Final Thoughts from the Faith for Earth Resource

Each day we live, we take from and give back to the world around us. We can choose what we take and what we give back.

All too often our gifts back are laden with poisons and destructive consequences, shaped more by our ignorance or greed than by knowledge or wisdom. Ignorance, however, is a voluntary misfortune. Living in our times means that we are to be judged not by our intentions, but by the consequences of our actions. We are the first generation of humans to have the knowledge, technology, and wealth to create societies that are sustainable and just. With that opportunity comes responsibility.

To realize our opportunity we have to choose responsibility — not just say we choose it — but commit to developing the capacity — at every level — to understand the material, physical, and moral consequences of the choices we make.

The Faith Traditions offer us the moral guidance to restructure “right and wrong,” both in terms of the wellbeing of our planet and justice for all. From a scientific perspective, we have a growing capacity to comprehend the full consequence of our choices. From an economic perspective, we can no longer say we cannot afford sustainability, and we can clearly see that unsustainable choices lead to impoverishment, ecological disaster, and moral bankruptcy.

Neither the perspective of faith nor of science will allow us to claim innocence about the consequences of our actions.

In 1995, the Parliament of the World’s Religions offered the world a declaration expressing the ethical commitments held in common by the world’s religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions. The initial declaration, “Towards a Global Ethic,” calls for a change of consciousness and articulates four ethical directives that describe a commitment to a culture of respect for life, economic justice, truth and compassion, and women’s rights. In 2018, the Parliament added a further component to the core values and principles in the Global Ethic — a fifth directive that describes its commitment to sustainability and care for Earth.

The simplest truth of this Ethic is that we can choose to cherish or destroy our world. That is the core meaning of living in the Anthropocene. This book is but an introduction to that reality. Our choices will determine the future of our planet. Therein lies the hope and the danger of this time in the history of the world.

Reconciling our existence with the wellbeing of all starts with acknowledging the patterns of behavior individually and societally that are inconsistent with our values. Achieving reconciliation with the rest of the living world requires change.

Our faiths call us to be warriors for the sustainability and wellbeing of our world. The challenge is enormous, but it does not have to be daunting. No one can do all that must be done, but everyone can do something. One is not responsible for what one truly cannot do alone, but all of us are responsible for what we do together. Accomplishing what is needed starts with each of us doing what we can. We can pay attention to the signals that our world and our fellow humans are sending every day.

We can begin by accepting responsibility for all the by-products of what we consume as we live, by contributing to a clean energy revolution, by respecting and cherishing life in all its forms, by living in a way that accepts that all humans have an equal right to the bounty of creation and equal responsibility for the wellbeing of our world. In doing so, we can grant all life the respect and dignity we claim for ourselves.

 

Meet the Reader: Divya Ramesh is a student affiliate at the Center and she believes that the true function of religion is a state of being in complete order of consciousness.