07-04 A New Religion

It has always been difficult for me to define religion. For most it means belief in some form of supreme being. But when the Dalai Lama calls kindness his religion, it means it can also be a belief in something bigger than ourselves. Like a great idea.
I am old enough to have lived through WW2 and can remember the feeling that the defeat of the Nazis was a national crusade. Everyone made sacrifices gladly. We were as one people.
I will never forget lining up to go into the theatre on Saturday afternoon holding my can of bacon fat. It was being used to make bombs. And every Friday, I bought a war savings stamp for 25 cents.
No one seemed to talk politics. It was a scary time and a glorious time.
Today, Al Gore, the former Vice-President of the United States has the highest political profile of the climate change evangelicals. Hi leadership has become, for many, a religious crusade.
Then there is Prince Charles. Not sure if anyone takes him seriously.
What has really made me sit up and listen is researching the position of the various religious leaders who are speaking up in support of policies to protect the environment.
I am most impressed by Pope Francis, who has been promoting a position that climate change is a scientific, political and economic problem, but also a moral and spiritual challenge.
When religious leaders of his prominence speak up you do not have to fear that climate change will become a cult, but something that can unite people of all nations and cultures.
But let’s start telling stories that people can relate to. I can remember visiting Fiji and seeing the impact of planting hundreds of thousands of trees. Trees that take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. It was good for the climate and good for the economy.
And, I can see the value of eating more vegetables and less beef because of the methane farted into the atmosphere by a hundred million cows. Veggies are politically hot and personally healthy.
Yes, it is time for less statistics and more emotion. Let’s just call it more religion.