Washington, DC – In a marriage of environmental concern and religious faith, the launch of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation* was announced by Ugandan Ambassador Edith Ssempala, along with a distinguished group of Alliance organizers, at a press conference at the Embassy of the Republic of Uganda.
The Cornwall Alliance adds a powerful voice to some of the most prominent environmental and developmental issues worldwide. The coalition promotes the principles of the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship – an ethical statement of belief that was put forward in the spring of 2000 by an interfaith coalition of Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and other scholars. The Declaration has been signed by 1,500 leading clergy, theologians, and others of faith, including Dr. James Dobson, Chuck Colson, R.C. Sproul, Rabbi Jacob Neusner, and Father Richard John Neuhaus. Cornwall is one of the most thoughtful statements on religion and the environment in modern times.
The nation of Uganda is both a real-life example, and a symbol of the millions of people in Africa, as well as throughout the developing world, for whom a balanced Biblical approach to issues of environment and development is critically important.
“The Cornwall Declaration recognizes that the moral necessity of ecological stewardship has become increasingly clear,” said Dr. Calvin Beisner, Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Knox Theological Seminary, and spokesman for Cornwall Alliance.
Beisner pointed to three common misunderstandings addressed by the Cornwall Declaration that impede a sound environmental ethic. First, it notes that many people mistakenly view humans as principally consumers and polluters rather than producers and stewards. Second, the Declaration takes a critical look at the perception that “nature knows best,” or that “the earth, untouched by human hands is the ideal.” Lastly, it points out that while “some environmental concerns are well founded and serious, others are without foundation or greatly exaggerated.”
The Cornwall Alliance will be tackling a number of public policy issues including population and poverty, food, energy, water, endangered species and habitat. It has already taken a strong position on malaria prevention and eradication. The disease kills an estimated 1 million people annually – 90 percent of them in Africa – and could be more efficiently controlled were it not for misguided environmental policies regarding DDT.
“The issue of malaria and DDT is a tragic example of how well-intended, but misguided environmental policies can have a devastating impact on those who can afford it the least,” Beisner said.
Another issue that the Cornwall Alliance will tackle is global warming. The group is preparing to release a paper titled, “The Science, Ethics and Theology of Global Warming.”
“Because of our limited knowledge of natural climate cycles, the role of human activities in either the present warmth or future temperature changes is still very uncertain,” said Dr. Roy Spencer, a leading atmospheric scientist who advises the Alliance. “What we do know is that prescriptions such as the Kyoto Protocol won’t have any measurable effect on global temperatures, but will have a serious economic impact that would be borne most heavily by the poorest people on our planet. That would be a serious tragedy, and precisely what people of faith ought to be concerned about.”
The coalition is committed to educating people of faith on environmental issues and bringing accuracy and balance to discussions of ecological stewardship.
The goals and activities of the Cornwall Alliance include providing an informal “meeting place” for clergy, theologians, scientists, economists, public policy experts, and other concerned individuals to analyze, debate, and discuss contemporary issues of stewardship and ecology; maintaining a website that highlights articles, essays, and other information about specific environmental topics at www.CornwallAlliance.org; providing a clearinghouse for articles, opinion pieces, policy papers, Sunday school curricula, sample sermons, and other helpful materials to be disseminated; offering articulate clergy and theologians of differing backgrounds, as well as scientists, economist, and other policy experts as spokesmen to the news and religious media for comments and interviews.
“Ultimately, we hope the Cornwall Alliance will help achieve the noble aspirations expressed in the Cornwall Declaration in which people care wisely and humbly for all of God’s creation, first and foremost for their fellow human beings,” Beisner concluded.
Other speakers at the press conference were: Dr. Henry Krabbendam, Professor of Biblical Studies, Covenant College, Tennessee; Dr. Jay Richards, Director of Institutional Relations, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, Michigan; Dr. Kenneth Chilton, Director of the Institute for the Study of Economics and the Environment, Lindenwood University, Missouri; Rev. Ralph Weitz, Stewardship Pastor, Immanuel Bible Church, Springfield, Virginia; Mr. Alan Wisdom, Interim President, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Washington, D.C.; Ms. Rosemary Segero, President, Humanitarian Initiative for Community Development Empowerment, Washington, D.C.; Rev. Adbul Karim Sesay, Senior Pastor, Kings and Preists Court International Ministries, Silver Spring, Maryland; Mr. Paul K. Driessen, Senior Policy Advisor, Congress of Racial Equality, New York; Fr. John Michael Beers, PhD, Dean of the Pre-Theologate, Associate Professor of Classics and Early Christian Literature, Ave Maria University, Florida.
To view the Cornwall Declaration, please click here.
* The Cornwall Alliance was formerly known as the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance (ISA).
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