How to navigate the rhetoric and reality of climate change through a spiritual lens
Commentary by Pete Haug | FāVS News
Wow! So much has happened that it feels like a lifetime. But it’s only been 17 years since the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former Vice President Al Gore. They were honored “for their efforts to accumulate and disseminate knowledge about anthropogenic climate change and to lay the foundation for measures needed to combat such change.”
The IPCC’s contributions laid the scientific foundation for two decades of fact about climate change, and Gore’s contribution was to popularize those facts with his hit documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which made science easier to understand.
That was the year I returned to China after 11 years of teaching English. I had spent decades analyzing human-caused environmental impacts, but I was completely ignorant about climate change. When I asked a scientist friend who worked in the forestry industry, he told me, “Al Gore is a liar.”
Breaking down opposing viewpoints
I didn’t reply, but as an ecologist, I questioned his flippant response. Then, as I read more and more of the conflicting opinions on the Internet, my ignorance started to bother me. Both sides of the issue were characterized by heated rhetoric that heated up the Internet and the planet. The conflicting views frustrated me. The supposedly scientific information often seemed agenda-driven and fueled by blame rather than science. In desperation, I enrolled in an online course offered by the Wilmette Institute (WI) in October 2014.
The course’s unbiased scientific approach, aimed at non-scientists, was underpinned by spiritual values. I was immediately convinced. By January 2015, I had prepared and started teaching a six-week evening course on climate change at the Parks and Recreation Department in Pullman, Washington. We met once a week for an hour and a half to develop a basic but superficial understanding of the issues surrounding global warming. In April, I began writing an occasional column for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, with climate change as the main topic.
Important emails
I recently received an email from one of my instructors at WI. She is now an old friend. She is also active in the International Environmental Forum (IEF). She wrote, “We recently made a major revision to our Interfaith Climate Change course on the IEF website. You may have friends who would like to use this course in their group study.” Here is the email she sent me:
Scientific and Spiritual Aspects of Climate Change, Interreligious Studies Course
A revised version of the Interreligious Studies course on the Scientific and Spiritual Dimensions of Climate Change is available on the Baha’i-inspired International Environmental Forum website: https://iefworld.org/ssdcc0.html
The purpose of this course is to contribute to efforts to empower individuals, groups, and institutions to address environmental issues in their communities and engage in meaningful conversations for positive social change.
The topic of climate change is broad, and many people are overwhelmed with too much information, some of which is inaccurate. This course aims to provide the knowledge every citizen of the world needs to build a society in harmony with nature. But knowledge alone is clearly not enough. Spiritual and ethical principles are needed to provide guidance and motivation, and a vision of a just, peaceful and environmentally sustainable world. A spiritual perspective and the ability to act can help to alleviate the despair that can result from realizing the seriousness of the world situation.
Groups can adapt the materials to their special interests and situations, and individuals can use the materials as a resource for personal study and service.
Faith groups of all kinds can use these materials as resources for meaningful conversations, public discussions, prayer meetings, and social activities.
Best of all, it’s free!
What’s the catch? There isn’t. Humanity shares a planet that is under siege from humanity. As inhabitants of that planet, we share the responsibility to care for our shared home, if only to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Caring for others and cooperating creates collective security against natural phenomena that, in this case, result from human carelessness. The privileged can ignore the facts for a while, but we cannot insulate ourselves from the changes in the planet’s environment and the resulting destruction of the amenities it provides: food, clean air and water, and livable temperatures.
In many of His Writings, Baha’u’llah warns humanity against extreme actions:[Y]You walk through My earth self-satisfied and complacent, not caring that My earth is tired of you, and that everything on the earth has turned away from you.”
But the broader context of sharing the Earth is the recognition of the oneness of humanity: “Blessed and happy is the man who stands up for promoting the best interests of his people and kindred on Earth….Pride should not be in the hands of those who love their own country, but rather in the hands of those who love the whole world. The Earth is one country, and mankind its people.”
The views expressed in this opinion section are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News, which values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on faith and spirituality.
