Connections Quarterly Spring 2016 - Environment | Page 13

4. Focus a chapel around a case study or bring in a guest speaker who can address how a
specific commandment, rule, or philosophical tenant from one of the world’s religions is
either controversial or being actualized “on the ground.”
• Possible discussion or reflection questions (Taylor, vii):
- In what ways has this tradition promoted ecologically beneficent or destructive lifeways?
- Are some religions intrinsically greener than others?
- Are religions being transformed in the face of growing environmental concern? How?
- To what extent do expressed beliefs about duties toward nature cohere with behaviors
toward it?
• Examples:
- A reading from Pope Francis’s encyclical about the environment and specific practices
by nations regarding the Syrian refugee crisis.
- Bill Moyer’s PBS special, Going Green, about the Evangelical Environmental Network.
- An excerpt about climbers clashing with Native Americans regarding land use rights at
Devil’s Tower found in the documentary In the Light of Reverence.

For classroom teachers (history, world religions or cultural studies):
1. Closely read and explore excerpts from different sacred texts for evidence about the
role that nature/natural world plays in the tradition.
• What conclusions can the students draw about how the natural world is perceived?
• What evidence is there for changes over time in this relationship?
• Is nature sacred? Is it treated as such?
• Examples might include the Jataka Tales for Buddhism, excerpt of the Qur’an for Islam or
the Rig Veda for Hinduism.
2. Have students research and interview a faith community/religious tradition about a global issue and draft an action plan with/for them inspiring small-scale community change.
• Students might read religious texts, newspaper articles, speeches, sermons, documents
that connect this religious group to the issue (air pollution, land use, etc).
• Have students locate any evidence of a religious group’s efforts and analyze the strengths

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CSEE Connections

Spring 2016

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