Faith in Public LIVE is back, this time discussing one of the hottest issues for the religious community today: the environment. Chuck Gutenson is the lead blogger at Imitatio Christi, and an evangelical theologian and ethicists at Asbury Theological Seminary, Barbara Lerman-Golomb is the Executive Director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) and is the coordinator for the Greening Synagogues project, and Sally Bingham is the President of The Regeneration Project which runs the Interfaith Power and Light campaign

Part 9: Sally Bingham lets out an "Alleluia" for the progress made on the environment and hope for the future

I would like to say, "Alleluia" and thank you to Barbara for pointing out that all is not lost and the doomsday message may no longer relevant. I, too, sense considerable hope; hope for change and hope for new opportunity, job growth and perhaps even a second industrial revolution, but this time a clean one. Not only has the religious community begun to unite, see our declaration on www.theregenerationproject.org (Jews, Muslims and Christians) calling for our government to cut green house gas emissions, but corporations, big businesses, hospitals and schools are embracing the "green" movement. There is bi-partisan legislation in the works with some 80 bills about energy under discussion in Congress. There is a lot to be hopeful about and one of the most important sign that I am experiencing is that rather than have to explain global warming or recite the reports and Scientist that agree global warming is a problem, people are asking "what can I do"? What are the solutions? This is a very different landscape than just two years ago. Very seldom does someone say "the science is still undecided" or we cannot make changes, it would hurt the economy.

It has taken ten years and catastrophic events like Katrina to get the attention of the general people, but it seems that many if not most have realized the problem. Many, too, are making changes in their behavior. It isn't sacrifice, it is change: just like a light bulb. We are seeing congregations with solar on the roof serving as an example to the community. We needed the big corporations to voluntarily reduce emissions and show a profit besides. That is how policy is made. The folks who step up first and volunteer prove to the policy makers that it works. We did that with recycling. It took a while after programs began under volunteers, but in the end others saw that it worked and climbed on board. Those changes are happening now with conservation of energy and driving patterns.

The role that religious institutions have played is crucial. It brought ethical and moral values to the discussion and when the call to be good stewards comes from the pulpit, people understand that addressing global warming by using renewable energy, practicing conservation and efficiency, we are doing the "right" thing. It is a responsibility of faith.

Another reason for hope to just to look around and count the number of hybrid cars on the road. People are beginning to see the light and make changes. We are a moral society and at its core the environmental situation is a reflection of our concern for life itself: it is a spiritual issue. We have a lot of work to do, but in all areas of life, but particularly in the religious community, I sense a strong instinct to make up for lost time and do the right thing.

Part 8: Barbara Lerman-Golomb sees hope for the environmental movement

With all the doomsday and fear mongering generated around environmental degradation, believe it or not, some positive opportunities have arisen. One positive is that it has created an environmental faith movement that has been a source of renewal for people eager to connect in a meaningful and purposeful way to their religion. What can be more spiritual than communing with nature and literally getting in touch with our agrarian roots? If we have a better understanding of the inner workings of our planet, we'll have the tools to think creatively about how to sustain it.

Another positive is the coming together of the interreligious community. No matter what our differences or perspectives are on other issues, we all have a common calling when it comes to environmental stewardship and we understand that the only way we're going to empower our message and mission is by our working in unison. There is strength in numbers. Our shared vision and passion, is exactly what we need to movtivate our communities and policy makers, many of whom identify strongly with their faith and the obligation to be good stewards.

A third positive is that the environmental movement can serve as inspiration for political activism that has lay dormant for too long. Of course in a democracy our legislators are supposed to listen to the will of the people, but they can only do that if they hear from the people. We need to let them know that the trend in the past few years of
decimating every environmental protection measure put into place and that the attitude of Genesis 1 of having "domain" over the Earth and essentially being able to do what we want with it, can not continue. But rather we need to follow the message of Genesis 2 to "till and to tend" as caretakers of the Earth. Citizens need to reengage in the political process. With new energy bills arising every day and the presidential election looming, we need to make sure that this time around the environment and particularly energy policy, climate change, and its implications for social injustice are a major focus in our country.

Let us do right by future generations by not leaving them with the possible burden of severe life threatening environmental devastation and the legacy that we stood idly by and did nothing to protect our sacred Earth.

Or put another way...

"God led the first human begins around the Garden of Eden and said: Look at my works! See how beautiful they are--how excellent! For your sake, I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world, for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it." (Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13).

Part 7: Chuck Gutenson on getting people to stop standing around and do something

What are the most productive steps in moving folks toward a greater sense of obligation when it comes to care and stewardship of God's creation? Well, as one might expect, the answers vary. Let's consider a few options.

First, and I think foremost, each of us has to come to realize that caring for the environment is a moral issue, and hence, for Christians, ultimately one of discipleship. I have a colleague who likes to say that our sense of what it means to be a follower of Jesus has not yet permeated deeply enough if it does not impact something as routine as throwing out our trash. What she was trying to capture, of course, was that our commitment to follow Jesus must impact every single aspect of our lives. Once we think of it this way, we begin to see the moral imperative to engage in environment friendly behaviors. There can be no substitute for each of us engaging this issue at a personal level.

At the same time, however, personal engagement cannot replace the need for public engagement. Education is always a central element of public engagement, since the right form of engagement cannot be determined without a good sense of where the pressure points are. After that, I would encourage each person (or, better, group of persons) to consider their own gifts and to become involved in ways that make it utilize those gifts. If I may borrow from the Apostle, those who are educators, let them educate; those who are articulate writers, let them write; those who are able to organize others, let them organize; and those who have relationships with congresspersons, let them utilize that access. There is more than enough work to be done and more than enough giftedness to go around. In the words of that old cliche: Don't just stand there, do something:>)

Part 6: Barbara gives another reason to take action for the envrionment: God is all about action; we should be too.

God is all about action. And so if we believe that human beings are created in the image of God (tzelem Elohim), then we need to be all about action too. There are many ways to motivate a community to action. Creating a communal activity often works. People feel safety in numbers--getting a group together to rally or lobby on Capitol Hill on an issue, engaging in a letter writing campaign to legislators after an impassioned sermon, joining in a neighborhood clean up, or working together with the common goal of "greening" your house of worship. A successful action is often one that is doable such as changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs to address global warming and energy consumption.

It's important to take that first simple step because the thought of taking action can feel overwhelming. We are already dealing with so many moral issues all vying for our attention--poverty, AIDS, homelessness, healthcare, Darfur, the Middle East and now global climate change. It's easy to despair or to feel like taking action is just too much trouble and that it's better left up to someone else. When it comes to environmental problems, many count on the fact that the "environmentalists" will deal with it. But we can no longer afford to compartmentalize environmentalism. We can no longer see it as "us" or "them." The Sh'ma prayer is said to be the watchword of the Jewish faith. In its opening line it tells us that God is one. All of Creation is interconnected as one and so how all of us respond and care for the world positively or negatively will have its consequences.

The words tikkun olam, to repair the world, sum up a human beings obligation here on Earth. If we are created in the image of God, than we need to step up to the plate and begin to take action by truly being partners in Creation.

Part 5: Sally says that stopping global warming is the greatest moral issue of our time

The greatest moral issue of our time......Senator Brownback says "it's abortion", former Senator John Edwards says "it's poverty", Al Gore's says it's global warming. I am a Christian and I agree with Gore. My reason's are 1) the first and great commandment: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. If we love our neighbors we don't pollute our neighbors air, water or land. Right? And if you love God, isn't it a sin to destroy what God created? Isn't it an insult to God?

2) Morality for me asks the question "what are my values?" "How do I treat my neighbor", how does society take care of the poor. Big issues, that make up social values, are what "moral" is about. What does it mean to be human, fully and wholly human created in the image of God? The image of God is kind, compassionate, inclusive, loving every child, not selectively choosing whom to love and not refusing to accept the way others were created when they are different from me. These are hard values to live by, but they are what make a moral society and moral people. How we respond to global warming answers these questions. Our response will define what it means to be human and how we respond will demonstrate love or not for God and for our neighbor.

It is a huge responsibility to be human, created in the image of God. Trying to live up to that is challenging and yet something we should strive to do. We have an obligation to care for all of Creation. Adding to the pressure of the challenge, we have the ability to meet the needs of all and to solve the global warming problem if we decided to. If we could agree as a country, a society, a culture, a human, we could take the steps necessary that show we are people striving to be the best we can be. I think global warming is the greatest moral issue of our time, not because the issue is a moral one, but how we respond to it, is a moral value. I think abortion and same sex relations are issues that are personal and not to be decided by cultural trends or legislation. If I ask myself, what would Jesus do?, I have to say, based on what I know about Jesus, he would love and embrace everyone and particularly the marginalized. He would be pro life, but pro healthy: life created out of love, not conflict or without access to fresh air, food and water. The people who will suffer the most from global warming are the poor and Jesus said, "what you do to the least of them, you do to me". We are called to serve the poor, love our neighbors. Those are moral issues and global warming will hurt both the poor and our neighbors. We have a moral obligation to do something about it. Jesus would.

Part 4: Chuck Gutenson on falling in love with creation

When we talk of care for creation, we often jump, rightly I think, to ideas of stewardship and responsibility. I focused on these in my last post, and suggested that we have an obligation to care for the earth so as to give it in better (or, at least as good) shape to our children than we found it. However, I want to focus in a somewhat different place today. I wonder how often we consider the extent to which God, to put it simply, enjoys the world he has created.

In the last several chapters of Job, while the emphasis is upon correcting some bad perceptions about God held by Job's friends, I always pick up a tone of playfulness in God's language about creation. He speaks of creating the hawk so that it can rise majestically into the sky, he speaks of "playing with" the great sea creatures, and he reflects on the joys of his creation giving birth to yet more creatures. In the Psalms, we see references to the creatures that are worthy of our fear (the lion and its cubs, for example). Yet, God speaks of them with regard to his feeding them in the sort of tone we might use to describe feeding a pet from our hands.

It is hard to read these passages about God's interactions with and reflections upon his creation without getting a sense of the intimacy with which God views all aspects of the world he has created. Would it be far too anthropomorphic to say that one way to see God's relationship with the world is analogous to that of a "proud father"? God's love is over all his creation, and the more deeply we let that reality sink in, I think, the more deeply our own love and appreciation for creation will become. And, of course, it is always easier to care for a thing you love deeply than for a thing we see merely as object.

Part 3: Barbara Lerman-Golomb: we need to start building an "ark" before the floods come

So what will help guide humanity to do the right thing? Centuries of disconnect have kept us from understanding the natural cycles of the Earth, from connecting to the food we eat, to understanding how we fit into the chain. Reconnecting to our environment is the first step to appreciating the beauty and awe of the world. We need to get outside, to learn to respect nature instead of fearing it or mistreating it. The Rabbis taught: Even those things that you may regard as completely superfluous to Creation – such as fleas, gnats and flies—even they were included in Creation; and God’s purpose is carried through everything—even through a snake, a scorpion, a gnat, a frog.” (Breishit Rabbah 10:7) Once we begin to disregard nature, to disconnect from it, it's easier and easier to destroy it. If we don't fully understand that polluting the air, water, and land, will come full circle and affect our health and the quality of our lives, then we're not going to make any effort to preserve our natural environment.

If we begin to understand our ecological footprint, we'll be more thoughtful in our choices, our purchases, our consumption. We need to ask how is my lifestyle affecting or harming others? Once we begin to take steps to live a more sustainable life, then we need to demand as much from our legislators who set into motion the opportunity for real change. We can gain momentum with a coming together of consumers, the business community, elected officials, and more and more with the faith community. This is a natural place to have our voices heard because it is where our actions have always been directed by a need for social justice.

Environmental degradation will affect all of us, but will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in our society. We're seeing this already with climate change. Too often we wait until disaster strikes and then communities, particularly faith communities come in to pick up the pieces. We need to be like Noah and begin building the ark before the floods come, before we destroy our sacred Earth. But in order to take that first step, we need to connect with what we're protecting.

Part 2: Sally Bingham: Will self-interest make us "greener?"

Mightn't we shift our attitude and behavior towards the Creation if we understood that it is in our best interest to do so? If it is true that by nature we are greedy and selfish and as Chuck puts it "Jesus rails against -the inability to control our own wants and desires," might our task, as people who DO care about God and God's Creation try to shift the focus of what constitutes selfish? If we really care about ourselves and many people say we do, then it certainly does not seem so if we poison the water, the air, the land. If you knew that you were ultimately killing yourself (committing suicide) by polluting, wouldn't you stop it? The theory would only work, however, if people really are selfish dominating self-involved fools.

Let's, for the sake of discussion, pretend that they are not. Lets say that people are really good, generous and kind. Look at the donations for Darfur, efforts to end the killing in Iraq, millions to restore Thailand and New Orleans. Large amounts of land set aside for conservation and all from individual people wanting to do good. I think people of faith care particularly about saving creation and ultimately themselves and future generations. I think they don't usually read Scripture with green lens on, but when they do, they "get it." Religious leaders of all faiths need to own the pulpit in a new way and step up to the challenge that faces humanity today. The response that we have towards the environmental crisis and the way we behave today will dictate the future. The response will define what it means to be human: fully human.

Part 1: Chuck Gutenson on the Biblical call to stewardship

A popular right wing spokesperson was famously quoted to the effect that God had given the earth to humans to do with as they please--even to "rape it," I think was the language used. One wonders how anyone could read the over-arching narrative of God's love for his creation so badly as to see Genesis 1 as giving humanity license to exploit that creation in any way we might choose.

If one looks a bit deeper, one finds that the broader context of Scripture makes it clear that God's command to humanity is intended to carry with it the idea of "stewardship." In other words, God does not give humanity authority over the earth and all its natural resources to "do with as we please," but rather in order for us to exercise godly care and stewardship over the creation. This is captured in the initial recognition that the primeval couple are placed in the garden to tend it, to serve as gardeners who will provide appropriate care for the garden, which functions here as a metaphor for all of creation.

It is worth noting that reckless exploitation of creation is precisely driven by one human failing that Jesus consistently rails against in his own ministry--the inability to control our own wants and desires. We are enjoined to "deny ourself," and this injunction carries with it the implicit recognition that, left to ourselves, we have a tendency to favor of favor instant gratification. To recognize our calling to care for the earth means realizing that our obligations to future generations involve leaving the earth better than we found it. In essence, this is what stewardship is all about--accepting that God expects us to prepare the way for our children by resisting the temptation for instant and maximal gratification in order to leave a healthy earth as a legacy of our faithfulness to God.