Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of RI addressed the religious response to global warming on the Senate floor."Time to Wake up, Faith Organizations Weigh in on Climate Change."  Here is is short talk 

http://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/video-audio/time-to-wake-up-faith-organizations-weigh-in-on-climate-change

 

 

An important new report: Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwestern United States has just been published and can be purchased as a book or read on line at this site. You can access the report at: www.cakex.org/virtual-library/assessment-climate-change-southwest-united-states.

Sojourners:  on Christians and Climate Change

In For God So Loved the World recently published in Sojourners, Rose Marie Berger reflects on the way in which climate change is a moral issue for Christians. Ms. Berger writes that the Christian vocation is to "cultivate and care for" the creation in which God delights, and points out that as such Human-induced climate change is a sin against the delight of God. 

Ms. Berger notes that climate change is driven by intemperate overconsumption of natural resources, and responds that this idea of unlimited human action is anti-biblical. God sets limits on human beings. There are commandments to keep. Natural laws are built into the created order. In response, Ms. Berger concludes If Christians and other people of faith, here and abroad, decided to "unitedly" rise up and demand that our nation and world turn away from the planet-threatening actions that have fed global warming, it would launch an irresistible force for change.

 

Science and Faith: A New Introduction
By John F. Haught
Paulist Press, 2013   http://www.paulistpress.com/Products/4806-6/science-and-faith.aspx

John Haught has managed to create an imaginary, provocative dialogue where several spokespersons argue either for or against different positions about science and faith whether there exists conflict, contrast or convergence between them. His book represents a masterly summary of sophisticated debates in very accessible form. It opens one's eyes to the complex depths of reality and convincingly proves that there is still plenty of room for theology in an age of science. 

 

Stories of the Great Turning
Edited by Peter Reason and Melanie Newman
Introduction by Joanna Macy
Vala Publishing Cooperative, 2013  http://www.valapublishers.coop/storiesofthegreatturning
Here is a book of stories written by people who decided to act, in their own lives, in response to the challenges of our time, and found their own way to make a difference. They are not stories about celebrities or gurus of the environmental movement but honest accounts from people who share a concern for the world we live in and who, in the words of one of the contributors, "just got on with it". It is a book that takes the question, "What can I do?" and sets out to find some answers using one of our species' most vital skills: the ability to tell stories in which to spread knowledge, ideas, inspiration and hope. Read about the transformation of wasteland and the installation of water power, stories about reducing consumption and creating sustainable business, stories from people changing how they live their lives and the inner transformations this demands. 

 

Spiritual Ecology website: http://www.spiritualecology.info

A very informative website has been developed by Dr. Leslie E. Sponsel (Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, University of Hawai'i) to supplement his latest book, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution (Praeger, 2012). Besides information on the book and author, there are growing lists of relevant new books, films, websites, and graduate programs as well as extensive course syllabi. Drafts of chapters not included in the book because of page limits set by the publisher are being added to the Research Notes folder with currently available files on Catholic Spiritual Ecologists, Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and Gary Snyder. The website is: http://www.spiritualecology.info

 

Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology

Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology has as its focus the relationships between religion, culture and ecology world-wide. Articles discuss major world religious traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism or Christianity; the traditions of indigenous peoples; new religious movements; and philosophical belief systems, such as pantheism, nature spiritualities, and other religious and cultural worldviews in relation to the cultural and ecological systems. Focusing on a range of disciplinary areas including Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Geography, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Sociology and Theology, the journal also presents special issues that center around one theme. For more information, visit: http://www.brill.com/worldviews-global-religions-culture-and-ecology