looking for a sign

I think this is particularly awesome.

Faith leaders concluded their two-day Interfaith Summit on Climate Change in Uppsala on Saturday by signing a manifesto demanding quick and extensive reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the wealthy parts of the world.

Christian, Buddhist, Daoist, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish and Native American leaders signed the declaration that states, “We all share the responsibility of being conscious caretakers of our home, planet Earth. We have reflected on the concerns of scientists and political leaders regarding the alarming climate crisis. We share their concerns.”

So, I am going to generalize on this one, A LOT! That being said, the reason I find this promising is because in my mind there has always been a conflict with religion and saving the planet. Why? Well, because the same things that show up in climate change are the same things that show up if you believe in omega, Armageddon, the end of days.

If you believe in a God that is supposed to come back and reek havoc on Earth and destroy those who are unworthy, then you don’t care about the planet, per se, because you see it as confirmation in your faith. What I see as science at work, you see as God’s path.

That is why I find this promising. Because it appears to me as a shift in belief towards honoring what God has given you, instead of destroying the planet cause the ultimate hope is to go to heaven, is occurring.

“Today it is widely acknowledged that world religions have an important role to play in revisioning a sustainable future, because religions are the repositories of values and norms that guide human actions toward the natural world,” said Tirosh-Samuelson. “Through cosmological narratives, symbols, rituals, ethical directives, and institutional structures, religions shape how we act toward the environment.”

“Hence,” she said, “all attempts to transform our environmental attitudes so as to generate a sustainable world must include understanding of world religions and cooperation with religious people.”

The entire article can be found HERE, via The Environmental News Service