Green Options » Chad Crawford

Charles Darwin in Church

Chad Crawford — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:00:40 +0000

Hey, you know that old conflict between religion and science? Remember the Scopes monkey trial in 1925 or the 1960 film about the case? How about the legislative battles of the last few years in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Kansas over the mandatory inclusion of intelligent design alongside evolution in public schools?

Waiting for worldviews to change to accommodate new science is like watching the emergence of multicellularity. Keep in mind that Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is only 150 years old. Copernicus’s On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres was published in 1543. That book wasn’t completely dropped from the Vatican’s list of banned books for another 300 years. (I wonder if foundation-shattering books would fly under heresy radars if the titles didn’t start with “On the…”)

Chuck, on the other hand, just got fast-tracked! On Darwin’s 200th birthday, the Vatican is officially on board with evolution! Also, more than 800 pastors and rabbis are celebrating “Evolution Weekend” following Darwin’s 200th birthday February 12.

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Searching for the Coolest Congregation

Chad Crawford — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:39:48 +0000

Representing 5,000 congregations, Interfaith Power & Light is challenging faith communities to get serious about climate change. The organization recently launched a carbon footprint calculator designed specifically for congregations.

In order to encourage faith communities to lower their footprints, $5000 will go to the group with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per person. Another $5000 will go to the congregation that has shrunk its carbon footprint the most (as a percentage) after one year. To be eligible, participating groups have until December 31, 2008 to measure their footprints.

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This Fall, the Good Book Goes Green: A Review of The Green Bible

Chad Crawford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:26:25 +0000

Let me be clear. You don’t need a new eco-friendly Bible to be a green Christian. Keeping that old tattered Bible you got when you were baptized or confirmed is still greener than purchasing one made with recycled paper. If your childhood Bible has completely fallen apart, there are millions of barely opened Bibles that end up lining the shelves of your local used bookstore. Another option, in an era when literature is available on iPods and mobile devices, is to download the Bible. I’m much more likely these days to use free online search engines to find a passage of scripture than to thumb through pages.

As a minister who is concerned that Christianity has become much too comfortable with consumerism, which is incompatible with the way of Jesus, I don’t advocate purchasing all the religious stuff that’s out there for gifts. Sadly, Bibles too are given makeovers everyday and marketed like everything else. The message from the industry is the same as the message about your toaster. “It’s outdated. You need a new one.” I have been given all kinds of Bibles over the years, dozens of them, and I’ve given them all away except a few. The only time I’ve ever bought one was for a college course. So, I found it a little ironic when I was asked to review a company’s latest attempt to push the most published book in history.

That said, I will definitely be purchasing The Green Bible, published by HarperOne, coming this October ($29.95).

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A Bishop, a Preacher, and a Tibetan Buddhist Walk into “The Time 100″

Chad Crawford — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:02:07 +0000

Wait, wasn’t there supposed to be a rabbi in there somewhere?

Tonight was the Time 100 Gala, where Time Magazine celebrates 100 of the most influential people in the world today. This year, three religious leaders are included.

What Richard Cizik, Patriarch Bartholomew I, and the Dalai Lama have in common is that they’ve all made headlines from leading green movements within their respective faith traditions.

Richard Cizik

Cizik, an ordained Evangelical Presbyterian miniser and head of the Office of Governmental Affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals fights global warming by quoting the Bible and calling on congregations to practice “creation care.” Cizik challenges conservative evangelicals to recognize climate change as a serious threat to the health of the planet.

Cizik also makes friends with scientists such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Eric Chivian, ignoring a once perceived barrier between the religious and scientific communities.

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Street Seders: Sacred Protest

Chad Crawford — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:57:24 +0000

Spiritual practices often make use of powerful symbols to stir people into action.

Earth Day fell during Passover this year causing Jews to reflect on how an important tradition offers some wisdom about environmental challenges. Rabbi Jeff Sultar, director of The Green Menorah Program at the Shalom Center, took the three necessary elements of the Passover Seder and used them to symbolize the struggle with personal, economic, or political “pharaohs” putting limitations on a healthy planet.

He advocates holding “street seders” this year during Passover. These seders are part religious observance, part political demonstration. Possible locations include regional E.P.A. offices to demand they allow states to raise emissions standards above federal standards, ExxonMobil offices around the country, and congressional offices to urge politicians to pass “America’s Climate Security Act.”

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Candidates Jump Through the Hoops of Religious Voters

Chad Crawford — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:34:38 +0000

Faith has always been a factor for voters. We all know the usual issues that religious leaders bring up every election year, but this time around climate change has been added to the list. The appeal for green values was at the forefront of the Compassion Forum that aired last Sunday on CNN.

Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, has been leading a compaign to instill “creation care” as a religious imperative. He attended the forum and this was his exchange with Barack Obama:

REV. CIZIK: How do you relate your faith to science generally and science policy, and let’s take an issue like climate and flesh that out, or take stem cells, something like that. Just give us a little more indication of how you think.

OBAMA: Well, first of all…

CIZIK: Is that fair enough?

OBAMA: It is fair enough. And you guys have done some terrific work on this. So I want to congratulate you on that.

OBAMA: And should it be part of God’s plan to have me in the White House, I look forward to our collaboration. (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So, look, the — one of the things I draw from the Genesis story is the importance of us being good stewards of the land, of this incredible gift. And I think there have been times where we haven’t been and this is one of those times where we’ve got to take the warning seriously.
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Green Passover: Now That’s Kosher!

Chad Crawford — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:44:15 +0000

As Jews prepare for Passover, there are a number of resources available to combine the traditional seder with concern for the environment. The Jew and the Carrot, a website that focuses on “Jews, food, and contemporary issues,” has a guide to a green seder. Suggestions include using organic cleaners for the ritual cleaning before Passover, local apples and fairly-traded pecans for the charoset, growing your own greens, free range eggs, organic meat, and ideas for vegetarian/vegan sedarim. There are even some choices for organic kosher wine.

The Passover seder is a ritual feast that includes symbolic foods telling the story of Israel’s exodus from slavery in Egypt. Meg Dickler-Taylor is the owner of Large Marge Sustainables, and she is catering “The Sustainable Seder” in Los Angeles.

Dickler-Taylor spoke to the Workmen’s Circle, the host of the seder, about ways to incorporate sustainability into their Passover celebration. Her tips included bringing their own bags to the supermarket, using durable plates instead of disposable, and making organic and local food choices.

“Passover is a celebration of a lot of things, primarily the freedom of the Jews [from] enslavement of Egypt. Every year, if we are to create a dynamic civilization, we have to reapply that concept of freedom to what we’re experiencing in our environment right now,” Dickler-Taylor said.

Photo credit: Flickr

The Good Book of Green Living: “The Self-Sufficientish Bible”

Chad Crawford — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:11:07 +0000

If a book contains the word “Bible” in its title, the author is often claiming a measure of authority over the subject. It’s a little pretentious, and really annoying, when a book comes out called The Car Buyer’s and Leaser’s Negotiating Bible or The Screenwriter’s Bible.

So when a book came out touting itself as “the Bible” of green living, I was a little put off. But when I read more about The Self-Sufficientish Bible, I noticed that this one was different. By adding “ish,” the authors are making the statement that self-sufficiency is not something easily accomplished with a few simple rules.

Andy and Dave, Britain’s green twins, advocate a fun and positive approach to environmentalism, and understand that the thought of adjusting every aspect of our lives is overwhelming and possibly offputting. Hence self-sufficientish. If you don’t have the space or time to be totally self-reliant, but crave creative ideas for recycling, growing organic vegetables and establishing an environmentally friendly home office, this is the book for you.

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Jesus Unplugged: Religious Groups Participate in Earth Hour 2008

Chad Crawford — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:38:36 +0000

Candlelit services are nothing new for religious organizations. So when businesses, governments, and individuals turn off their lights Saturday at 8 p.m. local time, churches, synagogues, and mosques will be holding special gatherings. This global event is the second annual Earth Hour, the creation of the World Wildlife Fund to inspire people to take action on climate change.

In Toronto, The Church of the Holy Trinity in conjunction with KAIROS Ecumenical Justice Initiatives will be hosting an event called Songs, Stories, and Ritual for the Healing of the Earth with singing, poetry, and drumming.

In Atlanta, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light is persuading its 120 Christian, Jewish and Buddhist congregations to power down on March 29. The group is part of a national campaign led by Rev. Sally Bingham, that assists congregations in going green by doing free energy audits and offering teaching resources on the environment as a faith issue.

In Sydney, St. Mark’s Anglican Church has been transitioning into an “eco-church” since Earth Hour 2007.

Photo credit: Flickr

Jesus Saves, Buddha Recycles: A Spiritual Perspective on Consumerism

Chad Crawford — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:35:04 +0000

David Loy, a Buddhism scholar, presented a lecture at Vanderbilt University recently describing a spiritual perspective on the challenge of consumerism.

There is a video available that is worth watching if you have a free hour and, like me, are into this kind of stuff! Otherwise, I will give an overly simplistic summary below.

The basic spiritual crisis we face as individuals is our failure to recognize that the sense of self is a construct. The construct creates a feeling of alienation. This causes us to try to find meaning in accumulating wealth and things to verify our existence, creating further anxiety and sense of lack. The solution to the problem is to realize that the sense of self is indeed a delusion. This results in a caring attitude toward everyone else because of the recognition that we are not separate but part of a whole.

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No Easter Faith Without Environmentalism

Chad Crawford — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:33:59 +0000

A handful of major religious institutions have made environmental statements recently. The Vatican added pollution to the list of the new seven deadly sins. Southern Baptists compare destroying the planet to tearing pages out of the Bible. Mormons are reminding followers that their original founders were early environmentalists.

In light of these statements, Easter celebrators might want to reflect on how the story of Easter relates to the environment.

Theologian Herman-Emiel Mertens writes,

“Those who do not understand the link between the Easter message and ecological problems, do not understand anything of either. Environmentalism in itself is of course no utterance of Easter faith. Many non-Christians are concerned about this. That is only right and proper. A monopolizing of these earthly cares by Christians is out of the question. There is environmentalism without Easter faith, but no Easter faith without environmentalism.” (Not the Cross, but the Crucified, 207)
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Eco-Palm Sunday: A Green Lent Update

Chad Crawford — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:35:32 +0000

Some churches will be a little more green this Sunday, and not just because it falls on the eve of St. Patty’s Day.

Thanks to Dean A. Current, who has spent years developing methods for sustainable palm harvesting, churches now have a green option for buying palms.

Current is a research associate for University of Minnesota’s Department of Forest Resources. He has worked with Rainforest Alliance to prevent over-harvesting palms each year, make sure less palms are wasted, and give harvesters in Guatemala a fair wage for their efforts. Twenty-five percent of the program’s revenue goes right back into the communities where the palms are harvested.

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Meet the Burts: Unlikely Dumpster Divers

Chad Crawford — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:45:17 +0000

I was intrigued by this couple after they appeared on Oprah Wednesday, February 27. I know it’s been over a week. Did you really think I caught the episode on Oprah? I heard about this from a friend who never misses the show. Honestly! OK, I watch it sometimes.

Daniel Burt is an eye doctor and his wife Amanda is a civil engineer living in Nashville. Their hobbies include living a lifestyle that makes a statement against rampant overconsumption and wastefulness in America. In other words, they dive in dumpsters to redeem things that have been thrown away.

Daniel explains, “We try to live very simply, and we don’t spend a lot on ourselves. We are very happy with having a little. We like to make it a priority to share a lot of our money. A lot of that comes from our Christian values of sharing and generosity.”

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Spanish Literature and Religious Environmentalism: A Green Lent Update

Chad Crawford — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:45:35 +0000

A barefoot woman learns the language of the local indigenous tribe, and cultivates her own spirituality based on their deep spiritual connection to the Earth. This woman was a highly educated Mexican nun and playwright who lived during the 17th century.

The Boston Globe published an article today about Nina M. Scott, a retired University of Massachusetts Amherst professor of Spanish Literature. Instead of chocolate, Scott has chosen to give up carbon this Lent. She is doing a few extra things to reduce her carbon footprint, such as hanging her clothes up instead of using a drier and carpooling to use less fuel.

“For me it’s that connection between protecting nature and faith,” she says. She and a dozen of her friends at Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst first got the idea when they heard about two Church of England bishops who encouraged parishioners to go on a low carbon diet for Lent. (Check out my article, “What Does Lent Have to Do With Sharpening Green Habits?”)

The Globe article also mentioned this past weekend’s Yale Divinity School’s conference “Renewing Hope: Pathways to Religious Environmentalism.” This is the conference that screened the film Renewal, which I wrote about last week. The Globe pointed out the conference to illustrate the movement that is taking place, that religions are becoming enlightened to their environmental responsibilities.

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“Green Patriarch” Celebrates Leap Year Birthday

Chad Crawford — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:41:05 +0000

Known as the “Green Patriarch,” Bartholomew I, the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians, celebrates his 17th birthday this Leap Day. At age 68, his health has been slowly declining for decades. This has led supporters of his environmental achievements to begin speculating about whether his successor will continue his green legacy.

Bartholomew first earned his reputation with the statement, “Crime against the natural world is a sin.” His grandest endeavor was inviting 200 scientists, journalists, and political leaders to hang out with him on a cruise ship. They traveled around the Adriatic Sea to observe the ecological degradation taking place. During the symposium, he persuaded Pope John Paul II to adopt his agenda.

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Welcome to the Table: The Green Evangelical Movement

Chad Crawford — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:53:05 +0000

More and more people each day are joining the sustainable table. I am not referring to the wonderful website about healthy and ethical food choices, but heck it’s worth a mention anyway. By “the sustainable table,” I mean the conversation about how to bring the vision of a greener world into reality. So when I read “Evangelical leaders host ‘creation care’ summit in Orlando-area church” in the Orlando Sentinel, I got this funny picture in my head of church folk sitting down for brunch with a bunch of barefoot tree-huggers.

“‘We are the ones who are late to the table,’ [Rev. Joel] Hunter said. An emerging national evangelical leader on environmental issues, Hunter said the goal of the conference was to ‘get mutually stirred up’ and to ‘assume stewardship’ of this issue.”

Evangelical leaders gathered at Northland, a Church Distributed to hammer out “creation care.” If these green evangelicals are beginning to embrace terms like “sustainable,” “green,” and even “carbon neutral,” but still shudder at the sound of “environmentalism,” are we really all sitting at the same table? Or are we sitting at completely different tables, looking at the same evidence, but pretending to ignore each other’s solutions?

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Saving More Than Souls: Religious Groups Seek “Renewal” for the Environment

Chad Crawford — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:51:21 +0000

Buddhist monks are ordaining trees. Future Jewish leaders are learning about sustainable living. Evangelical Christians are fighting mountain top removal. Muslims are giving away organic meat to the poor during Ramadan.

These are just a handful of the stories told by veteran filmmakers Terry Kay Rockefeller and Marty Ostrow in their upcoming documentary, Renewal.

RENEWAL is the first feature-length documentary to capture the breadth and vitality of America’s religious-environmental movement. In rural communities, suburbs and cities, people of faith are rolling up their sleeves in practical and far-reaching ways. Offering a profound message of hope, RENEWAL shows individuals and communities driven by the deepest source of inspiration - their spiritual and religious convictions - being called to re-examine what it means to be human and how we live on this planet .
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What Does Lent Have to Do with Sharpening Green Habits?

Chad Crawford — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:08:30 +0000

Fish burgers are back on the restaurant menus. It must be Lent again.

Marking the beginning of the Easter season, worshipers go to church on Ash Wednesday (often still recovering from Fat Tuesday) and get ash spread on their foreheads. The ash is a symbol of contrition and repentance. Then everyone is expected to give up meat and beer and act gloomy for the next 6 weeks. Sound like fun? No wonder Mardi Gras is so popular!

But when you think about it, a collective confession can be incredibly meaningful in light of our complicity in greenhouse gas emissions. The tradition of Lent has potential for inspiring action. In addition to repentance, the ritual of smearing carbon on faces can visually represent the carbon we are contributing in our daily lives. The following are some reformulations of the elements of Lent with a green focus. (These principles are intended to be helpful to people of any faith background or none at all.)

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