WHY IS THE ENVIRONMENT A RELIGIOUS CONCERN?
(From the National Religious Partnership for the Environment)
“The environment” is only a pale reflection of a much richer word: Creation. Not simply what happened “in the beginning,” but the world that reflects the glory of the Creator here and now…through which we are sustained and enlivened…in which we meet the neighbor whom we are to love as ourselves. Creation is the world in which we daily encounter bread and beauty, majestic mountains and familiar neighborhoods, painful brokenness and solace for the spirit. Creation is where we stand as we hear the divine summons to care for our neighbor and for the earth.
Creation invests the world with a depth of meaning not fully captured by the terms “environment” or “nature”. Creation means that all things in heaven and earth are related to the One who gives them their being. Creation means that our dealings with everything around us are bound up with our relationship to the Divine. Creation means that we are creatures, too; the healing of the earth and the healing of human persons and human society must go hand-in-hand.
At the core of Jewish and Christian ethics are the commandments to love God and one’s neighbor. Can we love the Creator without celebrating and caring for the creation? Can we love our neighbor without protecting the environment on which that neighbor’s life and health depend?
