Sacred* Connections
The Emerging Alliance* of World Religions and Ecology

1 The growing alliance of religion and ecology within the academic world and religious communities is bringing together diverse* perspectives from the world’s religious traditions, about their attitudes towards nature. Religious scholars have begun to identify the symbolic, scriptural and ethical aspects of religions and their relations with the natural world. Religious practitioners and environmentalists are using these resources as a source of inspiration to motivate long-term* changes. The Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2000 report notes that in solving environmental problems “all of society’s institutions – from organised religion to corporations – have a role to play.”
2 Although religions have sometimes preserved* the status quo, they have also provoked social change. They can be limiting but also liberating. In the twentieth century, for example, religious leaders helped start movements such as civil rights and social justice. More recently, they were important in starting a movement called Jubilee 2000 for international debt* reduction.
3 Although the responses of religions to the environmental crisis were slow at first, they have been growing over the last twenty-five years. The two most recent Parliaments of World Religions issued major statements on global ethics, stressing environmental issues as well as human rights. Religious groups have also helped to create the Earth Charter, which represents long-standing concerns for a fairer distribution of wealth, respect for human rights, an end to war, and the extension of compassion* to all living beings.
4 Just as religions played an important role in creating socio-political changes in the twentieth century, now religions could contribute to the emergence* of a broader environmental ethics. Whether it is from the perspective of Western religions that the Earth is part of divine* Creation and therefore should be respected, or from the perspective of indigenous* traditions that nature is infused* with a sacred presence, or from the perspective of Eastern religions that the universe participates in ongoing creative transformations with which humans should harmonise themselves, the idea of nature as a complex reality to be revered* is widespread*. For many religions, the natural world is a source of teaching, guidance and visionary inspiration. At the same time, nature is also a provider of food, clothing and shelter. Thus, religions have developed complex systems of thanksgiving around human dependence on animals and plants, on forests and fields, on rivers and oceans.
5 Exploring the relationship between religions and ecology may lead toward agreement on several important principles. Even though there may be some variation in interpretation, the common values that most religions hold in relation to the natural world might be summarised as: reverence*, respect, restraint*, redistribution, and responsibility. Although these principles have been previously understood mainly with regard to relations toward other humans, the challenge now is to extend them to the natural world. As this shift occurs, religions can support reverence for the Earth and its profound* cosmological processes, respect for the Earth’s many species, an extension of ethics to include all life forms, restraint in the use of natural resources combined with support for effective alternative technologies, a fair redistribution of wealth, and the acknowledgement of human responsibility in regard to the continuity of life and the ecosystems that support life. In this way, the emerging alliance of religion and ecology can contribute to the life of the Earth community for the well-being of future generations.

1 A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master. One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled up the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, and spent a long time raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. “Isn’t it beautiful,” he called out to the old master. “Yes,” replied the old man, “but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I’ll put it right for you.”
After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the centre of the garden, took it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves fell down all over the garden. “There,” said the old man, “you can put me back now.”

2 One of master Gasan’s monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. “No,” Gasan replied. “Please read some of it to me.” The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount of St. Matthew and began reading. After reading Christ’s words about the lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. “Yes,” he finally said, “Whoever said these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!”

Some common verbs can be followed either by the infinitive form (to + verb) or the gerund (verb + -ing), but the choice of infinitive or gerund affects the meaning. Choose the most appropriate form in each sentence, answer the questions in pairs, and then discuss the differences in meaning.