Watching the film “An Inconvenient Truth” at St. Alban’s last month made me think about the role of religion vis a vis the environment, and especially now as we face the issue of global warming. For Judaism and Christianity, the scriptural basis for preserving the earth is found In Genesis I. God says to the human,“Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” This is a verse that has been used to envision creation as the “raw material” out of which commodities are produced, no matter what the cost. But today, the same passage is seen as the call to stand in for God, “subdue” being interpreted as “protect”. The human person in Genesis is created imago dei, in the image and likeness of God and is called to tend and care for the earth to preserve it for future generations.

A report by the World Council of churches in 1991 affirmed this statement:

The divine presence of the spirit in creation binds us human beings together with all created life. We are accountable before God in and to the community of life, an accountability which has been imagined in various ways: as servants, stewards and trustees, as tillers and keepers, as priests of creation, as nurturers, as co-creators.

For Native Americans, the earth is sacred. I remember reading that when a tribe left a given settlement, each twig had to be replaced, each hole filled in with dirt. The earth had to be left in the same condition as it was found.

I wonder if the most important distinctions between religions today are not found in doctrine or dogma, but in the ways we practice and live out our religious heritage. The religions that promote reverent, compassionate and humble actions do and will work together. On the other side will be those religions that encourage their adherents to act in destructive and irresponsible ways, promote campaigns of intolerance and hatred, refusing to hear the cries of the earth, or the cries of the poor. Those religions are and will be the source of most religious, and even secular, conflicts.

I know where I think we are at St. Alban’s and in the Anglican Communion. We are taking our stewardship of the earth seriously. Showing a film or showing up to worship, it is all about the same thing: honoring our Creator in word and in deed, practicing the only religion that the world so desperately needs—responsible religion. Will you join us on Sunday and everyday as we seek to live out our covenant with God?