The potential of religion for Earth Stewardship

Abstract

Religious communities are playing an increasingly important role in advancing Earth Stewardship. We briefly summarize the potential of religions and religious values to support this initiative, characterizing its development and acknowledging the inherent tensions between the problems and promise of religious influences. Mobilizing religious believers to contribute to responsible stewardship of the Earth requires a critical appreciation of the complexity of religious traditions and the ways that religious communities view nature, as well as the cultural and spiritual resources that religious teachings provide in confronting change and human suffering. We emphasize religious virtues that favor sustainable resource use and key developments that have prompted fruitful dialogue between ecologists and religious believers. We also describe promising alliances between scientists and spiritual leaders that may help to encourage cooperative Earth Stewardship. Religions have great potential to transform cultures toward improved Earth Stewardship, in collaboration with key scientific, economic, public policy, and education partners.

Religion and social values for sustainability

“…As the potential for religion to be a powerful vehicle for progressing sustainability is increasingly realised (Hitzhusen and Tucker 2013), there is a risk that scholars and practitioners will view religious communities (and religion more generally) as merely instrumental to furthering a normative sustainability agenda. As we have already mentioned, it is essential that sustainability scholars begin first with understanding the complexities of religious contexts (including narratives, histories, practices) rather than simply analysing religion through the lens of academic value theory.…”

Environmental education after sustainability: hope in the midst of tragedy

“…Cooperation with various organizations, for example, in the line of action research (see Stevenson and Robottom 2013), provides help in these kind of activities. One option is collaboration with various local spiritual communities and leaders (Ramsay and Manderson 2011;Hitzhusen 2012Hitzhusen , 2011Hitzhusen , 2007Hitzhusen , 2006Hitzhusen and Tucker 2013;Toh and Cavagas 2010).…”

The Role of Faith Systems and Religions in the Future of Sustainable Development: An Islamic Outlook

“…Many agree that the potential of faith systems in promoting sustainability and sustainable development is great. As Hitzhusen & Tucker (2013) With such potential, one wonders why faith systems and religions have not had a much bigger role in promoting sustainable development topics and issues. The available literature has pointed out four main reasons for this lack of influence.…”

“…"….. our Judeo-Christian religious philosophy that sharply separates man from nature and holds the former as having dominion over the latter; thus, human beings are viewed as entitled to use nature in a way that is most beneficial to our welfare, with little or no regard for other considerations." (Jepson, 2001;p.501) As such, such attitude or belief has led to "practices that have led to the destruction of nature" (Parker, 2015;p.286) and are still the prevalent practices of development in western societies (Judeo-Christian societies) (Hitzhusen & Tucker, 2013). Second, the adherence of faith systems and religions in the world has been declining steadily since the latter part of the nineteenth century especially in the developed world (Al-Rawahy, 2013).…”

“…Third, religions and their preachers have failed to make the issues of climate change, energy consumption and/or sustainability and sustainable development part of their message to the faithful (Parker, 2015;Al-Rawahy, 2013). Fourth, is the general miscommunication and/or lack of communication between the scientific communities and the religious communities, where scientist believe the issues of sustainability are in the tangible world and that the world of faith has no place in it (Johnston, 2010;Hitzhusen & Tucker, 2013).…”