Forums
It was great getting to know many of you during the first class meetings and in the Forum Introductions!
It was so inspiring to learn about your meaningful activities for the Earth and its peoples, the diversity of your activities including urban gardening, interfaith collaboration, and public discourse through the arts! And you are serving in many different parts of the world, mindful of the local environmental reality, the social settings and culture, as well as your capacity and circumstances to contribute. It is good to remember this nobility of human nature and its capacity to work for the common good while witnessing social and environmental degradation everywhere, and when being confronted more deeply with the reality of climate change in Units 3 and 4.
First though, we will reflect about the nature of science and religion, and their relationship in Unit 2. The climate crisis demands that we use both science and religion for meaningful and effective action.
In its 29 November 2017 letter commenting on climate change addressed to some individuals that did not accept climate science, the Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Institution of the Baha'i Faith, wrote:
Among the Bahá’í teachings are those concerning the importance of science. “Great indeed is the claim of scientists … on the peoples of the world,” Bahá’u’lláh observed. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote that the “sciences of today are bridges to reality” and repeatedly emphasized that “religion must be in conformity with science and reason.”
And, or course, we need religion to guide us in our climate actions with an ethical framework. Moreover, spirituality creates the strong motivation necessary for the fundamental changes in all human activities required to save our climate.
Enjoy the study of Unit 2, and continue with sharing your thoughts about human relationship with nature in the Unit 1 Forum!