Glenda B. Claborne
J205/3
October 3, 1997
Religion and Environment
Religion and the environment need not be strange bedfellows but necessary partners in solving social and ecological crises. This was the consensus expressed by panelists on Organized Religion and the Environment, one of the sessions at the 7th National Conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists held Oct. 2-5 at the University of Arizona.
"The environment is a spiritual issue," said California State Sen. Tom Hayden, author of The Lost Gospel of the Earth.
"No movement has ever succeeded through lawyers," Hayden quipped and the audience of about 75 journalists laughed. "Nor scientists," Hayden added. He said grassroots environmental movements that start well and grow big eventually experience burnout "because of a lack of spiritual grounding."
Paul Gorman, representative of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, said "in the '70s and '80s, the environmental movement was working on a narrow vision, the leadership largely secular and, in fact, suspicious of organized religion." He said that now there is a slow but irreversible trend among religious organizations to be involved in environmental debates.
Rev. John Fife, pastor of the Tucson Southside Presbyterian Church asked, "Why, when we have all the information, all the evidence, why hasn't the change occurred? Because, the essence of the crisis is spiritual."
In reference to the religious backlash in some right-wing movements, Hayden said "Not to respond to them is to allow them to monopolize religious movements." He said the environmental movement should ask, "How much time, how much money, is being spent by churches on environmental issues?"
Fife responded, "The rise of the religious right is not a sign of devastation to me but a sign of great hope." He talked about revival preceding great reformations in the history of economic, social, and cultural crises in America.
"How would you like to see evangelical Christians and endangered species in one headline?" asked Gorman jokingly. He asked why the environmental movement should not use "the power of moral and religious visions to animate great social movements."
A question-and-answer session, moderated by Larry Stammer, religion writer for the Los Angeles Times, followed the panelists' speeches.
Hayden sold copies of his book. He was the only invited politician to make it to the SEJ conference (Arizona State Rep. Jim Kolbe and California State Rep. Esteban Torres, both scheduled for the "Opening Plenary" on NAFTA, have cancelled).
SEJ is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance public understanding of environmental issues by improving the quality, accuracy, and visibility of environmental reporting. It claims membership of more than 1,100 journalists working for print and electronic media.