exist (cf. The Dalai Lama has also been part of a series on discussions organised by theMind and Life Institute; a non-profit organisation that specializes on the relationship betweenscienceand Buddhism. In 2010, the church unveiled fiveLEEDcertified meetinghouse prototypes that are that will be used as future meetinghouse designs around the world, the first one having been completed in 2010 inFarmington, Utah. That's why I think Pope Francis, frankly from Argentina will have that particular blend that we so need of eco-justice. How does one preach about this issue of climate change, when in the U.S. and North America it's been so contested? And my PhD's actually focused on faith-based organizations in the U.K. and how they can impact climate change policy. And I don't mean only people on the pews, but bishops and executives of the denominations. So in this period of '95 to'98, John Grim, my husband and I did this series, as many of you know, at Harvard to try and pick up on that energy and to try and explore and investigate what are the resources of the world's religions, the Abrahamic traditions of the West, the Asian traditions of India and China and Japan and Southeast Asia, and the indigenous traditions. And, you know, the tar sands are largely going to China. Codirector, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University, Vice President, National Program & Outreach, Council on Foreign Relations. And we know this is already very much in our midst. Located on the campus of Stanford University and in Washington, DC, the Hoover Institution is the nations preeminent research center dedicated to generating policy ideas that promote economic prosperity, national security, and democratic governance. The concept of humanity having Khilafah or guardianship over the planet means that many Muslims believe that we should not exploit natural resources. That's why I mentioned that early on. Yet its a marvel the challenges Lovelock has created for himself in changing the minds of zealots. seems like those who give their hearts and souls to environmentalism are the only canonized saints these days: those who fight the good fight for mother earth by religiously performing the rituals of recycling, reducing, reusing, composting, eating only local organic food, having urban gardens, organizing csas, etc. In Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism, Stoll, a professor at Texas Tech University, explores the religious roots of environmentalist concepts of nature.Doing so, he challenges the preconception that conservationism and religion are inherently hostile towards each other. As I say, I like to think of the flourishing of the whole earth community for future generations. Well, Maureen, thank you for your work, too, and for helping to coordinate Sisters of Earth and all that you do, that great organization of Catholic numbers across North America. In Conservative Judaism, there has been some attempt to adopt ecokashrut ideasdeveloped in the 1970s by RabbiZalman Schachter-Shalomi. To what extent, if any, would devotees of the natural accept reengineering the planet? In their case, the main objection is usually pragmatic: rationalism effects change and religion doesnt. But it also, I think as you know, has a powerful potential effect at scale on climate change mitigation, which has been mentioned, I think, too little. The UN General Assembly hosts a much-watched debate of world leaders each year but has struggled to make its work more substantive. This my question may have been addressed already with the carbon fasting and looking at ways that we can, you know, in a way model the behavior that we want to see. The many forms of religious environmentalism that have developed since the 1960s are as diverse, complex, varied, and nuanced as religious America itself. But against all odds and in the face of over 100,000 protests a year on environmental issues and land disputes in China, the Chinese government, academics and others are beginning to formulate what they are describing as the need for ecological civilization; drawing on the values of Confucianism and Taoism and Buddhism for their culturally-based environmental ethics. In contemporary Jewish liturgy, ecological concerns have been promoted by adapting akabbalisticritualfor the holiday of trees,Tu Bishvat. We have a new and vibrant force in society, bringing together the three elements of The Earth Charter, of ecological integrity, social economic justice, and democracy, nonviolence and peace. Freeman Dyson, the brilliant and contrarian octogenarian physicist, agrees. But all assume that their opinions are based on hard science. QUESTION: Thank you, Mary. Some proposed thatEastern religions, as well as those ofindigenous peoples,neo-pagans, and others, offered moreeco-friendlyworldviewsthan Christianity. Contemporary agrarian practices use the Bhagavad-Gita to establish practices that are deemed non-violent. Renewing America, Podcast So on the Web site, there's bibliographies that are annotated of all the books that have been published over these last twenty years, and it's an astonishing explosion, actually. So they've done good work and we hope they'll continue to do that, and Cassandra Carmichael is leading the way. It celebrates individual freedom. Religion and environmentalismis an emerging interdisciplinary subfield in the academic disciplines ofreligious studies, religious ethics, thesociology of religion, andtheologyamongst others, withenvironmentalism and ecological principles as a primary focus. Its really metaphoric. Tensions are an inherent part of religious environmentalism. TUCKER: Well, thank you very much, Irina, for this opportunity to speak with so many of you out there. I'm Irina Faskianos, vice president for the national program and outreach here at CFR. You know, how -- for example, the breakdown of relationships, how many people are living in different homes and this increases consumerism because they cannot function together because they cannot live together, and so on. Edgell, 2012; Orsi, 2003 ): 1. He has organized sixty monasteries across the whole Himalayan region to be environmentally concerned, connected and teaching their lay people. There is no altering the creation of Allah. Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, The Divine Purpose For The Creation Of Man, Prophet Muhammads Miracles Cannot Be Denied. There is nothing unusual about human beings taking more than one path in their search for truth science at the same time as religion, for example. Moreover, the available poll data admittedly rather sparse paints a mixed picture. More than 800 international scholars, religious leaders, and environmentalists participated in the conference series. According to this opinion, Judaism is clearly in line with the principles of environmental protection andsustainable development. From these conferences, Tucker and Grim would form The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. It is a type of emotion-focused coping as much as a practical solution. When you make those double arguments, I think the 80 percent weve talked about start saying, That guy makes a lot of sense. His loss was greater than we could know at the time, because during the final years of his life he became increasingly focused on the politicization of science. But I do see this as a moment when laity, when theologians, when seminaries, when departments of religion, when churches and synagogues and mosques, et cetera need to pick this up. As I say, some religious communities have already, like UCC. And now moving towards our voices that he's combined with a movement around the world for prayers on climate change that Tessa Tennant and he are leading. Oh sure. We distributed about 50,000 of those. Thank you for that question. Scientists and economists can agree with Buddhist monks and Christian activists that ruthless destruction of natural habitats is evil and careful preservation of birds and butterflies is good. It's something that we can all do together. . So these are major, major changes. And what a wonderful mixture of both academics and religious leaders, community leaders, laity, NGO organizations, media and many interfaith groups. Leaders from different religions are rallying behind saving the environment. The book contends that a religious perspective applied to the Earth provides the environmental movement with a uniquely appropriate way to voice its passion and hope. And we've got to do something about divesting from oil and gas and reinvesting our creativity in alternative energies. And one of the contradictions I've experienced in myself is air travel and, you know, choosing to travel by air even after I know the science on climate change. It was an amazing event. Conservative evangelical leaders remain wary of environmentalisms agenda and of any attacks on industrial prowess that could be seen as undermining American national greatness. The ancient Greeks began a systematic philosophical observation of flora and fauna; from their work grew the long study of natural history. And I was particularly interested in your comment about educating the next generation because that's where my question is. And here in North America, native peoples in both the western parts of the U.S. and Canada have helped to stop Keystone Pipeline being actually built, and the processes and protests have been extraordinary; saying these are sacred lands, these are lands of our peoples, and they cannot be exploited. Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman writes that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers., The sheer volume of vicious language employed to recast social and cultural trends in terms of their carbon footprint suggests the rise of what Allenby calls a dangerous new carbon fundamentalism., Some observers detect parallels between the ecological movement and the medieval Church. Denmark and Sweden float along like small, content, durable dinghies of secular life, where most people are nonreligious and dont worship Jesus or Vishnu, dont revere sacred texts, dont pray, and dont give much credence to the essential dogmas of the worlds great faiths, observes Phil Zuckerman in his 2008 book Society without God. Some searchers syncretize Judeo-Christian theology with Eastern or New Age spiritualism. In its more liberal Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish forms, religious environmentalism is often grounded in the social justice concerns and activism of earlier periods, particularly in the . Is there a reward for us in serving the animals? He replied: There is a reward for serving any living being. [Bukhari], A woman entered the Fire because of a cat which she had tied, neither giving it food nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth. [Bukhari], The world is beautiful and verdant, and verily God, be He exalted, has made you His stewards in it, and He sees how you acquit yourselves. [Muslim], Do not waste water, even if you are at a running stream. [Ibn Majah], If the Hour (the day of Resurrection) is about to be established and one of you was holding a sapling, let him take advantage of even one second before the Hour is established to plant it. [Al-Albani]. InHinduism, practitioners and scholars find traditional approaches to the natural environment in such concepts asdharmic ethics orprakrti(material creation), the development ofayurveda, and readings ofvedic literature. A question about the relationship of local to global concerns. Talk about a leap of faith. TUCKER: Yeah, well, I appreciate that question. In a time of darkening environmental prospects, frightening religious fundamentalism, and moribund liberalism, the remarkable and historically unprecedented rise of religious environmentalism is a profound source of hope. Aside from the profit motivation, selling arms abroad can be an effective foreign policy tool, allowing the United States to exert influence over conflict and security worldwide without having to put boots on the ground. For churches with aging congregations, green issues reportedly help attract new, younger members to the pews. God gave you a mandate to care for this world. Its a very direct religious appeal. This is so important. And there are people who might not have that because of childhood abuse or other issues in their life. TUCKER: Yes, well, thank you. And maybe I'll just end with Rachel Carson. Religion and the environment All of the world's major faiths have, as integral parts of their laws and traditions, teachings requiring protection of the environment , respect for nature and wildlife , and kindness to animals. Thats really important. But unfortunately I am an old heretic. Like Jim Antel has led the UCC churches on this issue, and others are following. Numerous congregations are constructing green churches choosing to glorify God not by erecting soaring sanctuaries but by building more energy-efficient houses of worship. And you go up to Boston on the train and the sound is five feet away from the train.". Because that barrier is over and over again what creates the blockage to climate agreements, the blockage to all kinds of cooperative issues. Now, suggesting environmentalism is a religion is a favourite tactic of critics of the green movement. But I do think the moral issue that Bill McKibben and 350.org set before all of us is that this was a tactic that worked with apartheid in South Africa. Environment is the fundamental of our existenceso we need protect environment. a holy dayEarth Day; But I also wanted to highlight the indigenous environmental network. Surely He does not like the wasteful., do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption., Indeed, We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they all declined to bear it, being fearful of it. It has it's not that old, it's spreading around the world and that's extremely worrisome. Throughout our over one-hundred-year history, our work has directly led to policies that have produced greater freedom, democracy, and opportunity in the United States and the world. This subfield is founded on the understanding that, in the words of Iranian-AmericanphilosopherSeyyed Hossein Nasr, the environmental crisis is fundamentally a crisis ofvalues, and thatreligions, being a primary source of values in anyculture, are thus implicated in the decisions humans make regarding theenvironment. We did a conference there on the Yamuna in 2012, bringing together scientists and religious leaders. TUCKER: Right. Ive never had to sell it to religious greens so far. None of this was here 20 years ago. Well, sustainable development is salvation. But the 80 percent are people who are busy living their lives, loving their kids, and making other plans. But all I can say is, one of the things at the UN which I do think we can work best as religious communities is to try and overcome the immense distrust between the so-called "developing nations" and the so-called "developed nations." All Rights Reserved. Now, I know all the NGOs who are working on this. It's not a good record. So I do think there's lots that can be done by religious leaders and lay people. TUCKER: Yeah. But, you know, just two days ago Breyers said they will not have ice cream with, you know, antibiotics or hormones from the milk of cows. So I try to engage them in a rational manner rather than in the religious manner. Whatever benefit scientific and technological innovation had brought mankind was eclipsed by the out of control extraction and processing powers of industrial life and the mechanical degradation of the earth. A strict focus on fact and reason whenever possible can avert error and excess in policy. They need to believe in sin, so that means sin is equal to pollution. QUESTION: Hi. So the strategies, I think, are definitely there. Neo-pagans cheerfully accept the tree-hugger designation and say they were born green. And, most strikingly, Christianity has begun to accept environmentalism. Lovelocks faith in democracy is shared by Bjrn Lomborg. But this is where some of the organizations that I've mentioned Interfaith Power & Light and others are giving people that sense that they can make a difference, they can make the changes. Every family, every one of us has tremendous suffering in our own families, whether addiction or abuse or whatever it might be. TUCKER: Wonderful question. What we have to do is save ourselves. If you would like to ask a question or if you have a comment, please press the "star" key followed by the "1" key on your touch-tone phone now. Indeed, the myth of a lost natural paradise is the luxury of civilization, one indulged by people who no longer have to fear natures brutal indifference to human existence and who take for granted an adequate food supply provided by modern technology. Therefore, using this idealized and disciplined framework that Buddhism has to offer can create lasting solutions to amending the broken relationship between humanity and nature. You know, let's de-dam, which is happening in the Pacific Northwest, too. For example, since daring to challenge environmentalist orthodoxy, Freeman Dyson has discovered himself variously described as a pompous twit, a blowhard, a cesspool of misinformation, and an old coot riding into the sunset. For his part, Dyson remains cheerily unrepentant. Of course, if peoples minds are entirely made up there is nothing you can do to change it. Green thinking is like Christian or Muslim religions its another ideology.. One of the things Thomas Berry used to say is, we need principles, and strategies and tactics. We are superior to nature, contemptuous of it, willing to use it for our slightest whim. But White was not entirely without hope. There was a major celebration ritual at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine that evening. Environmentalism is the socialist's dream. And that included our work that began at Harvard from '95 to '98. All of this is leading to the Pope speaking in New York at the General Assembly in September, calling together a community of religious leaders on this issue and leading up to the climate change negotiations in Paris in December.

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