As The Ocean Project works with our Partners to connect more effectively with the public to build ocean literacy and create a culture of conservation – and especially at this time of the year when some of the world’s religions are celebrating important holidays – it seems appropriate to highlight the activities of an organization that is striving to help the world “cultivate a transformative ethical language to spark a sustainable ecological culture.”
Certainly some of our individual and collective efforts to help transform human consciousness and behavior for a more sustainable society and a healthy ocean planet could benefit by better taking into account people’s spiritual and religious beliefs and values.
For 10 years, the Forum on Religion and Ecology, based at Yale University, has been a leading interreligious network of its kind. Mary Evelyn Tucker, one of the Forum’s founders, states: “The environmental crisis is the catalyst for religious traditions to awaken to their ecological roles, and an opportunity to transcend their differences. The common ground for all humanity is the Earth itself and a shared sense of the interdependence of all life.”
And as Gus Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies says, “Our environmental discourse has thus far been dominated by lawyers, scientists, and economists. Now, we need to hear a lot more from the poets, preachers, philosophers, and psychologists.”
For a wealth of information on the religious traditions of the world and their ecological contributions, among many other things, check out FORE’s website .