Women and Care for Creation

                                           

                                                                      Wetsuweten Women 

Today is International Women's Day and I'm thinking of the Canadian women who have been fearlessly at the forefront of protecting the environment, of which we are a part as humans. These women often have a connection to Creation through their religious background.

Tzeporah Berman is an environmental activist and author who considers her passion for the Earth as a natural extension of her Jewish values. She said it’s an important part of tikun olam, repairing the world, but also tzedakah, which comes from the Hebrew word for justice. She said her environmentalism is “interwoven” with her Jewish identity.

Dianne Saxe is an environmental lawyer and was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario until her position was eliminated by the miserable Ford government. Saxe is Jewish as well and also speaks of tikun olam. 

Annamie Paul is now the leader of the Canadian Green Party and as a Jew she is guided by the Jewish concept that if you save one person, you save the world. 

                                                        Green Party of Canada Leader, Annamie Paul

Elizabeth May is a Member of Parliament and former leader of the Green Party of Canada. In the past she would say that after she finished as Prime Minister of Canada she planned to become an Anglican priest. I have spoken with her personally about faith and active response to environmental issues. 

Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist who teaches at a university in Texas, but is a proud Canadian. She is an evangelical Christian in a state where many evangelicals deny the climate emergency as a mistaken tenet of faith. I've heard Hayhoe speak in nearby Kingston, and she is a hopeful, prophetic voice for the planet.

Autumn Peltier is a teen from Manitoulin Island, an Indigenous woman who has taken on the mantle of Waterkeeper and taken her message all the the way to the United Nations. She is a remarkable person who understands the spiritual traditions of her people, which we can all take to heart.

While I'm not familiar with the individual women of the Wetseweten First Nation, I admire their collaborative resolve in cherishing and protecting their traditional lands. 

Our Judeo/Christian scriptures invite us to be Groundlings, those who respect and honour Creation. This is certainly a central aspect of Indigenous spirituality.

Thank  the Creator or all these women and so many more who are providing insightful leadership for this crucial time. 

                                                              Autumn Peltier, Waterkeeper