Stewardship, Integrity of Creation and Climate Justice: Religious Ethics Insights - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 378

Anthropocentrism, as we said earlier, is one of the main critiques of the Judeo-
Christian traditions since the famous article by Lynn White Jr, “The historical roots
of our ecologic crisis”, in which he accuses it of causing the domination of human
beings over all of nature, and states that “especially in its Western form, Christianity
is the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen”(White 1967 ). Against this
background the following commitment of the JPIC Convocation acquires more
importance:
We commit ourselves to be members of both the living community of creation in which we
are but one species, and members of the covenant community of Christ; to be full co-workers
with God, with moral responsibility to respect the rights of future generations; and to con-
serve and work for the integrity of creation both for its inherent value to God and in order
that justice may be achieved and sustained (Niles 1992 , 174).

The quotations above show that, in the context of the JPIC process, the WCC
affi rmation takes into account the tension we referred to at the beginning between
mastery (dominion) and stewardship. By affi rming the integrity of creation, the
document shows the relationship between the environmental and social dimensions
of the earth which need to be considered simultaneously, while reacting against a
purely economic approach which stresses only human benefi t. Consequently, the
commitment highlights the ethical dimension, stressing the rights of future genera-
tions, the intrinsic value of nature, and the justice perspective.
This analysis and commitment can be seen as a similar and parallel path to what
the Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) network has expressed. Beyond
a merely economic approach which primarily if not exclusively focuses on the eco-
nomic component of social ecology, LTSER in South America has stressed the impor-
tance of noneconomic values, especially spiritual and ethical (Rozzi et al. 2012 ).

25.4 An Interfaith Approach

Although, as shown by Hargrove ( 2015 ), the notion of Earth stewardship may pose
problems to non-Abrahamic religions, the care for creation and climate justice
approach also has been refl ected in some interfaith statements signed by religious
leaders from faith traditions such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Sikhism.
In 2008, the Archbishop of Uppsala and Primate of the Church of Sweden, Most
Reverend Anders Wejryd, called for an Interfaith Climate Summit in Uppsala. This
summit adopted “The Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto 2008” (Uppsala 2008 ),
signed by 26 religious leaders. The Manifesto summarizes the common ground of
different religious traditions pinpointing the role of stewards or caretakers:
From religious traditions, with different approaches to religious life, we come together at
this time in human history to assure the world of what we have in common. We all share the
responsibility of being conscious caretakers of our home, planet Earth. We have refl ected on
the concerns of scientists and political leaders regarding the alarming climate crisis. We
share their concerns (Uppsala 2008 , 9).