(Photo Credit: Jim Davidson) Jewish leaders were among 50 religious leaders who prayed and visited Capitol Hill together during the week of February 22 to tell US legislators that action on climate change is urgently needed.
Religious faith and concern for the environment should really go hand in hand. If you believe in God and in God’s creations, then you are invested in protecting and caring for them.
Here on Green Prophet we have repeatedly demonstrated the correlation between religion and the earth. To name a few related stories, we have written about Islam’s green agenda, the Eco-Rabbi series, and interfaith environmental initiatives.
The concern for the environment among the faithful was demonstrated during recent weeks by the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care (NRCCC) in the US. A delegation of approximately 50 people from a variety of backgrounds and religions met in Washington D.C. from February 21-24 for the NRCCC’s annual Washington Week and National Prayer Breakfast on Creation Care. The delegation’s mission was to remind legislators of the moral need for strong environmental legislation now.
The NRCC, which brings together Catholics, Jews, Evangelicals, Protestants, Bahaiis and Buddhists (among others), describes its mission as “serv[ing] God and the health of creation by bringing together the formal environmental policy positions of religious institutions and by communicating those positions to elected officials and government leaders.”
Mirele Goldsmith, who was one of the 50 religious leaders in attendance, said that “during the Prayer Breakfast, I addressed the gathering, saying in part: ‘As Jews joining together with other people of faith, we look to our Government with hope, and we urge our elected representatives to show leadership and commit themselves to act courageously to set a new course for our country and our world. Judaism teaches that human beings are made in the image of God and that we have responsibility to emulate God. We have the ability to be creative, to give sustenance, to act with compassion. We have the capacity to end our consumption of dangerous polluting fuels, to expand our use of alternative means to provide ourselves with energy, and restore natural systems we have degraded. May we cherish the Earth, and act swiftly to protect all of creation from the threats of climate change.”
Read more about interfaith environmental initiatives::
Inter-faith Initiative Pushes to Mobilize Billions in Fight Against Climate Change
Rabbi Julian Joins with Other Faiths to ‘Love God, Heal Earth’
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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