1. June 2023
The contribution of religion to climate justice
Holy Resistance
In Germany, we may still be largely spared the immediate effects of the climate crisis. However, developments are progressing steadily and have been intensifying for many years. This is accompanied by changes in ecosystems and an increase in social injustice. All of this is the result of human activity – above all the rich industrialised nations. Our prosperity would not be possible without the enormous consumption of resources. One consequence is that poorer countries and communities are often more affected by climate change, even though they have historically made only a small contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The effects of climate change and the measures to combat it must be made fairer and more equitable: Climate justice is needed.
Theology's answers to the climate question
Climate-just action develops solutions that take into account differences in resources, power and responsibility. People who are directly affected by the consequences of climate change should suffer just as little as future generations, who will be even more severely confronted with the effects of climate change.
- “Every person is infinitely precious and must be protected unconditionally. The animals and the natural environment also demand protection. All people have a responsibility to protect the air, water and soil of the earth for the sake of present inhabitants and future generations.”
An almost revolutionary idea that was expressed 25 years ago as part of the InterAction Council’s “A Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities” Our founder, Hans Küng, played a key role in shaping the programme and had already placed a special focus on the “integrity of creation” in 1997.
Towards a public theology
“Preserving creation” – that sounds like the long-haired “ecologists” of the Christian environmental movement who took to the streets in the 1980s to demand an end to nuclear power and war. With this outdated image in mind, the role of religious actors in environmental and climate protection was barely recognised or not considered relevant for years and decades.
However, the idea of people of faith taking part in social debates and addressing current issues of social justice on the basis of their theology and religious convictions is not new. This public theology, which focuses on socio-ethical issues, consciously sees itself as a socially critical theology about and for the public; it is not a theology that is only concerned with itself in the academic ivory tower.
In culturally and religiously diverse societies in particular, there is a need for a theology that brings pluralistic faith perspectives into public debates. Listening, discussing, critically enquiring – theology can thus become part of the public discourse.
The question of justice
In today’s world, we need a public, committed and intervening theology. The question of justice has always been at the centre of theological discussions on social ethics, regardless of religious tradition. Especially against the backdrop of the current socio-ecological transformation, this central question of the global ethic concept must once again take centre stage.
An appropriate excerpt from the fifth directive of the Global Ethic Declaration from 2018 reads:
"In the religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions of humankind we find the directive: You shall not be greedy!" Or in positive terms: Remember the good of all! Let us reflect anew on the consequences of this directive: We should help provide – to the best of our ability – for the needs and well-being of others, including of today’s and tomorrow’s children. The Earth, with its finite resources, is shared by our one human family. It sustains us and many forms of life, and calls for our respect and care. Many religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions place us within the interdependent web of life; at the same time, they accord us a distinctive role and affirm that our gifts of knowledge and of craft place upon us the obligation to use these gifts wisely to foster the common good.
A new culture of protest
How can justice be established? Who is part of our environment and what are we doing to preserve it? “Spiritual activists” find an approach to these questions on a civil society level through the realisation of climate activism. On the basis of a clear set of values that regards our environment – religiously speaking, creation – as sacred, our own spirituality is combined with concrete actions to promote justice and peace. Holy here means not only the purely religiously holy, but also the importance of ethical values of humanity such as respect, justice and love.
According to journalist Geseko von Lüpke, this ” holy resistance” is an attempt to counter global destruction with a creative force – with solidarity and joy in creation and the desire to preserve it. It is therefore about sustainability, new ways of being and the careful use of existing resources. This “sacred activism” refers to religious leaders such as Jesus or Buddha, whose spiritual values and secular behaviour were closely linked. Political action and spirituality are thus linked.
What would happen, for example, if climate demonstrators meditated on the street? The result would be a change in the culture of protest: people would no longer just protest loudly against something, but at the same time spread a concrete vision for the future of our planet. A vision that Hans Küng also had in mind when he formulated the global ethic idea.
And while the Global Ethic Project calls for a common commitment to the pressing issues of our time across cultural and religious divides, the interreligious international cooperation of spiritual activism offers the opportunity to gain more attention and visibility for what is surely the most pressing issue of all.
by Dr Theresa Beilschmidt and Lena Zoller
(Interfaith Affairs and Society)
Sources
For further reading
- von Lüpke, G.: “Die Protestkultur verändert sich”, in: Netzwerk Ethik Heute (2019).
- Höhne, F.: “Öffentliche Theologie“, in: Ethik-Lexikon (2017).
- von Hirschhausen, E.: “Kirche! Tu was!”, in: Chrismon (2023).
Event information
Is God a green person?
How can religions contribute to preventing the climate catastrophe?
With our guests, we talk about ethical questions of self-knowledge and responsibility as well as the potential of interfaith co-operation against the climate catastrophe.
