JUST ENGAGE

67% of Americans who say they care about the environment do so because it’s “God’s creation.”

Almost 50% of Sierra Club members go to a house of worship at least once a month.

Whoa.

I hope that it’s no surprise to any readers that there is a strong faith-based environmental movement. The National Religious Partnership for the Environment – made up of Jews (COEJL), Catholics, Protestants (NCC Eco-Justice) and Evangelicals (Evangelical Environmental Network) – has been around for over 15 years. Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) is an environmental initiative with over 25 state chapters. To these organizations and many of their affiliated houses of worship, connection between Earth stewardship and faith is clear.

Sierra Club has recently noticed this powerful movement and published a report: Faith in Action: Communities of Faith Bring Hope for the Planet, which includes the stats mentioned above. Beyond an introduction which delves into the power of faith-based action, it shares stories of 52 communities of faith – one for each state, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico – where faith propelled them to critical ecological and sustainable action. As the report notes, the environmental movement was secular, shying away from “values” and dare I say it, “creation.” Never before has a study like this been done. But the environmental (and political) significance is enormous!

Though there is a clear danger in grafting “God” with “politics,” (I hope I don’t need to explain) even Sierra Club can’t ignore its wonders. 86% of the world’s population affiliates with a religion. The report notes that all the religious environmental initiatives “coalesce around a few key broadly shaped principles: stewardship, justice and concern for ‘the poor,’ and concern for one’s neighbor and future generations.” Agreement on these principles may not bring world peace. Frankly, slight variations of interpretation continue to yield devastating wars.

If we can harness the energy of religious faiths to the issues of earth stewardship, then we might just have a chance.

Word on the street (or, really, from British Consulate) is that British royalty and political leadership have been interested in the US faith-based initiatives on climate change. Under the auspices of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical communities have come together to advocate for the health of our shared planet and the poorest among us who will be most affected. Consequently, representatives from the different communities of faith (including someone from Presbyterians for Restoring Creation) were asked to share our experiences in interfaith programming and advocacy with religious, communal and political leaders of Belfast, Northern Ireland as part of a US Interfaith Climate Change Delegation last week.

In the United States, we use the strength of a coalition of religious voices to make a powerful unified statement on Capitol Hill. In Belfast, it is not only rare for the Catholic and Protestant communities to advocate together for a cause – it is nearly unheard of; these communities have been fighting to the death over Irish vs. British alliance in a thirty-plus year conflict called “the Troubles.” The hope of the British Consulate was that uniting on climate change could be a catalyst for greater peace.Though it was difficult to look beyond the fear and anger that remains in the divided communities, our mission was clear and our language strong. As religious communities, we have obligations to our neighbors, the poorest among us and generations yet to come. This is a mandate we all share and may inspire dialogue and joint action.

How a people can move fully beyond the terror of the Troubles and into a place of cross-community environmental efforts will not be easy. Nonetheless, neither the memory of terror nor the issues of climate change will simply disappear. Both require great effort and compromise. I hope that we, the delegates, enabled new conversations and connections and empowered the current efforts of the grassroots movement.

Some interesting links:

The Christian International Aid organizations are focusing on Climate Change and its impact on the World's Poor this Lenten season - fantastic and powerful materials:
Trocaire
TearFund's Carbon Fast