A Green God

Rabbi Zalman, a proponent of Eco-Kosher

With all of the fuss over the fluctuations in the economy, the political strife into which we have been embroiled abroad, and the passing of the political torch at home it cannot be denied that we are living in a time of changes, both good and bad.

One of the most eye-catching, at least for me, is the stance being taken by a large number of fairly conservative religious leaders on a subject which eventually has an effect on every man, woman, and child on the planet: the environment.

For a long time religious leaders have stayed quite on the subject or have followed their (usually conservative) politics on the subject, meaning that most advocate for environmental preservation were either more or less religious or in some way affiliated with New Age thought (a mode of spiritual expression which finds little traction with the more staunch proponents of religion in our country).  This, combined with their over the top demonstration tactics, had the side effect of relegating most of them to the status of crack-pots in the eyes of many Americans.

Now however, religious leaders from many different faiths are starting to speak up in favor of environmental preservation (or at least awareness) and starting to put their weight behind a lot of environmental reform.  Their rational for this actually makes a lot of sense and basically boils down to:  "God gave us stewardship over the Earth, so we should damn well watch over it."

This is a development which I find to be greatly positive, the bulk of the religious establishment utilizing their influence in a beneficial way that is helpful to all.

http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherbasics/a/ecokosher.htm

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/green/environment.html