RELIGIOUS FAITH AND
THE ENVIRONMENT
A PRESENTATION OF RELEVANT STATEMENTS
Numerous Catholic leaders - including the past two popes have issued statements supporting the protection of Creation.
Here are several of the most important statements.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
•
If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation - Pope Benedict
XVI, World Day of Peace, 2010
•
Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation -Pope John
Paul II, World Day of Peace, 1990
•
Renewing the Earth - An Invitation to Reflection and Action on
Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching - A Pastoral
statement of the United States Catholic Conference, 1991.
•
The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the
Common Good. An International Pastoral Letter by the Catholic
Bishops of the Region
•
Orthodox Christianity - following the widely recognized
leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew - has issued
a number of important statements on the environment.
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
STATEMENTS
• Message for the Day of the Protection
of the Environment, 1989 Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I
• Address during the official opening
of the first international symposium Revelation and the Environment,
1995 - Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew
• Common Declaration of Pope John
Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew at the Fourth Ecological
Symposium on the Adriatic Sea, 2002
For links to over 200
statements by Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I on
the environment, and for
more information about
Bartholomew's ecological
commitment, click here.
Increasing numbers of Evangelical leaders, following the lead of
the Evangelical Environmental Network, have made statements in
support of Creation care.
EVANGELICAL STATEMENTS
• On the Care of Creation - An Evangelical
Declaration on the Care of Creation, 1994
• The Evangelical Climate Initiative, 2006
• A Southern Baptist Declaration on the
Environment and Climate Change, 2008
All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in
which we use and abuse it.
United Methodist Social Principles
UNITED METHODIST
STATEMENTS
• United Methodist Church Social Principles - The Natural
World
• Environmental Stewardship,Book of Resolutions, 2008
• Environmental Justice for a Sustainable Future, Book of
Resolutions, 2008
• Energy Policy Statement, Book of Resolutions, 2008
• Protection of Water, Book of Resolutions, 2008
• Environmental Racism,Book of Resolutions, 2008
The Baptist community is remarkably diverse - and more and more Baptist
leaders have issued statements on the environment.
We have poisoned the earth which God has given us. It is no no longer the
beautiful garden that Genesis portrays as the home of Adam and Eve.
American Baptist Policy Statement on Ecology
BAPTIST STATEMENTS
• American Baptist Policy Statement on Ecology, 2007
• American Baptist Statement on Energy, 2007
• American Baptist Resolution on Global Warming, 2007
• American Baptist Resolution on Individual Lifestyle for
Ecological Responsibility, 1996
• American Baptist Resolution on Hazardous, Toxic and
Radioactive Waste, 1992
• A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and
Climate Change, 2008
• Alliance of Baptists Statement on Climate Change, 2009
Lutheran theologians Joseph Sittler and H. Paul Santmire have been
influential leaders of the religious environmental
movement. Today, Lutherans Restoring Creation is the main
Lutheran (ELCA) environmental network.
LUTHERAN STATEMENTS
• Environment - Caring for Creation: Vision,
Hope, and Justice, 1993
• Resolution on Caring for Creation, 2005
• Resolution on Global Warming, 2001
• For a full list of environmental resolutions
adopted by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, click here.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has an active environmental
network - Presbyterians for Earth Care. Important Presbyterian
environmental statements are on the next slide.
PRESBYTERIAN STATEMENTS
• Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice, General
Assembly (1990) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
• Hope for a Global Future: Toward Just and
Sustainable Human Development, General
Assembly (1996) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
• Resolution for Presbyterians to Live Carbon Neutral
Lives, General Assembly (2006) Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.)
• For more Presbyterian resources on the
environment, visit the Presbyterian on-line store.
The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican
Communion. The Episcopal Church has adopted numerous
environmental resolutions. Several important statements and a
resolution are on the next slide.
ANGLICAN/EPISCOPAL
STATEMENTS
• Stewardship of Creation - A Declaration to the
Anglican Communion, Anglican Communion
Environmental Network, 2002
• Carbon Footprint Resolution, The Executive Council of
the Episcopal Church, 2008
• The Hope We Share: A Vision For Copenhagen,
Anglican Communion Environmental Network, 2009
• "(W)e support federal legislation that will achieve a 1520 percent reduction in U.S. carbon emissions by
2020 and an 80 percent reduction in U.S. carbon
emissions by 2050..."
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, 2008
With their historic commitment to simple living, Quakerism has
produced important statements on the environment. Quaker
Earthcare Witness is the leading US-based Quaker environmental
group.
QUAKER STATEMENTS
• "People must choose activities, create institutions,
and establish policies and laws that are beneficial
to the earth and will help protect and regenerate
its ecosystems.“ FCNL Policy Statement, We Seek
an Earth Restored
• Friends Committee on National Legislation Policy
Statement : Part IV, We Seek an Earth Restored,
2007
• A Quaker Response to the Crisis of Climate
Change, Quakers in Britain, 2009
A growing number of Hindu leaders are speaking and writing to
urge protection of the environment. Here are links to several
important statements.
HINDU STATEMENTS
• Ten Key Hindu Teachings on the Environment, by
Dr. Pankaj Jain, GreenFaith's Hindu and Jain Scholar
in Residence
• Statements by various Hindu scholars, including
editors of leading Hindu journals, heads of foundations
and organizations, and spiritual leaders
• Hinduism, Jainism, and Ecology by Dr. Christopher
Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University, published
by The Forum on Religion and Ecology
• Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, 2009
• "Let there be peace in the heavens, the
Earth, the atmosphere, the water, the
herbs, the vegetation, among the divine
beings and in Brahman, the absolute
reality. Let everything be at peace and in
peace. Only then will we find peace."
• Atharva Veda
A growing number of Islamic leaders are writing and speaking
about the Islamic basis for protecting the environment. A small
number of important statements are below.
ISLAMIC STATEMENTS
• Observing a Green Ramadan Webinar Recording
GreenFaith's Observing a Green Ramadan webinar, recorded
July 18, 2011.
• Imam Zaid Shakir's Message for a Green Ramadan
A message from Imam Zaid Shakir on Observing a Green
Ramadan, recorded July 18, 2011.
• Islamic Faith Statement on the Environment Hyder Ihsan
Mahasneh, biologist and Islamic scholar, appointed by the
Muslim World League, 2003.
• The Muslim Declaration on Nature, His Excellency Dr.
Abdullah Omar Naseef, Secretary General of the Muslim
World League, Assisi, 1986.
• Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust Inviting Balanced
Stewardship by Dr. Frederick M. Denny, University of
Colorado, published by the Forum on Religion and Ecology.
• "For the Muslim, humankind's role on
earth is that of a Khalifah - vicegerent or
trustee of Allah. We are Allah's stewards
and agents on Earth. We are not masters
of this Earth; it does not belong to us to do
what we wish. It belongs to Allah and He
has entrusted us with its safekeeping."
• His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef
Many Buddhist leaders have written and spoken in support of
environmental protection. The following are links to a select
number of important statements.
BUDDHIST STATEMENTS
• Statements by various Buddhist scholars, including
spiritual leaders and Patriarchs
• Excerpt from Ancient Wisdom, Modern World:
Ethics for the New Millennium - The Fourteenth
Dalai Lama
• Reverence for Life -Thich Nhat Hanh
• A Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change, 2008
• Collection of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama's statements
on the environment.
• "Aware of the suffering caused by the
destruction of life, I undertake to cultivate
compassion and learn ways to protect the
lives of people, animals, plants, and
minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to
let others kill, and not to condone any act
of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in
my way of life."
• Reverence for Life
JEWISH STATEMENTS
• Ten Jewish Teachings on Judaism and the Environment
Basic Jewish teachings on the environment
• Reform Jewish Statements on the Environment
• Conservative Jewish Statements on the Environment
Conservative Jewish Statements on the Environment
• Jewish Statements on the Environment Jewish
Statements on the Environment home
• Reconstructionist Jewish Statements on the Environment
Reconstructionist Jewish Statements on the Environment
• Jewish Environmental Organizational Statements on the
Environment
• Judaism and Sustainability, Rabbi Lawrence Troster
• Judaism and Sustainability Rabbi Lawrence Troster
• Orthodox Jewish Statements on the Environment