BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS
PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—An annual interfaith meeting of religious leaders from nine faith communities held its 32nd annual gathering Feb. 18 and were told by the keynote speaker that it’s up to to the world’s religions and followers to lead the way in making changes that lead to a sustainable Earth.
“We have to reorient our world to this new reality. Climate change is not ‘fake news,’” keynote speaker Gopal Patel told more than 300 people at Seasons Catering in the Township of Washington.
“It is not something cooked up by businesses to make money. It’s real, it’s happening and anyone who claims otherwise is on the wrong side of history. This is something we ought to do,” he said to applause.
Patel, Bhumi Project director and a well-known representative of the international faith-based environmental movement, discussed “living the change” and ways that religious leaders and individuals can adopt as part of their spiritual life.
The event featured a melting pot of religious leaders, politicians and individuals who learned about current faith-based environmental efforts and informally discussed questions related to religious traditions and eco-conscious behavior.
Patel pointed out that to personally affect the climate change crisis “we need to rethink the way we live, the way we work and our way of life.”
He said the current economic model is not sustainable and noted that the over-reliance on oil and petroleum, political battles over climate change, flooding along coastal areas due to rising sea level and unsustainable food production practices such as relying on a single crop, or a monoculture, will not work in times of a rapidly changing climate.
“If we do not set an example for this moral crisis, who will? Business leaders won’t, politicians won’t. It’s up to us as faith leaders to set the moral example as to how to live in this age of climate change,” said Patel.
He urged religious leaders to “double down” and find in each religious tradition “what it means be someone who lives in harmony and balance with the natural world.”
Patel noted there “are practical things we all can do” and highlighted three changes that “faith leaders” and spiritual people can make to “live the change” in their daily lives.
“We have a responsibility to lead on this more than others,” he said.
“We encourage everyone to consider three ways they can lead a more ‘climate-friendly’ lifestyle,” said Patel, what he referred to as “radical changes.”
He said the changes are not only “beneficial to the planet but to one’s self as well.”
Three changes asked
Patel said the changes to be made include changing the way we eat by reducing meat intake and eating a more plant-based diet; by reducing the amount of travel, specifically air travel that uses up large amounts of fossil fuels; and by decreasing energy consumption in places of worship and homes, which often rely on fossil fuels to create energy.
He said “living the change” begins with changes on a personal level.
Patel noted that the “meat consumption industry is off the radar, it’s unsustainable and the meat industry is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gases in the world. …We have to change what we eat,” he said.
He urged attendees to consider joining the faith-based circles working to effect “climate-friendly” lifestyle changes.
He questioned the audience if they really needed to travel on vacation or go on pilgrimages.
“If we don’t make these changes, the flip side is living in a world where drastic climate change is the norm and reality…that life is even harder,” said Patel.
He said modifying lifestyle choices “are difficult questions…these are not easy changes.”
Patel said energy consumption reduction “can be a quick easy win” and be reduced by installing solar panels or changing an energy supplier in homes and places of worship.
“Some of these [questions] are difficult, some of these are hard, some are very challenging but we have to start somewhere,” he said.
‘The moral responsibility’
“As faith leaders we have the moral responsibility to be that moral voice…and show the world that this is a real thing. And work on it with a sense of urgency and a sense of joy and a sense of love,” noted Patel.
He cited the love of God, “the love we all hanker for” as to why individuals should “live the changes” that are necessary to reduce impacts from climate change.
He noted two local examples of climate change actions include the opposition of environmental groups and towns to construction of a Meadowlands-based gas-fired electricity power plant and Teaneck’s initiative to ban single-use plastic bags.
Patel said later the Bhumi Project uses Hindu texts, teachings and traditions to work with the international Hindu community to raise awareness about global environmental concerns. Bhumi is the Hindu word for Mother Earth.
The effort is an initiative of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, in partnership with GreenFaith.
The gathering was hosted this year by the Hindu community and featured Hindu cultural performances, the Interfaith Youth Singers, and informal discussions at each table focused on the impact of religion on environmentally conscious lifestyles.
Discussion occurred while attendees ate brunch and notes were taken to capture major themes of key points to be shared later with attendees.
Officials at event
Some public officials attending included Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton; County Clerk John S. Hogan Bergen County Executive James Tedesco, state Sen. Gerald Cardinale, and state Assemblyman Robert Auth.
Also attending was Hillsdale resident Rosemarie D’Alessandro, of Joan’s Joy, a not-for-profit charity established by Rosemarie in honor of her 7-year-old daughter Joan, who was murdered in 1973. D’Alessandro’s two sons, Michael and John, accompanied their mother at the event.
All nine religions represented at the gathering staffed information tables offering flyers, brochures and educational displays on efforts to enhance environmental stewardship.
The religions included Baha’i, Hindu, Islam, Judaism, Jain, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh and Unitarian Universalist.
All of the religions are part of the Interfaith Brotherhood/Sisterhood Committee of Bergen County, which hosts meetings and an annual brunch.
Over the group’s 32-year existence, it has hosted prayer vigils, educational forums, and programs to “help us grow in our mutual understanding and respect for one another” according to the group.