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Reverence For Earth

By FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR Courant Staff Writer April 15 2002 To some, global climate change might be an environmental issue, to others, a political or international issue. For the Rev. Tom Carr, it's spiritual. "I think it is the greatest moral and ethical issue we have ever faced," said Carr, pastor of First Baptist Church in West Hartford. "We are changing the very systems of life that have sustained us on this planet." It's a growing movement. Religious leaders of various denominations say our relationship with the Earth has a spiritual component that demands that people of faith work to protect the environment. "We have killed each other in war, but the human race has never before changed the global systems of the planet," Carr said. "What are we doing? It's playing God." Carr, director of the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network, will be among the presenters at "Sacred Trust, A Springtime Forum on Religion and the Environment" today at Beth El Temple in West Hartford. The interfaith forum will include discussions by faith leaders and activists on a range of environmental issues and ways to advocate for change. Carr said his environmental awareness began in the 1980s as he watched the odyssey of the garbage barge that floated up and down the East Coast for weeks because it had nowhere to unload its trash. At the time, Carr was pastor of a church in Dayton, Ohio. "I became interested in the issue, and I set up a study group at the church that looked at pollution. I wondered, `What does my faith have to say about this?'" he said. At First Baptist, Carr has preached about environmental issues in sermons, held classes for members to learn to read the Bible "with green eyes" and even conducted a major energy audit of the church building to improve its efficiency. Baptisms are honored with tree plantings. "Science and religion are no longer at odds," Carr said. "Science tells us what is, and religion says why and seeks the answers. The writer Annie Dillard once said, `Science asks "Who turned on the lights?" and religion asks `Whatever for?'" In Judaism, the Torah commands Jews to respect the Earth, said Louise Feldman, a

member of Beth El Temple and founder of Torah Treks, which provides outdoor experiences for people to explore their relationship to nature and God. "When people start seeing these connections through their religion, [they] are empowered to do the right thing, which is the preservation life on Earth," Feldman said. Three Jewish holidays, Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot were celebrations of seasons and harvests in ancient times, she added. Feldman said she was moved to explore environmentalism from a Jewish perspective when she heard a rabbi speak on the topic more than a decade ago, and since then "we as a family started treading lightly on the Earth." In treading lightly, Feldman, her husband and son live in a passive solar house in Canton with a dog and two birds. The family uses only biodegradable detergents and no products tested on animals. They also recycle. Feldman, a presenter at the forum, said the interfaith effort adds further meaning to environmental concerns. "I thought God tapped me on the shoulder and said you are one of the ones I need. I think that has happened to a lot of other people also." Ibrahim Ozdemir, a visiting professor at University of Hartford and Hartford Seminary, said the sacred text of Islam, the Koran, has a strong emphasis on nature. Ozdemir will discuss the Sufi view of nature at the conference. Sufism is a mystical form of Islam. "Man is at the top, but he is only one part of nature," Ozdemir said. "He cannot dominate or waste natural resources, because it is given to humanity as a trust." Muslim societies had hospitals for animals as far back as the 14th or 15th century, he said. Much like Jews and Christians, Muslims are rediscovering what their faith tradition says about the need for protection of the environment, Ozdemir added. "The daily and political problems of Islam are not religious in foundation. Man is a part of nature, and all his relationships with nature should be on a more ethical basis." Carr said greater moral and ethical emphasis can help take discussion of environmental issues such as Arctic drilling or protection of endangered species beyond often shallow political debates. "The Arctic is one of the last totally wild places on left on Earth. Where else can we get our sense of awe, in except in wild places? So the question is not just the protection of the caribou. It's a moral question." Copyright 2002, Hartford Courant