Reflections on Climate Change: A Baha'i Response
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Rod Duncan, Reflections on Climate Change: A Baha'i Response, bahai-library.com.
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Reflections on
Climate Change
Rod Duncan, Alan Race, Herbert Bronstein,
Sachin Nandha, and Gusharan Thandi
“Reflections” is an occasional section in Interreligious Insight. Pieces draw on various
traditions to unfold an important theme in spirituality, phillosophy, or interreligious work. We hope that readers will make their own fruitful connections for
dialogue and engagement. This issue offers Reflections on the Earth’s climate.

A Baha’i Response 						 Rod Duncan

W      e stand at a unique moment in human existence. It was only
Baha’i Star; original art,

a few decades ago that the human race acquired the capacity to annihilate itself through nuclear war. And in this decade we
Gary E. Stewart

REFLECTIONS
have come to a certainty that continuing to pump greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere will derange the equilibrium of the global
climate. These are not age old problems taken to a new degree.
They are fundamentally new. They are global.
Writing in the nineteenth century, Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith,
wrote: “The wellbeing of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and
until its unity is firmly established.” This unity has outer, material, and organisational
aspects. It also has an inner, ethical, spiritual aspect. The solution to the global problems we now face must include both.
If the problem of climate change were restricted to one city, if that city produced
all the greenhouse gasses and the pain of climate change were to be visited on it alone,
the citizens would undoubtedly do all in their power to find a solution. Every individual and every household would make the necessary changes in lifestyle because all
would know the terrible consequences of inaction.
Similarly, if the problem were confined to one nation, the government and
the people of that nation would work together to solve it. Laws would be passed.
Lifestyles would be changed.
Rod Duncan is a novelist, screen-writer, poet, teacher of creative writing, and member of the Baha’i community of Leicester, UK.
Alan Race, of St. Philip’s Center, Leicester, is Editor in Chief of Interreligious Insight.
Herbert Bronstein is Senior Rabbi Emeritus of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois.
Sachin Nandha is founder of the Institute for Global Change, which aims to facilitate public debate on how
education can properly enhance human capacities and equip people for holistic living.
Gursharan Thandi is a member of the Sikh community of Leicester and a representative of the Leicester
Council of Faiths.

INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 57
Reflections on Climate Change

But the problem of climate change       the organic oneness of the entire human
is global and the nations have so far        race.
failed to act with the unity required to
solve it.
Achieving a degree of material,         A Christian response
organizational unity sufficient to com-                                   Alan Race
bat global climate change will require
new institutions and a new way of
thinking. The Baha’i writings call for
the establishment of an international
I    t    is   often
said that the
Christian Bible
legislature and a comprehensive code of                               begins in a garden
international law adequate to combat                                  (Eden) and ends
the global problems we now face. In                                   in a city (new
the words of Baha’u’llah: “The Earth                                  Jerusalem). If the
is but one country and mankind its            Christian Cross; photo, movement from
citizens.” But that alone is not enough.     Cetta Kenney
garden to city is
Indeed, without an inner unity it would      a metaphor for the journey from simbe impossible. This inner unity requires     plicity to complexity, from countryside
us all to widen the circle of our loyalty    to urban environment, then in relation
beyond our race, beyond our nation and       to climate change we have a problem.
even beyond our religion. It calls us back   For while there is no returning to the
to the fundamental meaning of the word       countryside-garden innocence of pre-
“religion” – to bind together.               industrial human living, the urban-city
In this day the highest manifesta-      has become so compromised as an image
tion of religion should be our being         of human flourishing that we are left
bound together as one human family,          scrabbling around for an image that
unified in all our rich diversity.           might be worthy of a future worth
Of course, there are those who say      inhabiting.
that human nature is incorrigibly self-            Yet the garden lives on in the city
ish and that we will therefore never         and the city invades the garden. The
be sufficiently united to resolve these      question is one of balance: how to celissues. Paradoxically, this belief tends     ebrate the city without the romanticism
to push people towards a paralysis of        of the garden and how to honour the
will and itself becomes an obstacle to       garden without losing the vitality of
progress. On this the Baha’i writings        the city. I believe that this balance can
point towards hope. Just as the human        be achieved by contemplation of three
race has progressed in the past, widen-      guiding values: mutuality, interconnecting circles of loyalty from the tribe to     edness and responsibility. Let me take
the city state, from the city state to the   each in turn.
nation, so, Baha’u’llah states, will we            First, mutuality. A new phrase has
progress again, towards a realisation of     been coined in Christian circles during
58 | V8 N1 January 2010
Alan Race

the environmental campaigns of recent         spiritual way of capturing this sense of
years – climate justice. We think of          interconnectedness. God’s beauty, truth
justice as a relationship between human       and goodness – spirit and wisdom, if
beings within and between communi-            you prefer – are reflected in all life and
ties, establishing access to the world’s      not just in human life. To reconnect
goods and services and sharing their          with a basic attitude of praise might go a
benefits. In the light of struggles for       long way towards moderating our baser
justice between cultural, ethnic and reli-    exploitative instincts and policies in relagious groups, nationally and interna-         tion to the earth itself.
tionally, we are learning that the same            Third, responsibility. The basis for
struggles are inherent in the dynamics        this lies in the notion of stewardship.
of human-made climate change. The             In the rush to blame all dualisms (egs.
rich world has produced the carbon and        separations of God and World, of perthe poor world bears the negative conse-      sons and nature, of economics and comquences with their loss of livelihood and     passion) for our current climate change
sustainability. To be set free from the       dilemmas, let us not dismantle that
ravages of climate change is a cry for jus-   sense of self-transcendence, with its joys
tice. The language of justice at the heart    and its tragedies, which is also part of
of all Christian liberation theologies has    human experience. We are one with all
entered the environmental lexicon and         life, but also self-consciously aware of
is binding all of earth’s communities in      the flow of all life. This is the origin of
relationships of mutual accountability.       our responsibility for how the earth is
Second, interconnectedness. In the       treated, how we think of our place withlight of cosmological and evolution-          in it, and how we should behave accordary sciences the Christian doctrine of        ingly. A hurting world deserves being
creation ex nihilo is undergoing major        listened to and climate change is its cry
re-evaluation. The extension of creation      for recognition. Would it be too much
backwards in time and sideways in space       to call up compassion as our approprientails that human consciousness is part      ate ethical response to the hurting earth
of a story which we have hardly begun to      itself? Stewardship entails much more
comprehend. A belief in creation, any-        than simply ‘managing’ from some supway, was always more about an intuition       posed point of superiority in a hierarchy.
that the world is not its own explana-             Both garden (basis of life) and city
tion, and that we are part of something       (flourishing of life) deserve their place in
much larger than we might imagine,            a balanced view of responding to climate
as it was about a beginning point in          change. The 3-fold cord of mutuality,
time. That ‘larger’ is underlined now         interconnectedness and responsibility
by the sense of interconnectedness of         will surely be part of any new human
which climate change has made us dra-         future which may emerge from the commatically aware. The theme of the whole       ing transformations brought about by
created order giving praise to God is a       climate change.

INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 59
Reflections on Climate Change

A Jewish Response                              ancient rabbis had a phrase: “We are
Herbert Bronstein            partners with God in the work of creation, in Tikkun Olam, the preservation
and repair and perfecting of this our
W       e    are
seeking the
all

resources of the spirit
earthly habitation. The massive destruction of forests in Thailand, in Brazil,
in the American Pacific Northwest, the
in our confrontation
forests which both absorb CO2 and prowith climate change,
duce oxygen, the killing of the forests in
a chaos-monster of
Colorado by invasive beetles, the melt-
Jewish Star; photo,  our own making,
ing of glaciers and the polar ice caps,
Cetta Kenney         which has been tipthe loss of many species are all part and
ping our earthly home into a possible
parcel of the effects of climate change.
downward spiral of potentially inexo-
The threat to this beautiful earth is so
rable deterioration.
great as to require nothing less than the
We turn to an ancient parable:
response of multitudes of the children of
“God says to Adam (“Humankind”): ‘I
Adam, humankind, world-wide.
have made many worlds before this one.
The first century Palestinian sage,
This one is especially good and beauti-
Rabbi Joshua the son of Hananiah proful. Take care to protect it and preserve
vides another parable which compleit because, if, through you, it comes to
ments the first: “Two men are in a boat
ruin, there is no one to repair it after
out on high waters. One begins drilling
you. And besides, you will be responsia hole in his side of the boat. The other,
ble for the passing of many, many thoufrightened, remonstrates: ‘What in the
sands of my creatures. (Kohelet Rabbah
world are you doing!?’ the other answers
on Eccles. 7.14). ‘”
bluntly: ‘This is my side of the boat!’”
This homily-nugget is found in an
Our society is captive to a privatis-
8th century CE collection of sermons
tic hyper-individuality, each person out
on verses from Ecclesiastes. In this case
for himself, for his own personal gain,
the verse is: “Who can (is to) repair that
with an accompanying atrophy of “the
which has been distorted?”
sense of the other”. An oil refinery, for
Some say that climate change is
example, dumping toxic effluents into a
either not taking place or, if it is, it is
Great Lake claims “this is my side of the
an aspect of nature’s cycles with which
lake. I own this property.” But we are
human activity has nothing to do.
in the same boat and ancient Scriptures
Science disagrees with this viewpoint.
says that the earth is the Lord’s and
Just as in the parable, the vast majority
the fullness thereof….You are merely
of scientists in the world tell us that we
sojourners on it.” The earth is not just a
must accept responsibility and accountresource for private gain or a dump for
ability for climate change and thus, the
private refuse.
well being and healing of nature. The
And this brings us to the third

60 | V8 N1 January 2010
Sachin Nandha

and last archetypal story: Moses on the      A Hindu response
mountain receives the moral law. But                                Sachin Nandha
down below the people are worshiping
the Golden Calf. When we look to find
the source-causes of climate change, we
often find the worship of the Golden
T       he Vedic
traditions
of Hinduism
Calf, the greed for material gain. And
offer imagery
everywhere we find opposition to plans
that values the
or programs or laws which mitigate the
power of the
negative affects of climate change again
Hindu Om; photo Cetta Kenney
natural world.
we often find the Golden Calf. Or we
Scholars of the
find the ignorance or misinformation
Vedas have held forth various texts and
promoted by worshipers of the Golden
rituals that extol the earth (bhu), the
Calf.
atmosphere (bhuvah), and sky (sva), as
Science and technology give us the
well as the goddess associated with the
tools needed to stop climate change and
earth (Prthivi), and the gods associreverse its negative effects. What we
ated with water (Ap), with fire and heat
need is a spiritually ethically based con-
(Agni), and the wind (Vayu). They have
sciousness and values to build a worldnoted that the centrality of these gods
wide coalition of energy and will to put
and goddesses suggests an underlying
those scientific tools to use.
ecological sensitivity within the Hindu
On the Jewish High Holiday of the
tradition. In later Indian thought, these
New Year which celebrates the creation
Vedic concepts become formalized into
of the world, we are given a metaphor.
the Samkhya denotation of five great
Imagine a large scale of balances; on one
elements (mahabhuta): earth (prthivi),
side are put all the single good deeds
water (jal), fire (tejas), air (vayu), and
of all of humans and on the other side
space (akasa). The meditative and ritual
of the scale, all the destructive deeds
processes of Hinduism entail awareof all human beings. One deed of one
ness of these constituents of materialperson can tip the scale to one side or
ity. Daily worship (puja) employs and
the other. The well being of the world is
evokes these five powers.
in the balance. Every life preserving act
Hinduism has long revered the tree.
we do counts for the perfecting of cre-
Early seals from the Indus Valley cities
ation. Whatever wasteful, destructive or
(c. 3000 BCE) depict the tree as a powheedless act can tip the scales of climate
erful symbol of abundance. References
change to more destruction.
to India’s trees can be found in a wide
The Prophet Isaiah put it: “Not for
range of literature, particularly in epic
chaos, destruction, did God create the
and poetic texts. India has a long history
world. For habitation God formed it!
of forest protection, from the edicts of
(Isaiah 45.18).”
Asoka, to the individual work of various

INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 61
Reflections on Climate Change

Rajas, to the modern Chipko move-            the body and the vitality of the senses.
ment, wherein women have staved off          Other spiritual paths advocate renunforest destruction by surrounding trees      ciation of all sensual attachments to the
with their own bodies.                       world. However, even within the paths
Rivers have been and continue to        that relegate worldly concerns to a status
be an integral part of Hindu religious       of secondary importance, the doctrine
practice. More than fifty Vedic hymns        of Dharma emphasizes a need to act
praise the Sarasvati, a river (now dry)      “for the sake of the good of the world”.
associated with the goddess of learning      Particularly in regard to such issues as
and culture. The Ganges River which          the building of dams in the Narmada
flows through northern India likewise is     River Valley, this requires taking into
referred to as a goddess originating from    account social ecology or the need to
the top of Siva’s head in the Himalaya       integrate environmental policy with the
Mountains, giving sustenance to hun-         daily needs of tribal and other marginaldreds of millions of modern Indians.         ized peoples.
Traditionally, the rivers of India have           The current worldwide ecological
always been considered pure. Modern          crisis has come to our attention during
industrial contaminants and human            the past four decades and its effects have
wastes have fouled the rivers, though        been felt within South Asia more recent-
Ganges water still plays an important        ly. As the region copes with decreasing
role in India’s ritual life.                 air quality in its cities and degraded
Hinduism offers a variety of cosmo-     water in various regions, religious thinklogical views which may or may not situ-     ers and activists have begun to reflect on
ate the human in the natural world in        how the broader values of Hindu tradian ecologically friendly manner. On the      tion might contribute to fostering greatone hand, the agrarian and often near-       er care for the earth. Gandhi’s advocacy
wilderness images of India found in the      of simple living through the principles
Vedas, Upanisads, and epic texts present     of nonviolence (ahimsa) and holding
a style of life seemingly in tune with the   to truthfulness (satyagraha) could give
elements. The Samkhya and Tantra tra-        some Hindus pause as they consider the
ditions affirm the reality and efficacy of   lifestyle changes engendered by conthe physical world. On the other hand,       temporary consumerism. Most of the
the Advaita Vedanta tradition asserts        Hindu population lives within villages
that the highest truth involves a vision     that, barring natural disasters such as
of oneness that transcends nature and,       flood or drought, are self-sustaining
in a sense, dismisses the significance of    and use resources sparingly. However, as
the material world by referring to it as     the population of South Asia increases,
illusion or maya.                            and as the modern lifestyle continues to
One model of Hindu spirituality         demand consumer goods, the balance of
encourages physicality through yoga          sustainability can shatter. With apprepractices that enhance the health of         ciation and acknowledgment of the five

62 | V8 N1 January 2010
Gursharan Thandi

great elements, with a new interpreta-             Two of our fundamental beliefs are
tion of social duty (dharma) expanded         service to the community and equality
to include the ecological community,          between people, values which encourand with remembrance of its ethic of          age a spirit of co-operation and sharabstemiousness, the Hindu tradition can       ing of resources equally. This is seen
develop new modalities for caring for         in our community kitchens which are
the earth.                                    maintained by voluntary service. Many
According to Hindu religion, “dha-        farmers in the Punjab grow their crops
ranath dharma ucyate” – that which            organically because they feel that the
sustains all species of life and helps        earth must be respected and treated well.
to maintain harmonious relationship           Water is a primary link between human
among them is dharma. That which              beings and nature.
disturbs such ecology is adharma. Hence            Ten years ago, Sikh communities
we can say:                                   around the world celebrated the inauguration of “The Cycle of Creation”.
As the unwise act attached to           Sikhism follows three hundred year
action, Bharata,                        cycles – the most recent of which ended
so the wise should act unattached,      in 1999. In 1699, a time of terrible perintending to maintain the world ...     secution of the Sikhs, the coming cycle
was named “The Cycle of the Sword”.
The three hundred years that followed
A Sikh response                               were certainly dominated by armed
Gursharan Thandi          struggles. But the Cycle of creation,
which we have just entered, has already

A  s Sikhs,
our ties to
led to dramatic changes in environmental practices by Sikh Gurudwaras.
Sikh Symbol; original Art

the environ-             It has also led to a launch of a new
Swami Tapasananda

ment around         initiative called EcoSikh. This is the
us is very          Sikh community’s contribution to the
important and,      United Nations Alliance of Religions
in a sense, it is   and Conservation (UNARC) Seven Year
spiritual. The      Plan project, whose aim is to help
histories of our Gurus tell us tales of the   the world’s major religions create long
places where they sat in meditation, in       term plans to improve their relationdeep forests and high upon mountains          ship with the environment. The plans,
and beside rivers. There is something         in which each tradition celebrates its
magical and transcendent about praying        unique relationship with the environin nature’s spaces – the connection and       ment and puts its teachings on ecolthe feeling of oneness is very apparent –     ogy into action, were launched at a
a life that suggests mastery over oneself     major event at Windsor Castle, UK,
rather than over nature.                      in November 2009, and were used to

INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 63
Reflections on Climate Change

inform the UN Framework Convention           would make a wonderful statement to
on Climate Change in Copenhagen the          wider society that changes for the better
following month.                             can be made.
The EcoSikh Five Year Plan is a his-         The Eco Sikh Five Year Plan contoric decision of commitment by Sikh         tains many ambitious proposals – for
communities around the world to make         instance, for mass educational work
our children’s future greener. It contains   around the world on how eco principles
many far-reaching ideas for improving        are reflected in Sikh understanding, and
eco practices at different levels – indi-    for twinning projects to help share and
viduals, Gurudwars and links with the        embody best practices.
wider community. For example, the                 Sikhism teaches us that we create
fact that all Gurudwaras run a langar        the environment around us and that
(communal kitchen) involves them in          our surroundings are a reflection of our
the production of food on a massive          inner state. The increasing barrenness
scale. If the whole system of sourcing,      and the desolation of our planet reflect
purchasing, preparation and cooking          a spiritual emptiness within us. The
became a self-consciously green process      solution, according to our Gurus, lies in
this would make a substantial difference     prayer and caring for the world around
to the way energy was being used. And        us – the very principles of eco-theology
such self-conscious attention to detail      laid down by Guru Nanak Devji.

64 | V8 N1 January 2010
-- Reflections on Climate Change: A Baha'i Response (Used by permission of the curator)