This special issue of the Revealer offers up contemplations by several contributors on how the climate crisis could be the most important issue of our time. In his letter to readers, editor Brett Krutzsch considers how religion fits into the matrix of addressing (and denying) climate change.
In her article “A Lake of Fire, A Runaway Goddess, and the Perils of Climate Change in India,” Tulasi Srinivas recounts how the lakes in her hometown of Bangalore, India are filled with waste and, at times, literally on fire. She questions if the goddesses and gods, who some Hindus believe reside at those lakes, have fled because of the pollution and what that means for India and the rest of the world.
Next, in “Beyond Solar Panels and Priuses,” Amanda Baugh explores Latinx Catholics’ often-overlooked conservation practices, and she reflects on how most environmental activism is centered on white Americans and why that must change.
Then, in “Jewish Farming and the Climate Crisis,” Adrienne Krone reports on the Jewish farming movement and how Jewish farming organizations are taking a multi-pronged approach to combat climate change.
Robin Veldman gives us a different perspective on religion and the climate crisis in “Christian Nationalism and Climate Skepticism,” as she investigates the link between Christian nationalists and climate science deniers to make sense of why people who want the United States to be an avowedly Christian nation tend to reject the realities of climate change.
Finally, the special issue includes an excerpt from Amanda Baugh’s book God and the Green Divide: Religious Environmentalism in Black and White to explore how some religious groups are working to make environmental activism more racially and religiously diverse.
Our special issue also includes the newest episode of the Revealer podcast: “Religion and Climate Change.” For this episode, we sat down with three of the writers from this issue to discuss what various communities across the United States are doing, or not doing, about the climate crisis, as well as what needs to happen to make climate change an urgent priority among America’s diverse religious communities. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
