EARTH DAY 2022

Last week, all the three monotheistic faiths celebrated overlapping holy days and religious festivals of Judaism’s Passover, Christianity’s Easter, and Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. It happens every 30 years because the three observances are based on different calendars and factors that determine when the holidays will occur. It was a time for family gatherings, reflection, and prayers as all three faiths reminded us of our responsibility for each other and the world.

The world will celebrate this week with Earth Day on April 22. Since its inception in 1970, it has evolved into an international movement to people together in the cause of preserving our planet for all. Since its beginning over 50 years ago, billions of people in more than 200 countries have taken part in educational and service activities such as tree plantings and river cleanups, along with demonstrations, marches, and protests, centered around the crucial goal of nurturing and protecting our environment.

Each year the celebration of Earth Day serves as a reminder to us all of the importance of taking care of our planet earth. However, the mandate for taking care of the environment is far older than this annual event. From Buddhism to Christianity to Hinduism to Islam, various faiths acknowledge the need for environmental stewardship in their holy texts urge adherents to be caretakers of the Earth.

In the Bible's Genesis, we are told that God created the entire universe and formed the earth for all living things.
A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates. The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend to and watch over it.

For Muslims, being guardians of the Earth is the responsibility of all. The Quran says there is a definite purpose in the creation of different species, be it plants or animals.
And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the growth of all things. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains arranged in layers. And from the palm trees – of its emerging fruit are clusters hanging low. And [We produce] gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar yet varied. Look at [each of] its fruit when it yields and [at] it’s ripening. Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.

Hindus understand the environment to mean the natural world, and everything around us is part of the earth and nature. Ancient Hindu teaching says, The Earth is our mother and we are all her children.

Buddhists believe that man and nature need to coexist, and that nature is neither good nor evil.
The Dalai Lama said in 1990, “Our ancestors viewed the earth as rich and bountiful, which it is. Many people in the past also saw nature as inexhaustibly sustainable, which we now know is the case only if we care for it.”

So while science and religion are often thought to be at odds on many issues. On the caring of the planet, all the faiths are in global solidarity.

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