One reason we pay so little close attention to the separate natural world around us is that it has always been there and we presumed it always would be.

As it disappears, its primal importance will be clear – in the same way that some people think they have put their parents out of their lives and learn differently only when the day comes to bury them.

Science and religion have often been at odds. But today we must forge a new alliance of these former adversaries around the urgent issue of global warming.

Scientists can measure the destructive effect of human behavior on climate – as they have repeatedly done in recent years. But science cannot motivate people to change their harmful ways. It takes a passionate faith to move people in new directions – and only religion can provide that.

The idea that taking care of the environment is a religious duty is hardly new. In the beginning, according to the Book of Genesis, God placed humanity in charge of creation. But, by and large, God's people have not been good stewards of God's creation.

While most of us were indifferent to the growing environmental crisis, a few among us preached a new stewardship of creation. Now some in government seem to have heard them.

It is up to us as people of faith to provide that support. Let us pledge our assistance to the leaders in religion and science who are calling for public policies to reduce climate change while there is still time to make a significant difference, and our encouragement to the lawmakers who are working to make global stewardship the law of the land.

Bill McKibben
May 2007

(This photograph is of the planetary nebula Helix – the glowing gaseous envelope expelled by a dying, sun-like star. It has become popularly known as "The Eye of God.")

Please use your back arrow to return to the previous page

  – through you and me!