Topic
Churchgoers opposed to tankers, pipelines say activism expresses compassion for God's creation.
Psychologist Robert Worcester co-chairs the eco-justice committee of the Anglican diocese of New Westminster.
In England and Canada, the Anglican Church seems to have forgotten whose side Jesus was on. Some folks are jogging its memory.
I'm a gay lapsed Catholic who's moved on. Yet I allow Benedict XVI to bedevil me. Here's why.
His message of non-violence is no plea for passivity. He knew how to challenge power.
Find more environment reporting on The Tyee.
Christ Church Cathedral stands overshadowed by modern glass and steel skyscrapers in Vancouver's downtown core. The century-old Anglican church is a bit of Vancouver heritage, a reminder of the province's British colonial roots. When British royalty visit, they worship there.
On a Monday, the church offers shelter from the rain and a meal for city homeless. On a Sunday, it still provides mass. But on a Saturday late in April, the hall of worship provided space for an event of a different sort. Delegates from the Lower Mainland's 60 Anglican parishes met with over a dozen representatives from other denominations to take a good look at projects to transport more oil sands crude, and the hazard those pose to the environment and B.C. First Nations.
"No religious tradition says 'blessed are the greedy.' It's out of that tradition that people can speak to the pipeline tanker issue," said Robert Worcester, who sits as co-chair of the eco-justice committee of the Anglican diocese of New Westminster, which stretches from Hope to Tsawwassen.
He said participants learned about the impacts of the Enbridge Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan pipelines, and increased tanker traffic in the Port of Vancouver.
From 'prophetic' to eco-focused
The Compassion for Creation event, organized by Anglicans for Eco-justice, is one more milestone towards more faith group participation in environmental debates. And the heavy Anglican presence at the forum reflects the increased pull environmental issues have among many mainline Christians, who are putting more pressure on their leaders to oppose energy projects that will increase greenhouse gas emissions and perpetuate our reliance on fossil fuels.
Those at the forum, said Worcester, agreed Anglican bishops needed to take a stronger stance on the Northern Gateway Pipeline.
This is not the first time Anglicans have waded into B.C. energy debates. In response to pressure from the B.C. and Yukon diocese, six Anglican bishops released a Good Friday statement this April expressing concern over the "fairness" of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline hearings. The group said federal Conservative comments, and government attempts to streamline environmental assessment reviews, risked jeopardizing democracy by denying those affected -- especially First Nations -- a fair chance to air their views.
That statement is the strongest the church has been willing to make on the pipeline, and it reflects caution among top Anglican clergy, who don't want to alienate Anglican churches who might be supportive of the pipeline, said Worcester.
In a recent story on The Tyee, Donald Grayston, a retired Simon Fraser University religious studies instructor, said the Anglican clergy was once deeply involved in social causes. The 1960s and '70s formed the heydays of the Anglican social mission in Canada, when "prophetic ministry" found purchase amongst the top ranks of B.C. clergy, he said. Ministers were encouraged to prophesy hellfire and damnation as a way of moving society to address injustices.
Anglican activists in B.C. and elsewhere worked parallel with other civil-rights era campaigns, where church organizations -- led by the likes of Rev. Martin Luther King -- formed the nucleus of many groups seeking to rectify racial and economic inequity.
However after the 1970s, church attendance rates fell and prophetic ministry appeared to be turning off too many people. In recent years, the upper echelons of the Anglican Church have been reluctant to take sides on issues of systemic inequity like those raised during the Occupy Wall Street protests. Many churches have preferred to focus on social issues like gay marriage, which has created friction between progressive and conservative Anglicans worldwide.
'Late to the table'
Now, though, new alliances within the church may be forming over saving the environment.
"Christians have come late to the table" as active participants in the environmental movement, said Mallory McDuff, a lifelong Episcopalian and an environmental education instructor at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. She is author of Natural Saints and was lead contributor to the recently published Sacred Acts, two books that give voice to people of faith on the front lines of environmentalism.
She said the weight of scientific evidence over climate change, and concern over environmental despoliation in general, is leading many faith groups to fuse existing traditions of social activism with environmental concern. In other words, Anglicans are increasingly being swept up in a broader green faith movement.
Stewardship over God's creations and loving neighbour as self are two principles which lead Christians to respect nature, said Reverend Margaret Marquardt, who helped organize the forum at Christ Church Cathedral. "Neighbour is not just humans being neighbour; neighbour is other creatures and neighbour is the land," she said.
Anglican Reverend Margaret Marquardt: 'Neighbour' includes animals and even the land.
Beyond 'dominion over the earth'
Neighbour also includes developing world countries who don't have the resources to cope with the many impacts of climate change, said McDuff.
"Christian groups worldwide are on the front lines of disaster response.... And they're like, look, we're going to be in the position of full-time disaster relief if you can't get people on board to address climate change through both mitigation and adaptation," she said.
"We're really seeing a re-framing of a classic argument that Christians think we have dominion over the earth.... Unfortunately, the reality is a lot of people, including environmentalists, are just hearing this vocal minority like (former Republican presidential candidate) Rick Santorum and some of the super conservative Christian groups."
McDuff said Christians are involved in climate change activism in North America. Initiatives like Creation Care and What would Jesus drive? have tried to curb emissions and waste south of the border. The Keystone pipeline protests involved religious groups both in Washington, D.C., and on the ground in Nebraska, said McDuff. Closer to home, April of last year, Earth Ministry -- a Washington state coalition of Christian activists -- played a key role in lobbying to have the state's last coal power plant retired. (The bill, E2SSB 5759, passed, and both of the plant's coal-fired boilers are to be shut down by 2025.)
"We're finding that there are a lot of congregations, based on the principle of justice, that are able to unite around climate change" despite disagreeing about issues like abortion and gay marriage, said McDuff.
As a consequence of that agreement, Christian activists can harness and deploy church space, congregation volunteers and donations, and other church assets from multiple different denominations in the service of environmental causes. And their contributions could become increasingly significant in Canada, where the Conservative government has already expressed suspicion towards where secular environmental groups get their money.
A moral stance on consumerism
Worcester said Christian groups can also make another contribution by changing how society, more broadly, views nature.
He said many participants at the April forum were of the view that prevailing consumerist values were broken, and that Christians could play a key role in reshaping them. Voluntary simplicity, he said, is something common to many Christian traditions, and it's the "most radical position" one can take in a consumer society.
"It's appropriate for people with a religious background to say money is not the most important thing here.... It's respect for (First Nations') culture and the natural world; these are more important issues than how much money a few Texans can make," he said.
"In the states there's the confusion between right-wing political ideologies and right-wing conservative religious values.... We don't buy into that."
[Tags: Environment, Energy, Rights + Justice.] ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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Dan the socialist
1 year ago
Religion needs to go the way
Religion needs to go the way of the dodo and take dirty oil with them.
Frank
1 year ago
Just to add
"No religious tradition says 'blessed are the greedy.'
Libertarians (objectivist kind) do and you can't find a more faith-based worldview than theirs. Of course Ayn Rand became a socialist at the end, in deed if not word, when she decided to access healthcare she didn't pay for.
Anyway, its great to see the Anglicans on the side of God and the environment on this one.
jimmmmy
1 year ago
silly idea
Religion is always way behind the curve when it comes to social upheaval. The Greens in Canada receive most of their funding from right wing , status quo groups usually disguised. Both of these "groups" have an absolute belief in Christo--Capitalism and are part of the problem.
Steve Hetherington
1 year ago
welcome
without in any way judging,because as is true with anyone there is good and bad in all.
Christions coming to the table late works for me.
All I can say is WELCOME aboard folks-glad to have you with us.
Noggy
1 year ago
Lets stand together
I cannot say with any certainity what is the truth of our existance but I would be willing to stand with any who choose to slow/stop the destruction of all living and non-living systems.
I am not a follower of farmed relgion but I have respect for those who cherish our planet and humanity. The religious leaders who foster the destruction of our planet by sowing the seeds of hatred and greed should be separated from those of a more humble nature.
realisticman
1 year ago
Yea, Verily.
Here they go again 'helping' BC First Nations with religion and compassion in place of money and greed. A nice little church instead of economic growth. As the oil tap is shut off the cash distribution will, of course, have to slow too. It doesn't grow on trees. Happiness and feeling of being close to God in unspoilt nature is sufficient. Who needs trucks and supermarkets and hospitals for white-man diseases anyway? Back to the woods and on our knees in thanks.
frank2
1 year ago
I'd like to see more extreme
I'd like to see more extreme evangelicals adopt an "environmental" approach to their task which they believe is stewarding the earth. But when one realises that many sects look forward to end days of disaster and suffering, (except for the faithful who will escape (be saved)) I'm not sure how realistic this is.
alive
1 year ago
Go away
If there was no religion there would be no hell!
lynn
1 year ago
Noggy
Well said.
rantnic
1 year ago
IN THE NAME OF RELIGION
Christianity is likened to insanity when one realizes that more people have been killed and tortured in Christs name, throughout history than any other deity.
The Catholic church, wealthier than most countries in the world, does little to alleviate poverty while promoting the birth of even more little Catholics. Really, how different are all of those other types of Christians?
Fear your God and fear your government, for they are the power and they are the glory. Kneel at the feet of industry for the will save you as they have saved the rest of this God forsaken world.
Hark unto Harper for he is a bringer of wealth to those he finds in need!
Steve Hetherington
1 year ago
no hell you say?
Alive,you are in fact stating that there is a hell because of religion.If religion is a belief or a thought then one could conclude hell also is.
Without getting into religous wars----because we really go on forever and never get anywhere,lets just agree to stand for democracy together---all of us-white- black-so called saved--unsaved.It is of no concern.
Makes no sense to bash religion.We are quick to condem Harper because of his religous beliefs-and rightfully so.When someone of the"faith" denounces this moron of a PM and is willing to stand against him lets PLEASE welcome them on board and stay united.Our upcoming battles are vitally important.And the "harpers" of this country would just love us to start infighting.
Together we all must stop this a#@hole.
We are so far anyway allowed to believe as we wish and so it should remain---right? right.
Emmanuel Goldstein
1 year ago
Lesser of two evils
Well, I'm no fan of religion but this is a far better approach to reality than espoused by the Cornwall Alliance, of which many in the Harper regime seem to be rabid acolytes.
http://www.cornwallalliance.org/
OwlRol
1 year ago
Choices
Some of you guys are truly sad sack. Others have got it correct (don't want to use the word "right").
I'm agnostic and hate being harrangued by my born again relatives and such.
But when they get out of that consumerism, locked in by so many of all and no denominations, I give a sigh of contentment.
Indoctrinated eyes take time to clear, be they religious, economic, nationalistic (tribal) or otherwise self serving.
Many of those social conservatives are starting to realize how they have been manipulated by the fiscal conservatives, even against their own belief systems.
Consider how many 1st. Nations, traditional or converted Christian, oppose the pipes.
Consider how many moderates, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, atheist or other, would consider and advocate for a less materialistic and simpler life.
Therein lies a very powerful coalition, one that could disempower the extremists of all stripes, from Al Quada to the oil barons and their political lapdogs.
To degrade and alienate those moderates who would contribute to a more peaceful, sustainable and socially just world community, whatever their personal origin and morality beliefs, so long as they show tolerance and acceptance to others, is truly self defeating.
We need a very broad coalition to oust the self centred and often blinded radicals of every sort, legitimate or not.
To needlessly ridicule or turn away potentially well meening allies will result in blow back as enemies.
Discourse between various groups is crucial, or the extremists win.
I'm glad that some religious groups are looking beyond what was once straightforward dogma. Let's encourage rather than disuade.
Luck
1 year ago
NO FAITH NO FUTURE....................
NO FAITH NO FUTURE....................
IF PEOPLE PUT AS MUCH ENERGY INTO SHAPING OUR WORLD FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND,
THIS WOULD BE THE BEST FAITH BASED WORLD WE COULD EVER ASK FOR
BELIEVING IN OURSELVES AND DIVINE INTERVENTION
NO FAITH NO FUTURE....................
jimmmmy
1 year ago
Goldstein
Surely your aware that Harper and most of his cabinet are flaming evengellicals?
jimmmmy
1 year ago
OwlRol
Agnostic is a term developed by friends of Darwin to cover his unhappy finding that world was not 6000 years old. It's a "cop out" used to avoid argument, and/or meanful discourse.
jimmmmy
1 year ago
Frank
Ayn Rand was an Objectivist not a Libertarian. She is currently being pillored by left and misinterpreted by the right for their own purposes. To minimize Obamas connection with the Chicago School of Econ. on the left and to reinterpret Greenspan and Freidman on the right. Her philosophy is not about economics, but the ancient struggle between the right of the individual as opposed to the rights of the group/government.
freebear
1 year ago
I have a copy of a cartoon
of a Notice outside of a church; the notice reads:
"Be fruitfal and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it" Gen 1:28"
then underneath:
"Help save the planet fundraiser, Sun 6 PM"
That about sums up my thoughts on religion and environment!
physics guy
1 year ago
Rantnic
"Christianity is likened to insanity when one realizes that more people have been killed and tortured in Christs name, throughout history than any other deity."
Except for the deity of Atheism. How many millions did Stalin slaughter? Mao? And don't forget that Hitler's philosophy of the master race was directly influenced by Nietzsche's 'superman'.
For all the criticisms that religious types get for being intolerant, it never ceases to amaze me the intolerance for and prejudice against anyone who is affiliated with a religious group. The story is about Christians standing up for the environment because it's what they believe the Bible and Christ really teach. I understand the vitriol against the evangelical right-wingers who use religion as a means to gaining obscene wealth. I hate it too, and anyone espousing this sort of garbage simply does not understand the teachings of Jesus Christ.
caber1
1 year ago
Religion taking time off from hating and being fatuous
Good should be done for the sake of goodness, as opposed to doing it in the hopes of getting into the "Heaven Club".
Religion and those who are brainwashed by it have no credibility in today's world. They are looked upon as being weak minded and fanatical and highlighting your faith leaves most of the rest of us doubting you in any endeavor where you push your deity before you as you go.
jimmmmy
1 year ago
Physicsguy
It's long been established that if jesus existed at all he was a montage of radical, gay. Hebrews. who were persecuted and routinely crucified by the Romans at the behest of the local Hebrew authorities. If jesus existed today he would be called Bin Laden. Stalin was not an Atheist,he was raised in the eastern orthodox tradition. Intolerance has long been the bailiwik of christians and projection is tranferring your intolerance onto others a favorite trick of christo-capitalist these days. That is to say that if I disagree with your "opinion" I'm being intolerant. Atheism is simply defined as , no belief in god. to call it a religion, some one posted , is like calling baldness a hair style.
judycross
1 year ago
"Green Faith"
Yes, I love it...because that is what Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis was supposed to start. I don't know whether he'd still support the idea given his recent about face:
http://voices.yahoo.com/gaia-author-james-lovelock-recants-climate-change-11270690.html?cat=9
Unfortunately, the Green Priesthood is probably just as corrupt as any other priesthood has been found to be.
http://www.wattsupwiththat.com/ 2011/ 11/ 18/ dr-james-hansens-growing-financial-scandal-now-over-a-million-dollars -of-outside-income/
I don't think the average church goer knows about things like this:
Armed Troops Burn Down Homes, Kill Children To Evict Ugandans In Name Of Global Warming
http://www.infowars.com/ armed-troops-burn-down-homes-kill-children-to-evict-ugandans-in-name- of-global-warming/
judycross
1 year ago
Gee, the links aren't long enough
I guess you'll just have to cut and paste the whole link if you are interested. Just another little bump on the highway to freedom from false gods.