World Religions, The Earth Charter, and Sustainability: Mary Evelyn Tucker Yale University
World Religions, The Earth Charter, and Sustainability: Mary Evelyn Tucker Yale University
World Religions, The Earth Charter, and Sustainability: Mary Evelyn Tucker Yale University
and Sustainability
Mary Evelyn Tucker
Yale University
Abstract
This article argues the global environmental crisis shows the need for a
broad, inclusive definition of sustainability. It shows how religious
traditions can help contribute to broader definitions, and describes how
work from the field of Religion and Ecology has developed resources. It
argues that the next step for the study of Religion and Ecology is to address
sustainability, and then proposes that the Earth Charter provides an
orienting framework for that engagement of religion and sustainability.
Cosmological Context
All cultures have been grounded in the stories they tell
regarding the nature of the universe, the evolution of the
Earth and of life, and the destiny of humans in this context.
These cosmological stories provide accounts of the creation
and evolution of life and the purpose of humans. As
humans are currently trying to navigate their way between
scientific accounts of evolution and the multiple religious
stories of creation, the Charter articulates a broad, simple
and inclusive sensibility that Earth is our home, our
dwelling place.
This enlarged perspective of home may be a critical
foundation for articulating a future that is both sustaining
and flourishing. The Charter recognizes that we are part of
a large family of life, including not only other humans but
also other species. The interdependent quality of the Earth
community is celebrated along with the fact that the
conditions for life have been evolving for billions of years.
“Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our
home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces
of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain
adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential
to life’s evolution.”
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Ecological Integrity
The broad context for a sustaining and flourishing
future from the Earth Charter is preserving ecological
health and integrity. Without such a basis for healthy
ecosystems there can be no long-term basis for the
continuity of human life. It is expressed succinctly in the
Preamble: “The resilience of the community of life and the
well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy
biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of
plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clear air.”
The response of the religious communities to this call
for biological protection is the principle of respect for the
rich diversity of life and the ecosystems that support life.
Without such respect environmental exploitation will
continue and we may irreversibly damage the ability of
ecosystems to renew themselves. This is further spelled out
in the Charter as protecting and restoring Earth’s
ecosystems, preventing harm through the precautionary
principle, adopting effective patterns of production,
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Conclusion
This integration of the principles of the Earth Charter
with the virtues for human-Earth flourishing of the world’s
religions provides a unique synergy for rethinking
sustainablity. Such a synergy can contribute to the
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