A World to Share: Religious Perspectives on Saving the Environment

Aired 2003-04. We share this universe with a wide variety of animals, plants and other forms of life, and if we are not careful, we may cause harm to the world by degrading the environment. Today we are faced with learning anew to respect nature and to see the spiritual kinship we have with the entire universe. A World to Share presented voices that are now being raised about our natural world and man's role in protecting it. The Bible suggests we subdue the earth and have dominion over all living things, while our Constitution gives rights to the human animal but is silent about all other forms of life. A World to Share visited scholars and activists who understood the effect of the Bible and our Constitution upon our thinking about nature. Featured were: Thomas Berry, noted ecologist and theologian, who called for a spiritual awareness of the interrelatedness of humans with all other forms of life; Dan Misleh with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops who believed we will awaken when a new virus makes us aware of the dangers of disrespecting nature; Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion, at Bucknell, who saw our love of conveniences damaging our natural world; Former Congressman, Bob Edgar, now General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, who saw the population explosion and the suffering of the poor as warning signs we must not ignore. Other insights are presented by Arianna Silverman, of the Sierra Club; the Rev. Dr. Jim Ball (a Southern Baptist) of the Evangelical Environmental Network; and Dr. John Grim, Professor of Religion and Co-director with Dr. Tucker, of the Forum on Religion and Ecology; Catherine Duck and Juli Van Wyck, who worked with the Indiana faith-based climate and energy campaign; Larry Stammer of the LA Times.