Religion & Renewables In Indiana

Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and/or follow us on Google News!

---

George Lakoff, a communications strategist who advises progressives, always stresses that how an idea is framed is critical to whether it is viewed positively or negatively. If it is viewed positively, it is far more likely to be looked on favorably than if it is viewed negatively. Religion offers a perfect example. In Indiana, a number of Protestant evangelical churches have embraced renewables, rooftop solar, switching to LED lights, and planting community gardens, but have experienced pushback from some in the community who find those ideas a little too liberal for their tastes.

The churches have addressed those objections by explaining that they are not promoting a “green new scam,” as the failed president of the United States describes it. They are simply following the biblical mandate to care for God’s creation. In the process of practicing their religion, they are saving their parishioners money as well.

“It’s a quiet movement,” Rev. Jeremy Summers, director of church and community engagement for the Evangelical Environmental Network, told theNew York Times. A collection of evangelical churches and universities has been sharing ideas and lessons on how to expand these efforts, which they refer to as “creation care.” What a delightful bit of messaging that is!

Religion, Renewables, & Messaging

Rev. Nate Pyle of Christ’s Community Church understands the importance of messaging, “If you frame it as environmentalism, or if you frame it as combating global warming, it suddenly gets really politicized,” said the Rev. Nate Pyle, senior pastor at Christ’s Community Church in Fishers, Indiana. “When you frame it as stewardship or caring for the creation that God has given us, people are more open.” Progressives could help their own cause by understanding that idea a little better.

Of all major religious groups in the US, evangelical Protestants are the least likely to hear about climate change during sermons, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, They are also the least likely religion to view global climate change as extremely or very serious. Now, networks of evangelicals are looking to shift that. Some have concerns about whether “creation care” is a form of nature worship? Absolutely not, its supporters say. But aren’t people more important? The answer is that caring for the environment is part of caring for people.

At Grace Church, the creation care committee — called Project Eden — has converted about 10 acres behind the church into a meadow of native plants. Members have diverse interests, said Hannah Miller, who volunteers with the committee and also works for the church. Some are passionate about clean energy, while others care deeply for animals, both wild and domestic. “The common thing that brought them together was seeing creation care as an integral part of the way that they express their love for God and their love for people,” Miller said.

Bringing Solar To The Community

Englewood Christian Church in central Indianapolis has taken the lead in the local community. It has built senior housing with enough solar panels on the roof to generate at least as much energy as the building uses. The church also has solar panels on its roof and two electric vehicle charging stations. The Englewood Community Development Corporation, a local nonprofit, held a meeting at Englewood Christian Church this month.

Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor University are about an hour’s drive north of Englewood. Both have faculty members and students who are active in their religion and the “creation care” movement. Jennifer Noseworthy, a professor of biology at Indiana Wesleyan, is studying how small native plant gardens bolster native bee populations. In 2022, she helped start an environmental science major that has been growing every year. “It’s something that we knew students were looking for, especially students looking for a Christian education,” she said.

Education & Stewardship

Students are often introduced to the concept of creation care in their religion for the first time at college, and class discussions sometimes center on why the idea isn’t discussed more at church. Becca Boyd, a student at Indiana Wesleyan, told the Times she experienced a crisis of faith in middle school when her concerns about climate change were dismissed in her conservative Christian circle. “One of the things that I feel like I heard a lot was that I needed to trust in God more, that I was questioning God by wanting to take action in that way with the environment.” In her freshman year of college, Dr. Noseworthy introduced her to the concept of creation care. “It was an answer for me,” Boyd said.

Now that she is a college fellow with Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, she leads a weekly Bible study group called Creation Care and Faith in Action. She has worked to get space for a new pollinator garden on campus and helped start a student Sustainability Club that works closely with  a club called Stewards of Creation at Taylor University nearby.

“We’re not going to find ourselves through having more things or more money,” Boyd said. “It’s through the community that we have, and being able to provide a healthy future, not just for ourselves….but for those around us and those on a global scale, and the people who aren’t even here yet.” Whatever your religion, that seems to be a message most people could agree with.

Translating Science Into Action

There is an apocryphal story of two members of Congress who sit through a long presentation by a scientist. They are members of opposite political parties and agree on very little. After the hearing, one says to the other, “Did you understand any of that?#8221; The other replies, “Nope, not a word.” Scientists speak a different language than most other people. Mathematicians, attorneys, doctors, electricians, and architects all speak in terms that other members of their profession understand, but those outside their profession do not.

Here’s an example — critical race theory. To an academician, the word “critical” implies an inquiry designed to arrive at an understanding of how or why something happens. To non-academics, it implies an attack on established ideas. Same word, diametrically opposite interpretations. Critical also has distinctly different  meanings when it is used by nuclear engineers or power generation specialists.

We talk past each other all the time, which means little to no communication takes place. If we are to survive as a species, we have to learn how to listen to each other and understand what the other is saying or we are doomed. There is a technique known as active listening.

According to Wikipedia, “Active listening is listening to understand. This form of listening conveys a mutual understanding between speaker and listener. Speakers receive confirmation their point is coming across and listeners absorb more content and understanding by being consciously engaged. The overall goal of active listening is to eliminate any misunderstandings and establish clear communication of thoughts and ideas between the speaker and listener. By actively listening to another person, a sense of belonging and mutual understanding between the two individuals is created.”

George Lakoff would agree that we need more of that, especially between religious and non-religious groups. The best part is, we can start making active listening part of our daily lives today. We don’t need any new laws or regulations to use it. We have the power. We should use it!