This journal is an appeal for people of faith to reassess their attitudes toward environmentalism and recognize how fundamental ecological issues are to the causes of the world's faithful. Poverty, exploitation, social injustices, and many other societal ills have a clear connection to the environment and how we manage our natural resources, yet people of faith, at least in the United States, seem slow to list "green" issues as a top priority.
A couple of caveats before I go further.
- Personally, I'm writing this as one familiar with a variety of Judeo-Christian faith traditions, specifically Anabaptist, Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox. I intend to extend this discussion to all faiths, but know that the main audience I aim to reach, for now, are my brothers and sisters in the mainline Christian church.
- I also write from the perspective of one who has travelled extensively within the United States, but I do not claim to represent the views of the devout in other countries or cultures.
- The title of this journal, Reclaiming Eden, does not reflect the unrealistic notion of all humanity in this current age returning a utopian garden. Rather it suggests that we acknowledge our original mandate that we be stewards of the earth and our fellow human beings and incorporate that into our lives and priorities.
St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Lake Hopatcong, NJ.
The American Church should be the leading voice in the world for environmental conservation and fighting environmental injustices that harm our most vulnerable citizens at home and abroad. Now polls by the Pew Research Center shows that Christians across most faith traditions do generally support strong environmental regulations and list it as priority right behind education and healthcare.
But in 2010 only 7% said that their religious beliefs were the most influential factor in their position on environmental issues!
How can this be? The Christian faith teaches that humankind's first job was to care for God's creation and we are charged with caring for the needy and powerless. Likewise, Islam, Buddhism, and many other faith traditions have a strong social and environmental justice message, exhorting their believers to care for creation and be kind to all.
Yet the demands of our modern existence is unrelentingly warming the planet with carbon emissions, fumigating those who can't afford to move away from refineries and chemical plants, hacking away at forests in the "developing world", driving countless species to extinction, mining the seas for fish, and ripping apart mountains for coal and metal. And it is the poor and voiceless who bear the brunt of our extravagance and have to do this dirty work for us because they have so few alternatives.
But there is hope. Environmental solutions like energy conservation, fair and local trade, recycling, promoting renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels all have great potential to reduce the social and environmental injustice, the harm to public health, and reverse the tide of unsustainable living.
Ecological issues have a hard time influencing individual and political decisionmaking because they are often inconvenient economically. At least in the short term. But faith communities have already established the moral imperative and value for things that aren't economically popular. Why give to the poor? Not because they will pay you back, but because it is the right thing. Why build a hospital in Africa? Not because you will ever use it, but because it helps your neighbor.
People of faith should be the loudest voice for conservation and protection of the environment. We're not there yet, but I hope we can be. I don't believe this is what God meant through Isaiah when he said...
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and
hill made low...
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Aerial view of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, one of the poorest regions in the United States.
Photo courtesy of Ohio Valley Environmental Council and Southwings.
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