Warren G. Stone, green religious leader, answers questions 0

Warren G. Stone.

What work do you do?

I'm a rabbi in the Washington, D.C., area; I've been privileged to serve as the rabbi of Temple Emanuel for the past 18 years.

I also serve as the national environmental chair for the Central Conference of American Rabbis and am on a variety of boards, including as co-chair of the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation and the Religious Coalition on Creation Care. I'm on the board of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life and the advisory board of Carbonfund.org. A professional highlight was attending the climate-change talks in Kyoto in 1997 as the representative of many Jewish organizations.

How does it relate to the environment?

I've come to see my environmental work as a core expression of my religious faith and central to my goals as a spiritual and community leader. Many -- from a variety of faith traditions -- share this view. We work together on climate-change, forest, and wilderness issues. Being in Washington, D.C., we have an unparalleled opportunity to partner our religious perspectives with other environmental activists and scientists and to work for political change. After years of feeling like voices in the wilderness, we are now finding that our views are actively solicited in the halls of power. I've had the privilege of leading interfaith delegations to the House and Senate, White House, and World Bank. Right now, I'm particularly interested in the greening of institutions. I'd love to see our federal government adopt a greening policy for all government offices. How wonderful to hear Speaker Nancy Pelosi call for the greening of the U.S. Capitol!

winding road led you to your current position?

Aren't the most interesting roads long and winding? I grew up along the south shore of Boston. My home backed a forested landscape, and I would spend hours with my brother finding creatures, discovering plants, caves, and natural wonders. We had cherry, pear, and apple trees in my backyard, which I helped pick every year. Come to think of it, I also loved "cherry fighting" with my brother from one tree to another. You know, I haven't thought of that in decades.

I suppose that my first (albeit brief) taste of activism on behalf of the environment came on the first Earth Day, in 1970, when I was still a college student. And my love for wilderness areas continued to grow during the 1980s, when -- by then a young rabbi -- I served a congregation along the Gulf of Mexico. I remember wonderful hours at the Padre Island National Wildlife Refuge, watching the whooping cranes on their migration, the sand cranes and the gulf birds, with our then-young daughters. When we moved to the D.C. area in 1988, I found places of refuge here as well, regularly hiking with my dogs and, later, our young son, to Great Falls, around the Chesapeake Bay, and in Rock Creek Park.

Then in 1990, as a rabbi, I organized a religious presence in front of the U.S. Capitol with members of our new Green Shalom Committee. I suppose this was something of a turning point for me, when I moved beyond a personal love and appreciation for the environment into activism on its behalf as a religious and community leader. We led a prayer service on spirituality and the earth. Since that point, I've become ever more involved in the convergence of religion and the environment, and have been active as a spiritual voice on the environment with diverse interfaith organizations.

In my life travels, I have always sought out places of natural beauty, from the Sahara Desert of Tunisia to hiking the seaside fishing villages of Italy and living in the hills of Jerusalem overlooking the Judean desert. I'd say that I found my God and my spirituality in the wildness and beauty of nature.

I've been truly fortunate. My early love of both the outdoors and the values and traditions I learned in my observant Jewish home came together seamlessly in my life's work as an environmentalist rabbi!

What has been the worst moment in your professional life to date?

Well, focusing on the environmental piece, that would be the profound letdown that I experienced after returning from Kyoto as a delegate in 1997. I had been profoundly moved, feeling a depth of connection with Jesuit priests, Buddhist monks, Muslim imams, and Hindi and Sikh spiritual leaders. Each speaking from the voice of his or her authentic spiritual tradition, we affirmed our religious responsibility to act. Amidst Buddhist chanting, I blew the Shofar, a ram's horn, the blast of sound that has been Judaism's ancient call to action since the days we wandered, searching for our way, in the desert. We set up a daily prayer vigil of chants and prayers for all delegates to hear. And I felt great optimism, seeing Japanese auto factories that had already retrofitted vehicles with hybrid engines at low cost. I expected that our own country would see both the urgency and the opportunity for action and vision.

Instead, I returned home with others similarly inspired, only to face a potent corporate lobby of auto and oil companies and a real dearth of effective leadership willing or able to counter it. I am enormously heartened by what appears to be a recent will to act. But I continue to shake my head in wonder and frustration at a decade of time lost, when we have not a moment to waste.

What's been the best?

Working with my synagogue leadership, religious school, and Green Shalom Committee to green our congregation over the past 18 years.

Working at the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life.

I am tremendously proud of the work that my congregation has done. To describe only some of what has been accomplished: Temple Emanuel has had many years of energy audits, we developed environmental policies passed by our board, added solar panels for our "Eternal Light," use wind power, and recycle. We have built with sustainable building materials, created energy-efficient zones, added a biblical garden, and built a symbolic and beautiful sanctuary based on the banyan tree. We have developed interfaith programs in the D.C. community, taken our students on trips to the Chesapeake, and involved them in numerous cleanups and other environmental projects. We have become a "zero carbon footprint" community as well.

These initiatives have taken us beyond our own congregation. I and others from our temple community serve on the Washington, D.C., Green Advisory Board, which works to green D.C.-area congregations. We have encouraged greening through COEJL as well as through the Central Conference of American Rabbis and our local ministerium.

To acknowledge my 18th year at Temple Emanuel, the congregation published a Green Shalom Action Guide [PDF] on our website. In Hebrew, the number 18 corresponds to "life." I can imagine no better "l'chaim" -- "to life" -- toast.

What environmental offense has infuriated you the most?

The failure of Congress to pass CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standards 10 years ago! Japan was retrofitting vehicles while our leadership was consigning the issue to further "scientific" review. The idiocy can be hard to endure.

Who are your environmental heroes?

I start with Amos, Isaiah, Zechariah, and Micah, who spoke boldly, warning that injustice would wreak its own havoc upon the earth. My modern spiritual mentor is Abraham Joshua Heschel, who with eloquent words and deeds brought spirituality and social justice together in activism. When Heschel walked arm in arm with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., he said: "I felt that my feet were praying!" Whether on issues of the environment -- in my view, the great social-justice issue of the day -- or on other pressing matters of social concern, I often recall his words: "In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible." And I deeply respect the activism of the Rev. William Sloane Coffin.

I am continually inspired by the work of John Muir, and, more recently, by Edward O. Wilson's The Future of Life and The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. I also appreciate the symbolic stance of Julia Butterfly Hill, who provocatively lived in an ancient redwood tree in Humboldt County, Calif., for two years to prevent loggers from cutting it down. Her words: "I suddenly realized that what I was feeling was the love of the earth, the love of creation. Every day we, as a species, do so much to destroy creation's ability to give us life. But that creation continues to do everything in its power to give us life anyway. And that's true love."

What's your environmental vice?

I am not completely vegetarian. I try, but not hard enough.

Read any good books lately?

I really enjoyed George Leonard's Walking on the Edge of the World: A Memoir of the Sixties and Beyond. Leonard is a visionary who wrote of the need to transform education and consciousness to help us develop new ways of seeing ourselves and the world. His ideas focus on how to tap our deepest selves, our deepest human potential through a unity of the physical and the spiritual. And a perennial favorite is Hal Borland's Twelve Moons of the Year. Borland, an extraordinary writer, captured the subtleties of daily organic change. I'm currently reading Bill McKibben's Deep Economy, a wonderful blueprint for activism.

What's your favorite meal?

Sharing a three-hour traditional Moroccan meal with my family and friends -- including vegetables, chickpeas, and raisins atop a mountain of couscous, and ending with hot mint tea, Moroccan pastries, and an inability to rise from the cushions.

Which stereotype about environmentalists most fits you?

I have always been somewhat out of the mainstream, I suppose. I've always gone off the beaten path. But I'm thrilled that there's so much more company on that path these days!

What's your favorite place or ecosystem?

That one's easy for me. I am enticed every year to Big Sur, Calif., and the miles that stretch below Point Lobos. It's my place of retreat. The spiritual power of the place -- the wildness of the land, sky, cliff, and bird -- it just speaks to me. Twice now, I've seen a magnificent 12-foot condor sweeping down from the cliffs into the sea.

I find that I can draw upon this place even when I'm not there. I hope all who are reading this have such a place in their lives. I encourage you to take a moment in whatever busy day you are living today to close your eyes and go to the natural wild place that does it for your soul. Breathe it in, see it in your mind's eye and go there, sit in silence for a while, smell the wind, feel the sun, bask in that place for a few moments, make a mental picture to carry with you today, and bring it back to your life.

If you could institute by fiat one environmental reform, what would it be?

Two things: A 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax or tithe, which would go for reforestation and alternative-energy development. And, on a more spiritual note, a bold new 11th commandment: "Be mindful of your footprint on this earth: Thou shalt not destroy this sacred and fragile earth!"

What's your favorite TV show? Movie?

The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart; it's the only way I've been able to stand the news in the last five years or so. For movie, My Cousin Vinny; no obvious environmental connection, but I love the movie's warm heart, each perfectly drawn character, and how my wife and I laugh in all the same places each and every time we watch it.

Which actor would play you in the story of your life?

Ben Stiller, who knows how to play a young rabbi with edgy and passionate interests and a flair for pushing the threshold of a religious community. And hey, you've got to have a sense of humor for this line of work.

If you could have every InterActivist reader do one thing, what would it be?

Take a daily walk through the woods or in any natural setting near you. Notice the miraculous and subtle daily changes all around. Walk in silence and soak it into your being! You will be awed and amazed at what you see in a year's time!

Warren Piece

Clearly, caring for the planet is a valid expression of faith, whether Jew, Christian, Buddhist, or whatever. However, there is a huge organization of right-wing Christians dedicated to interfering with our political process. Where do you draw the line in the separation of church and state, and when is it reasonable for religious leaders to use their authority to influence others' political views or decisions?    -- Rachel Simon, Bradenton, Fla.

Warren G. Stone, green religious leader.

In a democracy, all voices, including that of diverse religious communities, have a right to be heard. Religious communities care about social justice, the environment, hunger, poverty, and personal freedoms. While religious institutions should never support particular political candidates or impose views in schools, they certainly should be free to speak out for issues that impact our communities, our nation, and our earth. Diverse religious voices should never be indifferent or silent. I think of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Joshua Heschel, William Sloane Coffin, and other great religious leaders who spoke out or walked for justice! Today our voices are also for species preservation, wilderness and forest preservation, ocean and waters preservation, and curbing our use of fossil fuels and CO2. In my view, if the voices of religion are not fully engaged in addressing some of the most significant moral and spiritual issues facing humanity today, we have rendered ourselves utterly irrelevant.

When Al Gore chose Joseph Lieberman for his running mate in 2000, my husband's very good friend and colleague asked: "Is it good for the Jews?" So, in that light, is it good for the Jews to be involved in environmentalism? If so, then how so? What would you like to tell other Jewish congregations, especially Orthodox congregations, who might think your environmental interests are somehow unacceptable? As for us gentiles, is there anything especially Jewish that you think might encourage us as environmentalists?    -- Marcus Stephanus, New York, New York

Caring for the earth has been a concern since the Eden story. Jewish tradition is rooted in the Shabbat, the sabbatical year for the land, and the traditions of "baal tashit," which means "thou shall not destroy." For example, Jewish law required that we protect fruit trees, even in a time of war, which the rabbis interpreted as a directive that we preserve the earth's life for future generations. The Jewish concept that we are "Shomre Adamah," caretakers or stewards of the earth, is shared by most religious traditions. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus all share this concern, and we enrich our own traditions when we learn how each of us expresses our reverence for life and its preservation. As one example, in Jewish tradition, there is an ancient blessing of thanksgiving every 28 years, for the sun's sustenance: "the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days" (Isaiah 30:26). The next blessing will take place April 8, 2009. My dear friend and mentor, Rabbi Everett Gendler, proposes that this week would be a wonderful time to focus on solar and alternative energies in religious forums around the world!

In the Bible, God gives humans dominion over the earth and all the animals. Many environmentalists seem to take an animist approach that puts humans beneath nature. If it came down to humans having to destroy some of nature in order to progress -- such as using gasoline so that scientists could drive to work and build fusion reactors -- on what side would you fall?    -- John Bailo, Kent, Wash.

The Hebrew phrase "urdo b'dgat hayam," which some translate as you shall "have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky," can also be translated as; "go down, see and appreciate the fish of the sea and witness the birds of the skies." From this translation, we stand as partners with all creation and must serve as a responsible protector of the natural world. Maya Angelou once said: "Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances." James Joyce reminds us, "See the radiance of all things!"

Ultimately, we all come from organic life and, as our DNA bears witness, we are interconnected to all that lives. I'm not advocating that we embrace some rigid or unreasonable rejection of the necessities and pleasures of modern life, but let's "progress" by simplifying, letting go of overconsumption, creating sustainable cities and transportation, and having a deeper partnership and respect for the natural world.

Remember when Aldo Leopold said: "We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." For example, if there is to be building within proximity to a wetland area, let's do that pragmatically, through green housing that minimizes the strain on these fragile ecosystems. Our future is a compassionate coexistence with the natural world. Does that fulfill a religious commandment? In my view, yes. But let's leave the divine out of it for a moment. Does it simply make sense viewed through the prism of humanity's self-interest? Yes, I think it does.

I'm leaving soon on a Birthright Israel trip. While I'm looking forward to the experience, I'm concerned about the roughly three tons of CO2 I and most other travelers to Israel will emit to get there. I'm also worried about encouraging Jews from around the world to move to a country that's already pushing its limits of water consumption and land use. Any suggestions on how to reconcile making aliyah with Jewish environmental values? How do carbon offsets or faith-based sustainability conferences fit into the picture?    -- Emma W., California

I think it's terrific that you are making this wonderfully meaningful trip in such a mindful way. Whether we go to Israel or anywhere in our world, we can do so conscious of our impact. You could take the step of calculating your energy usage at Carbonfund.org. You could consider devoting a bit of your travel funds for reforestation and developing renewable energy as a way of giving back for your travel.

In terms of water issues in Israel, there are a number of outstanding environmental advocacy organizations, including the Heschel Environmental Center and the Zalul Environmental Association, which are deeply engaged in environmental campaigns. Their projects include the preservation of the Gulf of Eilat, halting the pollution of the Kishon River in Haifa and working for its rehabilitation, stopping polluting of the Na'aman River in Acco, and stopping Tel Aviv's Shafdan sewage treatment facility from spilling its sludge into the Mediterranean.

Perhaps you could organize a meeting between one of these groups and your Birthright group -- then come back and tell us what you learned! As you note, water issues deeply affect the entire Middle East and could become more significant than oil as a source of conflict in the future.

You stated that you like Edward O. Wilson's books. Do his religious stances and views trouble you?    -- Eleanor Manire-Gatti, Amherst, Mass.

I admire Wilson's writings and respect that truths can be found within the natural world as well. I respect the diversity of faith traditions of all people, including those who are agnostic, humanist, or naturalist in their belief systems. We can all work together and learn from each other. William James wrote a wonderful book, Varieties of Religious Experience, where he categorized religion as healthy or unhealthy depending on the acts of justice, community engagement, and social good of the person of faith. This could apply to anyone, including a believing pantheist! I believe in the plurality of truth. There are many pathways.

I am a Jewish vegan. In your comments regarding your activism, I was surprised to see no mention of the horrible pain caused to animals by the koshering process. In your quest to become a vegetarian, I would assume as a religious leader you would make "cause no suffering" your priority over fuel consumption. Why isn't there an outcry to banish this torture? In addition, why isn't there more emphasis in Judaism on the destruction of the environment to produce farm animals for needless consumption?    -- Ellen Jaffe, Orlando, Fla.

Food issues are becoming more significant for all faith traditions. We are moving toward a more vegetarian awareness around our country and world. I believe it is just a matter of time before people realize that we are destroying wildlife populations, causing unnecessary suffering, depleting the fish populations with our growing global demands. Marge Piercy wrote a provocative and rather chilling environmental science-fiction book, He, She, and It, in which children are amazed to hear stories of great-grandparents who once ate fish, a form of sustenance by then long extinct.

I believe we are moving toward the advantages of a plant- and vegetable-based diet for wellness, justice, and spiritual reasons. We can learn from many indigenous cultures, whose diets consist of corn, beans, and rice as the major staples. In Judaism, we are seeing a growing "eco-kashrut" awareness. The creation story of Genesis envisions vegetarianism as God's higher ideal and the eating of meat as a compromise of Noah's covenant. Time will tell.

My family and I feel strongly about the environment, and we have determined that we can afford to give about $10,000 to help. We admire the work of groups like the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, and local groups. If you were in our shoes, what would you do with this money?    -- Lauren Mack, Berkeley, Calif.

The world would be transformed if everyone were as generous as your family. Paul Hawken wrote a wonderful book entitled: Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement Came Into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming. The book explores the kindness of and magnanimity of peoples everywhere; you may want to take a look at it. I would also urge you to go to WiserEarth.com, which is a wonderful, expansive new website that supports over 100,000 organizations committed to environmental, social-justice, and peace projects around the world.

I would divide my funds in half, half for my local community and half for smaller global projects in remote areas of need. For the Washington, D.C., area, there are a number of good choices -- the Anacostia Riverkeeper, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light. Enjoy the pleasure of finding a home for your generosity!

As a rabbi and environmentalist, what is your vision of the environmental movement? Where do you think we are heading?    -- Grist editors

There's an earthy comparison that I particularly like. The Psalmist said: "Days of a human being are like grass; and like a wildflower will each come to bloom."

Imagine the wind casting grass seeds and wildflower seeds into the earth. These random seeds take root and soon grow and blossom into a beautiful field of wild grasses and wildflowers. It's happening now, all around us. The seeds are people around our country and world who care about the earth and have devoted their energies toward conservation and innovation. People of all faiths, races, and nations are engaged in local environmental projects. Rivers, bays, mountains, and forests on all continents of our earth are finding their local protectors. Innovators and visionaries are at work with solar, wind power, and new ways of living.

Connecting art and life.

What a thrilling time -- to be part of something that so profoundly matters and to find one's particular way of expression and commitment! For my part, I see the cultural arts as a largely untapped source of inspiration. The words of the mythic writer, Mircea Eliade, ring very true to me: "Human life journeys across forests, mountain, overcoming demons, fire, grave life challenges to penetrate the hidden meanings of the journey -- its symbols, sufferings, visions, like the dry period of daily life to finally reach a center. I have a limitless confidence in the creative power of the mind."

The arts have always helped us to connect in deeper ways to the natural world. Andrew Goldsworthy, a visionary natural artist and environmental sculptor, teaches us that nature can transform us as it becomes transformed. His art plays with leaves, pebbles, icicles, boulders, and the raw energy of color. His stone fence weaves around trees and passes illusively under water. He once said: "Whether it's a leaf on a rock or ice on a rock, I'm trying to get beneath the surface appearance of things!" Let his be a journey for all of us concerned with the natural world -- to go beneath the surface of nature to find its core meaning in a way that is deeply personal.

Artists, writers, musicians, and poets all teach us that we are on this journey together. This coming summer we will witness the largest media event in world history: the Live Earth Concerts for a Climate in Crisis will take place in the U.S., England, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and South Africa with the hopes of reaching 2 billion people across the earth's continents. Throughout Europe, we are seeing "Green Futures Festivals," which spread seeds through music, art, drama, dance, poetry, organic foods, new ecological technologies, and even a green circus for children. England is hosting a "London Sustainability Week," with 350 green events; Holland and Austria are creating a "Green Wave 21st Century" festival and awarding a new Nobel Prize for Ecology. There are countless -- largely untapped -- opportunities to use the cultural arts to transform awareness. Grassroots awareness will eventually lead to the kind of political change and bold action we need to preserve and protect life and all creation on this sacred home of ours.

We don't want our children and future generations to inherit a sense of doom and gloom, but rather the innate and infinite capacity of the human spirit to arise and overcome the most demanding challenges humanity may face, to see all life, including their own, as a miracle worthy of celebration. Let me end with a prayer:

"i thank You God for this amazing day: for the leaping green spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes"
   --e.e. cummings

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