Najam Speaks at Workshop on Environment and Religion
Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, participated in an international workshop on “Abrahamic Traditions and Environmental Change” held on the island of Rhodes, Greece, from June 23-26, 2019. The conference was co-organized by the University of Connecticut Abrahamic Programs, Al Akhawayn University and the Forum for Religion and Ecology at Yale.
A fulfilling day at conf on #Religion & #Environment, organized by @UConnGlobal, @AlAkhawayn & @Yale Forum.
In my talk, I posed the provocations: Is #Environmentalism a pseudo-religion? A mutual distrust despite obvious connections & common goals? The real crisis is of #values. pic.twitter.com/eqmTOJf9YO
— Adil Najam عادل نجم (@AdilNajam) June 25, 2019
Najam spoke in the opening theme-setting panel, along with Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grimm, both of the Yale Forum on Religion and Environment. His opening talk focused on the question of why, despite the obvious connection and commonalities, religious communities and the environmental movement have had a hesitant and sometimes distrusting relationship.
In his talk, Najam raised the idea that in some ways, the environmental movement is itself a ‘belief set’ which, even though it coincides with many elements of most religions, has assumed the status of a de facto ‘religion’ in its own being – but within ever wanting to or even recognizing that it has. He suggested that this is particular moment of crisis for the environmental movement, especially for those concerned about climate change, because they have finally confronted the realization that the great environmental challenges of our times are not just challenges of science, of law and regulation, of politics, and of money, but these are also challenges of values.
The conference explored how the ethical, moral and spiritual dimensions of Abrahamic religions help shape cultural and value systems that impact the environment and the subsequent observed change. Participants also discussed how these religions—viewed by some as part of the causation of human induced environmental change—have the potential to move society towards ecocentric ethics.
Adil Najam is the inaugural dean of the Pardee School and was a former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore Pakistan. Learn more about him here.