On October 8,
2018, scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), one
of the most renowned bodies of climate scientists, released a report stating
that under a business-as-usual scenario the earth will experience 1.5 degrees
Celsius of warming by 2030. With only 1.5 degree warming, which is the most
ambitious goal of the Paris agreement, we can expect increased frequency of
droughts, heat waves, and extreme weather events. If the 1.5-degree goal is not
met, environmental impacts will become increasingly severe such as the complete
loss of coral reefs, rapid decline of Arctic Sea ice, and losses of
biodiversity. Keeping warming below the 1.5-degree threshold will require
global emissions to be 0 by 2050.
Amidst such tall odds, it is increasingly important to understand the lenses through which individuals from around the world may understand and view environmental issues. Religion is one of the primary moral guides by which many in our communities frame policy issues, environmentalism among them. The question of how much current generations should sacrifice in order to protect the well-being of the future has inherent moral implications that religion most definitely influences. With environmental issues worsening and religious beliefs continuing to be a foundational guide for billions, understanding the intersection between religiosity and environmentalism is essential in seeking solutions to environmental ills. With differing points of emphasis and end goals, Islam, Catholicism, and Judaism each offer important insights.
Fairly extensive
research has been conducted on the influence of religion on environmentalism,
and the results are mixed, as Sherkat and Ellison show in their 2007 paper. Research from the
1980s suggests an inherent antagonism of Western religions and environmental
issues, due mainly to a perception of humans occupying a domineering position
over the natural world. However, more recent research has suggested that
religion may account for negligible influence on environmental beliefs or may
potentially cause more environmentally-conscious behavior.
In addition to their influence on perception of the role of humans relative to the environment, religious beliefs are also strongly correlated to political viewpoints. Evangelical Christians in the United States are one of the most politically conservative cohorts with white evangelicals composing the core the Republican Party. On the whole, Jews are solidly Democratic with 71% voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Catholics are the most left leaning denomination within Christianity, with Clinton grabbing 45% of the Catholic vote share as opposed to 39% for Christians overall. An estimated 70% of Muslims in 2016 voted for the Democratic nominee.
In an attempt to
gain a deeper understanding the intersection of religion and environmentalism, VPR
spoke with leaders of the Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic faiths from around the
Nashville community. At first all three of these individuals noted, there are
important connections and synergies that exist between their belief system and
environmentalism.
“The Catholic
worldview undergirds true care for the environment,” noted Father Michael Fye
of Vanderbilt’s Chaplains office. Fye notes that God called both humans and
nature “good,” and thus, there is biblical precedence for man and the
environment being mutually beneficial.
Rabbi Shlomo
Rothstein of Vanderbilt’s Chabad house also remarked on the elements of
environmentalism that appear in core Jewish teachings. “In order to be Jewish
it has to boil back down to the Torah or an authentic Jewish document.” Rothstein
highlights a teaching in Deuteronomy 20 on how Israelites should act during
war. Verse 19 reads: “When
you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do
not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their
fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege
them?”
Similarly, Professor Awadh
Binhazim former adjunct Islam chaplain at Vanderbilt noted that the Muslim is
taught in the Quran to walk gently and not to be wasteful –“Do not walk proudly
on the earth, your feet cannot tear apart the earth nor are you as tall as the
mountains.”
Despite these similar teachings in the essential texts of these three faiths, important differences emerge at the environmentalism-religion intersection, particularly when looking at the leadership structure of these different groups. Perhaps the most well-known comments of a religious figure’s views on environmental issues are Pope Francis’ recent encyclicals. One such letter, entitled “Laudato Si,” laments the destruction of the environment and the financially driven actions by the wealthy that renders the world more uninhabitable for those less well off. Since this letter was the first encyclical wholly written by Francis, media personalities and environmentalists, Catholic and alike, saw a new hope from the spiritual leader of over one billion individuals around the world.
Father Fye encourages those
interested in the Pope’s writings to approach the issue with some nuance. “The
Church only has competency on faith
and morals.” Additionally, Fye notes that the Vatican making statements on
environmental issues is not something new, and there is no claim of
infallibility. However, “Catholics
should know that [Francis] is speaking from a qualified position” and from an
area of concern, Fye states. While the Vatican itself may have taken somewhat
of a more pro-environmentalism stance in recent years, the extent to which
Catholics adopt such beliefs varies greatly across regions of the world, levels
of religiosity, and political beliefs.
The much more decentralized
forms of leadership in the Jewish and Islamic faiths inherently create unique
advantages and disadvantages in terms of raising environmental awareness among
the faithful. Professor Binhazim notes that the primary spiritual leader who
Muslims look to is the imam at their local congregations, and “it is being
honest to say that [environmentalism] is a topic not many imams have capacity
to talk about.” This, however, does not mean that Muslim leaders as a whole are
turning their backs on environmental responsibility. Binhazim was asked to give
a presentation on the Islamic response to climate change at the Islam Society
of North America’s national conference. Presenters at this panel showed how more
sustainable individual actions could help put the earth on a more sustainable
path. Thus, leaders of the Islamic faith have indeed shown leadership on
environmental issues.
In the Jewish faith, the
multitude of different approaches to the religion and the relatively small
number of followers limits the ability to find a centralized figure responsible
espousing teachings of faith. Local rabbis are looked to for moral guidance,
and have historically been willing to offer policy advice on environmental
issues. The 7th Chabad Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, one of the
most noteworthy Jewish leaders in the 20th century, gave a speech in 1981 calling for more investment in solar
energy. “There is one energy
source which can be made available in a very short time. Solar energy is
non-polluting, cheap, and inexhaustible…it can power individual homes as well
as giant factories.” Schneerson viewed solar energy as a means for America to
take its place in the world that God intended and absolve itself of dependence
on other nations for energy.
In addition to their
respective leadership structures, Judaism, Islam, and Catholicism each have
their own worldviews that are essential to understanding how followers view the
relationship between humans and the environment. Both Catholics and Muslims
believe in the afterlife, but Jews do not. “The essential theme of Judaism, at
least the Chabad approach, is that we’re here on Earth to build it for a house
of God…If that’s the case, and we aren’t looking at the world as a means to an
end, we should therefore treat this place as something that would be around
forever,” says Rothstein. Despite the environmental destruction that is
presently occurring, Rabbi Shlomo has faith that the earth will overcome given
its importance in God’s plan.
Professor Binzahim
emphasizes that the ultimate goal for Muslims around the world “is for
everything that you do to please God.” Thus, the callings of the Quran to not
be wasteful and to make the most use of natural resources are key to following
the faith. This focus on individual action has lead to many outlets for Muslims
to be more environmentally friendly. For example, there is a website where Muslims
can make a commitment on what type of environmentally conscious action they will
undertake. Binzahim notes that many mosques have banned plastic water bottles,
and imams have begun to encourage their congregates to do the same.
In Catholicism, a
hierarchy of spiritual importance exists, and thus informs followers as to go
about their everyday lives. “We are at the top of the hierarchy of the natural
world… yet the hierarchy should be looked at not as a thing of power but of
love. We are meant to serve” [in the example Jesus has set for us,] says Father
Fye. Though humans find themselves at the top of pyramid, the Catholic
worldview tells practitioners that they should care for the natural world since
it is also the product of the divine’s creation.
There are many important nuances in various religions that
environmentalists should be aware of when seeking a common ground between
diverse groups of individuals. As environmental issues become increasingly
complex and international in scope, policy leaders that follow different creeds
and say different prayers during the day will need to find agreement in order
to mitigate these issues – such as climate change, plastic pollution, and
biodiversity losses.
Religion offers “a faith and a charge” as Rabbi Shlomo said. There are few other institutions in the world that have endured as long as Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism. Thus, each of these three faiths offer unique insights as to how some of their followers may link their spiritual beliefs to present day problems. And like for any modern day problem, religion does not have all of the answers for environmental matters. It nevertheless can offer hope amongst daunting obstacles.