Environment as Moral Issue

To the interesting discussion in re religion taking place here on this blog, as well as in our society in general, I just want to add a few links to recent news stories which have uplifted my faith in organized religion as a force willing to take on the issue of environmental degradation, to my mind the most important moral and social justice issue of our time.

From the Star Tribune, a paper serving the Minnesota Twin Cities:

Being Green: A Moral Issue for Churches. As the faith community rallies behind environmental causes, morality is thrust to the forefront The faith community has become one of the major players in environmental issues, able to address green issues from a different perspective

From Newsweek magazine, an article celebrating Pope Benedict XVI's increasingly green pronouncements:

The Green Pope
Benedict XVI has embraced environmentalism. How he's using church teachings to urge Roman Catholics to take care of the earth.

Clergy Urged to Speak on Environment, an article about Interfaith Power and Light, an interfaith ministry which, among other things, is sponsoring The Regeneration Project: " a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. People of faith have an opportunity to put their faith into action and help reduce the devastating effects of global warming."

And last, but certainly not least, a charming little piece, Nuns Lobby MP on Climate change, from the newsdesk of Suffolk and Essex online about a group of nuns, part of a larger group of nuns, monks and clergy who last week...

descended on Parliament with posters and banners calling on their MP to “Kick the Carbon Habit” and “Stop Climate Chaos”. The group wanted MPs to strengthen the Climate Change Bill by increasing the carbon emissions reduction target from 60% to at least 80% by 2050. They also wanted the Government to include the UK's shares of emissions from international aviation and shipping in the reduction.

So, maybe there is hope? If the Pentagon is getting involved in combatting global warming from a national security standpoint, and the Church is joining in from a theological and moral standpoint, perhaps this confluence of superpowers will actually have some timely effect. What if there was a mass march by clergy and other religious personnel into the halls of Congress to call attention to the Climate Act to be discussed in the Senate in June? and to demand that it be strengthened? A real true "March for Life" on the part of religious leaders and congregations?

Technorati Tags: churches, clergy, environment, global warming, greening, religion, social justice

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