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MANY FAITHS MEET
IN BELIEF ON ENVIRONMENT
Oregonian, September
18, 2003
Author: MICHELLE
COLE and SHELBY OPPEL
They've switched
to energy-saving light bulbs, taken on the SUV, become
educated about climate change. Today, 120 leaders representing a diversity
of Oregon faith communities will gather in Salem to decide their next
move.
The meeting comes
three years after the kickoff of the Oregon Interfaith
Global Warming Campaign and at a time when Americans of many faiths are
beginning to square their religious beliefs with their choices that affect
the
environment.
This link between
religion and the environment is not confined to Oregon --
or to liberal Christians. It extends increasingly to Jewish congregations,
to
Muslim discussions and to what's taught in conservative evangelical
seminaries nationwide.
Five years ago, when
he talked to fellow evangelical Christians about their
responsibility to protect forests or endangered species, Peter Illyn says
he
risked being branded a pagan.
Not anymore.
"Nobody is saying
that it's inappropriate for Christians to care about
creation," says Illyn, who is executive director of Restoring Eden,
a
nonprofit Christian conservation organization in La Center, Wash.
Disagreement continues,
however, about how and where the discussions
should occur.
Too much attention
to environmental stewardship, instead of to the church's
mission to proclaim the Gospel, "trivializes our calling," says
the Rev. Scott
Gilchrist of Southwest Bible Church in Beaverton.
"The bottom
line in my life will not be how well I took care of the
environment around me, but how well I loved God and loved people,"
he
says.
Rabbi David Rosenberg
of Congregation Shaarie Torah in Northwest
Portland says he addresses Jews' obligations to the Earth as they arise
in the
Hebrew Scriptures throughout the year. He also talks about Jewish teachings
against waste and exploitation of the environment. He takes care, however,
not to offend.
"I have to be
always careful not to attack people who like SUVs," he says.
What people drive,
however, has become central to the faith leaders'
message. Last year, a coalition of Christians launched a national campaign,
"What Would Jesus Drive?," which challenged U.S. automakers.
And today
in Salem, ministers, priests, rabbis and Muslim and Buddhist leaders from
around Oregon will release a report urging state government to buy the
most
fuel-efficient cars and trucks for use by state police and other agencies.
Activities around
Oregon
Other activities connecting religion and the environment are planned in
Oregon in the next few months:
* Next week Imago
Dei, an evangelical Christian congregation in Southeast
Portland, will offer an eight-week course on "Creation and the
Environment." It will cover not only the tension between science
and
Bible-based theories of creation but also the scriptural basis for caring
for
the Earth.
* The Oregon Board
of Rabbis voted to devote sermons delivered on
Sukkot, the Jewish harvest holiday falling on Oct. 11 this year, to the
topic
of "energy independence."
* The Multnomah Biblical
Seminary's Institute for the Theology of Culture
will have a conference in November titled "Evangelical Environmentalism:
Oxymoron or Opportunity?"
Leaders of many faiths
point out that this seemingly new interest in
environment and religion is rooted in ancient texts. Christians cite the
book
of Genesis. Jews refer to the concept of "tikkun olam," Hebrew
for
"repairing the world."
"The Quran deals
with these questions very deeply and very broadly," says
Mike Branch, who serves on the advisory board for the Muslim Educational
Trust and worships at Masjed As-Saber, a Southwest Portland mosque.
Branch says he will
attend today's meeting in Salem to show Muslims'
commitment to be involved with other communities and to have a voice on
the issues of the day.
Effect hard to assess
It's difficult to quantify how many congregations in Oregon or nationwide
are addressing the environment or to what effect.
"The autonomy
of local churches, especially Protestant churches, makes it
impossible for me to answer," says Fred Van Dyke, director of the
environmental studies program at Wheaton College, a private Christian
college in Illinois.
But there are, Van
Dyke says, "many signs that environmental concerns are
slowly becoming more mainstream throughout contemporary Christian
culture."
Of the 101 Christian
and church-related colleges that are members of the
Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Van Dyke counts 38 that
offer majors, minors or academic concentrations in environmental or
ecological study. Ten years ago, that number probably would have been
in
the single digits, he says.
Bishops urge stewardship
Nearly three years ago, Roman Catholic bishops in the Northwest issued
a
pastoral letter calling on Catholics and "all people of good will"
to be better
stewards of the land, water and communities within the Columbia River
watershed.
The letter's influence
on Catholics' attitudes and choices also is difficult to
measure. But it has prompted a response in some parishes.
At St. Philip
Neri Catholic Church in Southeast Portland, construction is
scheduled to begin this week on a bioswale in the parking lot, says Ken
Otto, a church member. The project will capture and filter storm runoff,
protecting rivers and groundwater. The parish also took the lead last
fall in
organizing an educational "watershed festival" for 10 parishes
in Southeast
Portland.
Rick McKinley, pastor
of Imago Dei, says that for too long, theologically
conservative Christians have neglected the scriptural call to be stewards
of
the environment.
In contrast, his
congregation, where the average age is 25 to 28, sees the
environmental debate as an opportunity to show others "how the Gospel
speaks about these issues."
"We're engaging
the culture," he says, "instead of protecting ourselves from
it or avoiding it."
Michelle Cole: 503-294-5143
or michellecole@news.oregonian.com
Shelby Oppel: 503-221-5368 or shelbyoppel@news.oregonian.com
Copyright (c) 2003
Oregonian Publishing Co.
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