Presented by Hartford Seminary
and
The Interreligious Eco-Justice
Network
Keynote Address by John Grim:
Religion and Ecology:
The Problems and the Promise
For decades, environmental issues were considered the concern of scientists, lawyers, and policy makers. Now, the ethical dimensions of the environmental crisis are becoming more obvious, What is our moral responsibility toward the future generations? How can we ensure equitable development that does not destroy the environment? Can religious and cultural perspectives help solve environmental challenges? Our challenge now is to identify the vision and values that will spark a transformation toward creating a sustainable future. Such a multiform planetary goal requires not just managerial or legislative approaches - the saving of forests or fisheries. Undoubtedly, these are necessary, but our goal needs a vision of that future, evoking depths of empathy, compassion, and sacrifice for the welfare of future generations. We are called to a new intergenerational consciousness and
conscience.
John Grim comes from the Missouri drift plains of North Dakota where he grew up leaning against the winds until they blew him east to study with Thomas Berry in the history of religions at Fordham University. His area of scholarly exploration is indigenous traditions. Currently he is a Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar at Yale University, and Environmental Ethicist-in-Residence at Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. With Mary Evelyn Tucker he is the co-founder of the Forum on Religion and Ecology and series editors of World
Religions and Ecology. He has been a professor of religion at Bucknell University, and Sarah Lawrence College where he taught courses in Native American and Indigenous religions, World Religions, and Religion and Ecology. John is also President of the American Teilhard Association.
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