Religious groups join the green movement

BY Madoline Markham

COLUMBIA — People of faith in Columbia are uniting to join in a national movement to discuss how their religions speak to environmental concerns. This discussion centers on sharing ideas on how they and their religious institutions can better steward the earth and educate others to do so.

Religious groups are growing increasingly active in environmental efforts to "care for creation." In contrast to other cultural issues, there is a strong consensus across faith groups regarding environmental policy, according to a 2004 Pew Forum survey.

“They are beginning to take action to protect the environment not because they are members of a secular group but because it’s an act of faith,” said former Los Angeles Times reporter Larry Stammer at a Care for Creation event in Columbia in September. “Basically, they say if God created everything, then how can we hate something God created? And so what you have here is not the Sierra Club with prayer but people acting out of a totally different motivation, that is, their belief in God, or their faith.”

Religious groups join the green movement

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