In his new book -due out today- "The Creation: An Appeal to save life on Earth" Scientist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author E.O. Wilson is out to save life on Earth -- literally -- and as a secular humanist has decided to enlist people of religious faith in his mission. In his imaginary letter to a Southern Baptist Pastor Wilson is candid about his views as and academic and proposed an alliance:
It may seem far-fetched for a secular scientist to propose an alliance between science and religion. But the fact is that environmental activists cannot succeed without you and your followers as allies. The political process in American democracy, with rare exceptions, does not start at the top and work its way down to the voting masses. It proceeds in the opposite direction. Political leaders are compelled to calculate as precisely as they can what it will take to win the next election. The United States is an intensely religious nation. It is overwhelmingly Judeo-Christian, with a powerful undercurrent of evangelism. We secularists must face reality. The National Association of Evangelicals has 30 million members; the three leading American humanist organizations combined have, at best, a few thousand. Those who, for religious reasons, believe in saving the Creation, have the strength to do so through the political process; acting alone, secular environmentalists do not. An alliance between science and religion, forged in an atmosphere of mutual respect, may be the only way to protect life on earth, including, in the end, our own.
Here in VT I have met an example of this type of spiritual-enviro leader; Rev. Paul Bortz from Middlebury.
“Over the last decade, Rev. Paul Bortz has been a visible and highly respected leader in Addison County, pursuing realistic, spiritually-based solutions to our greatest environmental problems,” said Middlebury College Assistant Professor of Economics Jon Isham, who has worked with Bortz in the community. According to Isham, Bortz founded three local environmental groups that reach beyond the traditional goals of improving the environment to find deeper and more spiritual solutions that will be both effective and inspiring. As the founder of Spirit in Nature, a set of interweaving trails in Ripton’s Green Mountain wilderness, Bortz helped create a natural place of solace and quiet revelation for the public to enjoy. Collaborating with local citizens, Bortz established the Middlebury Global Warming Action Coalition to affect a measurable change in the way Addison County residents consume and produce energy. Bortz has also helped develop the Vermont Interfaith Power and Light project to create a statewide forum for addressing Vermont’s global warming issues.
Here in Burlington we have Gary Kowalski at the Unitarian Church (yes the one at the end of Church Street) , author of Science and the Search for God (Paperback) Here's what amazon says about his book:
Harvard-educated theologian Gary Kowalski argues that many of the ills of the modern world—from the rise of fundamentalist intolerance to secular society’s endless (and empty) search for thrills—stem from the mistaken view that science and faith are antagonists rather than natural allies. Both science and faith, the author suggests, compel us now to move beyond materialism toward an understanding of the world that includes the realities of consciousness and spirit. In the twenty-first century, human beings have less reason than before to feel they hold a privileged or special position in the cosmos, but more cause than ever to feel connected and akin to all that is. Christians and Jews, skeptics and seekers alike will find that this brief, persuasively written volume sheds new light on the old questions, Who are we? Where do we figure in the larger scheme of things? And what can we honestly believe?
I have been playing with the idea of having some sort of ad-hoc conversation/study group/reading club (?) about Social/Human Capital as it relates to Religion/Belief and the environment. Any takers/ideas?
Best,
Azur
PS: If you are interested in this area you can read (or listen) through Speaking of Faith - two stories in particular drew my attention 1) The Evolution of American Evangelicalism and 2) Planting the future
