By Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, from the Fall 2007 issue of Environmnent: Yale magazine.

For many years, environmental issues were considered to be the concern of scientists, lawyers and policy makers. Now the ethical dimensions of the environmental crisis are becoming more evident. What is our moral responsibility to future generations? Can religious and cultural perspectives be considered in creating viable solutions to environmental challenges?

Until recently, many religious communities have been so absorbed in internal sectarian affairs that they were unaware of the magnitude of the environmental crisis. Certainly the natural world figures prominently in the major religions: God’s creation of material reality in Judaism, Christianity and Islam; the manifestation of the divine in the karmic processes underlying the recycling of matter in Hinduism and Jainism; the interdependence of life in Buddhism; and the Tao (the Way) that courses through nature in Confucianism and Taoism. Despite those emphases on creation, many religions turned their focus from the turbulent world in a redemptive flight to a serene, transcendent afterlife.

Questions arise, then: If religions are willing to stand by and witness the withering of the Earth, has not something of their religious sensibilities become deadened or, at best, severely reduced? Why have religions been so late in responding to environmental issues, and what are the obstacles to their full participation? Why has apocalyptic thinking come to interpret ecological collapse as a manifestation of the end time?

We cannot deny the limits or the intolerant dimensions of religions as expressed in sectarianism and violence. Examples are evident throughout history, as well as in contemporary global conflicts. However, religions have also contributed to liberating movements for social justice and human rights. In that spirit, it is important to note that religions have changed over time, transforming themselves and their dogma in response to new ideas and circumstances. Although Christianity had no ban against slavery, Christian churches in Britain and the United States came to embrace the abolitionist position. Given that history, we have reason to believe that as the moral dimension of the environmental crisis becomes ever more apparent, religions will energize and support a new generation of leaders in the environmental movement.

Religions have developed ethics for homicide, suicide and genocide; now they are challenged to respond to biocide and ecocide. Moreover, the environment presents itself as one of the most compelling concerns for robust interreligious dialogue. The common ground for dialogue is the Earth itself, along with a shared sense among the world’s religions of the interdependence of all life.

A new scholarly field of religion and ecology is emerging, with implications for environmental policy, as well as for understanding the complexity and variety of human attitudes toward nature. The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, for example, under the leadership of Dean Speth, has initiated an interdisciplinary project on climate change and a joint degree program with Yale Divinity School that include the role of religion and values. Many environmental-studies programs in the United States are seeking to incorporate such a broad ethical approach into their curricula.

The effort to identify religiously diverse attitudes toward nature was the focus of a major international conference series on world religions and ecology held at Harvard in the late 1990s. It resulted in a 10-volume series of books distributed by Harvard University Press. The American Academy of Religion has a vibrant section focusing on scholarship and teaching in religion and ecology. A scholarly journal, Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion, is celebrating its 10th year of publication. Clearly this field of study will continue to expand as the environmental crisis grows in complexity and requires increasingly creative interdisciplinary responses.

The religions are starting to find their voices by exploring culturally diverse environmental ethics. The monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are formulating original eco-theologies and eco-justice practices regarding stewardship and care for creation. Hinduism and Jainism in South Asia, and Buddhism in both Asia and the West, have undertaken projects of ecological restoration. Indigenous peoples bring to the discussion alternative ways of knowing and engaging the natural world.

All of those religious traditions are moving forward to find the language, symbols, rituals and ethics for encouraging protection of bioregions and species. Religions are beginning to restore the Earth through such practices as tree planting, coral-reef preservation, energy conservation, responsible consumption and river cleanup. In addition, religions are bridging the gap between those concerned with social and economic justice and those working for a sustainable environment. This is a new moment for the world’s religions, and they have a vital role to play in the development of a more comprehensive environmental ethics. The urgency of this process cannot be underestimated. Indeed, the flourishing of the Earth community may depend on it.

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, co-founders and co-directors of the Forum on Religion and Ecology, teach religion and ecology at Yale University. They are editors of the Harvard book series Religions of the World and Ecology. More information on the Forum on Religion and Ecology is available online (www.religionandecology.org).