Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jews, in different forms, united to preserve the world

The protection of the environment has entered forcefully into the popular objectives of the main world monotheistic religions, not that it is a novelty to be treated in a time of danger for our planet, but a form of renewal of the ancient teachings on the relationship between man and land.

 The communication forms may be different, the perspectives for looking at problems can change, the arguments can be exposed starting from further or closer, but the common point of the main monotheistic religions is respect for creation. 

Five years ago, Pope Francis circulated the Encyclical Laudato Si, which is entirely dedicated to the protection of the planet, taking up the Canticle of the Creatures written by St. Francis in admiration of creation.

Treating the subjects in a pastoral and unscientific way, in the encyclical we talk about pollution and climate change, the relationship with water, biodiversity, social degradation, iniquity, weakness in reactions and diversity of opinions.

In oriental, Buddhist and Hindu religions unlike the others, the concept of cosmic logic contemplates man as part of creation, with a joint and interdependent relationship with nature and therefore, in an environmentalist logic, the protection of the habitat is part an integral part of the life of the faithful.

For Hindus , respect and care for the environment are first of all a spiritual question of approach to life, and secondly an ethical-moral question of a social and civil nature. Individual Hindu spirituality draws its life from the natural context in which the believer lives and, the environment, is one of the means that bring the faithful to the knowledge of happiness.

For Buddhists, every entity, animal, human or vegetable, cannot be represented as being independent of its surroundings, because all existential phenomena are interdependent. Buddhism denies any form of violence against any being and proclaims respect for life in all the forms in which it manifests itself.

Judaism intervenes decisively in social policies as regards respect for the nature in which we live, which is represented within the Torah, the doctrine written three thousand years ago, in which we taught to live in respect of natural resources and in harmony with the environment.

Jews are careful not to cut down trees, divert the course of rivers, install production near inhabited centers that can create pollution, waste water and other restrictions.

The Islamic religion , through the moral law, brings the faithful to the awareness of the recycling of water, the sharing of means of transport, the consumption of local food, the use of solar panels on mosques, the printing of the Koran also on recycled paper and other ecological directions. 

Metaphors often occur in the Koran, such as that of water, where God asks men to account for their behavior towards the environment he has created, and being man a messenger of God, he must feel obliged to keep what he has received.

He also recommends the pilgrimage to Mecca, to which every Muslim once in his life must arrive, through an eco-sustainable journey. In Mecca every year about 2 million faithful are expected and the indications that are given to the faithful also concern the attention to plastic bottles and the wrapping for the food consumed.

In general we can say that the ecological aspect permeates every ecclesiological and dogmatic area, since the spiritual aspect and its dimension cannot be separated from a correct relationship with creation.