I started wondering what people of different religious faiths and spiritual yearnings are thinking about this and how they are interpreting the tragic events taking place in the Gulf and the American coastal states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Florida. I figure that millions of people are probably agonizing and trying to make theological (Godly) sense out the oil mess. If the spill is going to come to the surface, why not have our deepest thoughts come to the surface also?
For instance, reflecting on this from my own tradition:
1) For Jews, Christians and any others who might be interested: What do the two Creation stories in the first two chapters of Genesis have to say to us about the Gulf oil spill?
Personally, I have lived in a Christian denomination that has gone through three traumas in my ordained life: battles over civil rights for African-Americans, the ordination of women into the clergy, and marriage and ordination of gays (homosexuals). Although there has been much strain felt around these issues, it seems to me that this environmental crisis raises the deeper question of the nature of God. That is where all of the chips are on the table.
This makes me think that an interfaith group such as URI needs to go beyond circulating lists of the 10 things that everyone can do to protect the environment. We should go right to the question of the Nature of God as we interpret it from our sacred texts. If we were to tackle that question--not to reach agreement but to explore it in its depths--we would be at the proper center of the swirling action.
It's not that we are trying to be wise theologians, but that we are pressing ourselves to probe what we really believe about God's creation so we can move on to take action based on our convictions.
We do this by asking questions. Questions like: What is God saying to us in the Gulf oil spill? How does my Creation story help me make sense out of what is happening in the Gulf, or in an environmental crisis in my part of the world?
2) It happens that the area hit by the Gulf oil spill is in what is known as the American "Bible Belt." How are people there interpreting this disaster from their own religious teachings? How is the Bible speaking to them at this moment?
And, regardless of how our own teachings might interpret their situation, how might we nevertheless affirm their faith, cherish their environment, honor their Scripture, acknowledge their loss, and make solidarity with them?
Finally, another important question that comes to mind is: How can we explore all of this without making an arrogant assumption that we are not likewise compromised by our dealings with God's Creation?
I invite you to explore these or similar questions from your own faith perspective, either as they relate to the oil spill in the Gulf or to a critical environmental issue in your part of the world.
