Engaging the Faithful: Religion and the Environment

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Building Faith Partnerships
For our planets future
Lyndsay Moseley, Sierra Club SSC Phone
Training Oct. 15, 2007
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Environmental Partnerships Program

• Goal broaden and diversify the base of support
  for environmental issues over time.
• Learn about partners perspective, goals
• Build long-term, trusting relationships
• Look for common ground (no agenda)

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US Population Demographics Religious Affiliation
(GSS 2004)
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Why are faith partnerships strategic?

• Everyone is stronger working in coalitions.
• Faith and values and messages resonate with broad
  segment of population.
• Faith groups are organized, and have the ability
  to reach a lot of people.
• Faith groups can help influence decision-makers.

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Acknowledging Stereotypes
Environmentalism has somehow become a partisan
political issue. Protection of the Earth now
often seen as an issue only for
WACKOS LIBERALS EXTREMISTS
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John Muir
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places
to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and
give strength to body and soul alike. - John
Muir, Founder of Sierra Club
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Building Faith Partnerships

• Get to know the faith community.
• Religious community is diverse, so do your
  research.
• Dont forget to look within your own group for
  students of faith they can be a great resource.
• Build relationships
• Set up a face to face meeting ask lots of
  questions!
• Show respect despite possible differences in
  point of view
• Be positive.
• A message of gloom and doom only overwhelms
  people. Show people how to make a positive
  difference.

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Environmentalism has Deep Roots Across Most Faith
Traditions

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Religious and Environmental Values

• Know the Language
• Stewardship Humans have a God-given
  responsibility to care for all of creation.
• Justice The gifts of creation are intended for
  the well-being of all, not a select few.
• Future generations The gifts of creation should
  be preserved for all future generations.
• Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have
  them do unto you. Or, as Jesus said, Love your
  neighbor.

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Jewish and Christian Scriptures

• The Psalms teach that creation belongs to God.
• One of the first commandments in the Torah is to
  care for the Garden of Eden, to till it and keep
  it (Genesis 215).

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Islam and the Environment

• "Unity, trusteeship and accountability, that is
  tawheed, khalifa and akhrah, the three central
  concepts of Islam, are also the pillars of the
  environmental ethics of Islam. . . . It is these
  values which led Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam
  to say 'The world is green and beautiful and God
  has appointed you his stewards over it.'"
• - Dr. Abdullah Omar Nassef, Secretary
  General, Muslim World League

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Values and Messages

• "Millions of people could die in this century
  because of climate change, most of them our
  poorest global neighbors,"
• "Christians must care about climate change,
  because we love God the Creator and Jesus our
  Lord This is God's world, and any damage that we
  do to God's world is an offense against God
  himself."
• Evangelical Climate Initiative

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Recent Faith/Environment Initiatives

• What Would Jesus Drive? (2002)
• Advocated for higher fuel economy in fleets
• Evangelical Climate Initiative (Feb. 2006)
• Called for immediate action to address global
  warming for the sake of the poor and future
  generations.

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Let there be light

• Interfaith Power and Light (2004-05)
• Helped over 300 congregations in CA prevent over
  400,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions.
• Organized viewings of An Inconvenient Truth in
  more than 4,000 congregations last year.
• Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
  (2006)
• Nearly 500 different Jewish organizations and
  synagogues, representing all denominations of the
  faith, joined the campaign in holding special
  pre-Hanukkah events focused on the religious
  significance of energy efficiency.

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Other Initiatives

• Christians for the Mountains
• Working in Appalachian faith communities to raise
  awareness and mobilize Christians to fight
  mountaintop removal mining

• UU Ministry for Earth
• Bold stand on GW (2007)
• Nearly 60 congregations have become certified as
  a Green Sanctuary since 2002

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St. Francis of Assisi

• Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first
  duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We
  have a higher missionto be of service to them
  wherever they require it.

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• US Catholic Bishops Statement (2001)
• At the core, climate change is not about
  economic theory or political platforms, nor about
  partisan advantage or interest group pressures.
  It is about the future of Gods creation and the
  one human family It is about our human
  stewardship of Gods creation and our
  responsibility to those who come after us.

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Sample Activities for Partnerships

• Outings, pot luck dinners, and other getting to
  know you activities.
• Educational events, conferences, panel
  discussions, film screenings
• Issue or place-based initiatives
• Meetings with policy-makers
• Media outreach LTEs, op-eds, etc.

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Tips for Reaching Out

• Identify common ground and start small.
• environmental issues are not the only issues that
  faith communities work on. Try to learn which
  issues are important and select relevant
  environmental projects.
• Have something very concrete and small to work on
  with high likelihood of success. That will
  provide encouragement for continued work.

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Tips for Reaching Out

• Stick to the environmental message.
• Set aside other issues on which you may disagree.
  In particular, evolution, abortion, and theology.
• Encourage the use of a spiritual or faith voice.
• Encourage religious and lay leaders to talk about
  environmental issues in the context of their own
  faith, especially when dealing with
  decision-makers.

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Resources

• Building Partnerships with the Faith Community A
  Resource Guide for Environmental Groups
  (Biodiversity Project)

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Resources

• Greening Congregations Handbook (Earth Ministry)
• Theological/ethical foundations
• Organizer pathways
• Concrete suggestions for churches and synagogues

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Questions?

• Lyndsay Moseley, Sierra Club
• Environmental Partnerships Program
• Lyndsay.Moseley_at_sierraclub.org