SAFCEI

South African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute

April 2005

Special report on the South African Faith Communities'

Environment Conference

South African Faith groups are unanimously calling for the establishment and development of a Faith Communities’ Environment Institute that will promote the care and nurturing of all of God’s Creation.
 
This clarion call at a four-day environmental conference in Hartbeespoort follows delegates from diverse faith backgrounds including Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Baha’i, declaring that environmental degradation was one of the most serious moral issues of our time.
 
“We call on religious leaders to place environmental justice at the forefront of their agenda, to promote a value-based economic system and take steps to safeguard the future of our children and planet earth,” states the declaration.
 
Commenting on the perils of our economic system during the conference Anglican Bishop and
conference convenor Geoff Davies said: “We find that we have moved from the worship of God to the worship of money and the “god” of profit.”
 
Among the proposed functions of such an institute are to provide faith groups with resource material for the education of their communities as well as to act as a platform from which to engage with government and other environmental decision-makers on issues of environmental concern.
 
In a media release issued by the conference, delegates called for the control of food production to be in the hands of our people. They rejected its manipulation by multinational corporations and appealed for transparency, and a moratorium on the further use of GMO seeds and crops, applying the precautionary principle. They also stated that water should not be privatised. Effective public participation in environmental decision making was another priority. “We should not have to resort to courts of law to be heard over GMO’s and the pebble bed nuclear reactor,” said the media release.
 
The rapid development of renewable energy production was vital so that, with urgency, South Africa may reduce its dependence on costly and polluting coal, oil and nuclear energy.
 
“We make this call because we seek to be obedient to the commandment to love God and our neighbour. We believe our neighbour includes all of creation and future generations. The future of our children is jeopardised by our present consumer based, energy intensive way of life,” said the media release.
 
Commenting on the significance of the summit’s resolution, Muslim leader Khalid Dhorat from the Working Committee of the National Religious Leaders Forum said: “The NRLF is positive about the new faith communities’ environmental initiative. Concern for our environment spells our level of dedication to God Himself. Faith is not only about worship, it is also about serving. It is only through serving that we realise our faith in God.”
 
Remarking on the unity of purpose at the conference Baha’i Faith delegate Roselyn Mazibuko said “The fact that we are talking together – religions united around the issue of environment and earth in particular is exciting. If the earth is one country and human kind its citizens then there cannot be a better way of acknowledging this than acting for its protection, rehabilitation and nurturing. Environment is integral to our well being. It influences our ability to think, feel and act.”
 
It was also exciting that faiths were now seeing God in creation. Quaker delegate Emily Mnisi said “We are delighted that all faith communities are now recognising God, not only in every person, but also in all creation.”
 
Commenting on the atmosphere at the conference, Secretary of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha Dr Dorie Moodley said that he was humbled by the level of interaction, and was confident that if this were to continue, South Africa’s children’s’ futures were safe.
 

Earthkeeping Central to the Christian Gospel

Professor Ernst Conradie

“Why should Christians engage in earthkeeping?” asked Prof.  Ernst Conradie from the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape, in a key session on ‘Theology of Earthkeeping’. He suggested that while many Christians believe that earth-care is a moral duty, the negative impact of traditional Christian piety on the environmental movement has made it necessary to provide an ethical justification for this standpoint. 
 
Until recently, most church leaders have not been interested in environmental issues and most environmental activists do not belong to main line religions. Prof. Conradie suggests that the tide has turned and people all over the world are beginning to recognise the need to engage the world’s religious traditions.
 
Using the following quote from Shaun McDonaugh, an Irish Catholic priest,“There are no Catholic lakes, Protestant rivers or Muslim forests, we all share a common earth and in the face of a threat to the survival of the planet, we should unite our efforts and forget which institution should have precedence and other ecclesial niceties,” he emphasised that “all religions should contribute to that which is bigger than any one religion, namely, the earth. To be involved as Christians in earthkeeping is one way of witnessing to the power of the Gospel and to the Christian God in the midst of a number of other religious traditions.”
 
“A failure to go to the heart of the Christian faith, the gospel, the message of salvation from sin, Jesus Christ, the cross and the Trinity, would make it difficult to convince some Christians of the importance of earthkeeping and relegate environmental issues to the periphery of church debate,” said Prof. Conradie.
 
Using biblical quotes, he discussed a variety of different approaches to earthkeeping.  These included anthropocentrism, an attitude that valued the environment in terms of its use to human beings, intrinsic value approaches that valued it for its own sake and an ‘Oikos’ theology approach that focussed on how human beings were all members of God’s household.
 
“Christians who are engaged in earthkeeping confess that this God has become known through the presence of God’s spirit within the earth community, and most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ. On this basis, Christians trust that the origin, life and destiny of the whole earth community are in the hands of the triune God,” stated Prof. Conradie in a leaflet distributed at the conference.
 

PARADIGM SHIFTS: A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT ENERGY. “The earth cannot produce more, we must learn to do more with what the earth is producing” Nirmala Nair, founder director of Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI) said in her ‘Paradigm Shift’ presentation at the Hartbeespoort Conference. What we need to do is start thinking “out of the box” with respect to development projects and energy resources, Nair said. Development solutions have to be found locally, using local people’s expertise, knowledge systems, and resources. The only answer is to create local solutions for local needs: “we have to be realistic, by challenging scientific communities to adapt science and technology to the service of humanity”. Nair called for us to work in synergy with the five kingdoms (bacteria, algae, fungi, plants, and animals), in order to meet the basic needs of all, and achieve a ‘co-evolution’ with nature. One of the solutions Nair spoke of was shifting children’s paradigms – by exposing children to different ways of thinking “out of the box” – with respect to energy creation and production. This gives rise to generations who do not depend on multi-national corporations and Western ideals, but are creative in their thinking and approaches toward using local resources for local solutions.

Using wind to generate electricity

RENEWABLE ENERGY
 

“South Africa could face serious consequences from the impact of climate change with more severe droughts and floods,” Elin Lorimer of the SA-Climate Action Network warned the conference. “South Africa’s heavy use of fossil fuels – 90% reliance on coal for its electricity production – is not sustainable. Not only is there a limited amount of coal, it has serious impacts on air, water and soil quality, and is a major cause of global warming. The impact of global warming would include a rise in sea-level, environmental degradation and loss of species – this could have serious consequences on the Cape floral kingdom and the Cape’s fruit and wine farmers. It would increase the spread of malaria, and desert areas. All this will increase poverty and suffering among the already poor.”

A move to renewable energy has employment potential, enabling poorer people to control their energy needs, as well as not harming the environment. There is great potential in the use of renewable energy resources from wind, sea and ocean, but governments should stop subsidising fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which are both causing global warming and threatening the security of life.
 

Panel Presenters on ‘Critical Environmental Issues’  

Thabisile Msezane (Chair), Shaun Cozette (DWAF), Mariam Mayet (Biosafety),

Elin Lorimer (SACAN), and John Anderson (Gondwana Alive).

DIFFERENT FAITH PERSPECTIVES ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

ISLAMIC SCRIPTURES TEACH TRUSTEESHIP OF CREATION

HUMAN beings are creatures of creation not the owners, said Professor Suleman from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Speaking at the Hartbeespoort faith communities environmental conference, Professor Suleman said that Allah had made human beings the trustees of creation but this did not mean we could simply use it as we please. While Islam encouraged trade and investment, there were clear scriptures that warned against wastage and called for responsible use. Personal cleanliness was emphasised and this extended to the environment.

In a paper that discusses the environmental crisis in the Muslim world, Prof Suleiman said that the onslaught of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine had exacerbated environmental concerns and were threatening the very basis of Muslim countries. Other major environmental concerns in all parts of the world included air and water pollution.

Religion could play a paramount role in overcoming these problems as we developed a comprehensive and integral mental paradigm-shift in recognising our role in the world with specific reference to what God requires of us.
 

ENVIRO ISSUES ARE A KEY CONCERN OF THE 21 CENTURY
 

Environmental concerns are not just a Western issue but one that is of importance to all in the 21 century, says secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches Dr Molefe Tsele.

Dr Tsele was speaking at the opening of the Hartbeespoort faith-based environmental conference that his organisation officially endorsed.

Quoting from a World Alliance of Reformed Churches report on a meeting in Accra last year, he said the communities were being disrupted, livelihoods lost, coastal regions and Pacific islands threatened with inundation.

“We are challenged by the cries of the people who suffer and by the woundedness of creation itself. We see a dramatic convergence between the suffering of the people and the damage done to the rest of creation,” read the report.

Dr Tsele said while the 20 century had been dominated by human rights issues, the 21 century was primarily concerned with questions of religion, faith and morality. In South Africa, ten years after democracy we were moving from questions of race to concerns about morality, spirituality and sexuality.

“Somehow the spirit is leading us to what are the core issues: who we should be and how we should look at our faith,” said Dr Tsele.

Referring to environmental activist Ms Wangari Maathai being awarded the Nobel prize for her work in Kenya, he said it was significant that the environment was being recognised in Africa where it was often considered at the bottom of the agenda. The Spirit was urging us to put environment on the agend
 

HARTBEESPOORT DECLARATION

We, the delegates to the South African Council of Churches Environment Conference meeting at Hartbeespoort, March 14-17, 2005, agree that nation-wide and global environmental degradation is One of the most urgent moral concerns of our century.

We note with dismay:

1. The destruction of our ecosystems;
2. The ever widening gap between excessive wealth and abject poverty:
3. The injustices of the global economy that are a direct cause of contemporary socio- economic problems and environmental destruction;
4. The rampant consumerism that is eroding our spiritual values and threatening God’s creation;
5. The underhanded promotion of Genetically Modified Organisms and the monopoly of trans-national corporations in food production;
6. The destruction of biodiversity and degradation of habitats through monoculture agriculture and forestry;
7. The devastating impact of global warming and climate change;
8. The long term consequences of the use of nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

We believe that faith based communities have a significant role to play in the nurturing and protection of God’s creation. We call on religious leaders to place environmental justice at the forefront of their agenda, to promote a value based economic system and take steps to safeguard the future of our children and planet earth.

We call on our government, and the governments of the world, to establish a just economic system, favouring people before profits.

We affirm our responsibility towards God’s creation because of our love for the Creator and in obedience to the scriptural imperative to love our neighbour which must include future generations.

We ask all South African faith groups to support the establishment and development of a South African Faith Communities’ Environmental Institute to promote the care and nurturing of all of God’s Creation.

17th March 2005

The Reverend Craig Morrison from the United Congregational Church of SA,

and Bishop Ivan Abrahams, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of SA

–        with much to discuss.