Reaffirming the Green Rule

 Yesterday was International Golden Rule Day and this morning I wrote in my Lion Lamb blog about the relevance of "do to others as you would have them do to you" as the pandemic persists.

It got me thinking about the Green Rule which owes its concept to the Golden Rule. It gleans wisdom from various religious traditions about "living with respect in Creation", to borrow from the United Church creed. 

On Monday an extensive and grim report from the  Intergovernmenal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released. It tells us that humans have put themselves first in such callous and destructive ways that the ecological balance which sustains life is under serious threat. The Green Rule, as well as the Golden Rule are as important as ever.

In jurisdictions around the world legislation is being passed which recognize the personhood of natural environments. Along with these legal rights for rivers and forests we can assert the moral imperative of our sacred writings on behalf of Creation. It is essential that the world's religions become active partners with the scientific community and governments in this cause. 

Here is the explanation for the Green Rule movement and poster: 

"Do unto the Earth as you would have it do unto you."

Selected from many of the world’s great religious texts and spiritual teachings, the Green Rules were chosen to demonstrate that each religion and spiritual philosophy has a long-standing tradition of ecological stewardship. Most are familiar with the Christian Golden Rule: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." In Hinduism it is expressed; "Do not do to others what would cause pain to you." In Islam, "Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself," and so it goes in the various faith traditions. Our Green Rule paraphrased this Golden Rule as "Do unto the Earth as you would have it do unto you." We have looked to the same sacred teachings to reveal similar expressions of care and concern, only in choosing our quotes we have extended the plea for compassion to include all of our neighbours: human beings, animals, birds, trees… Each Green Rule was also chosen to acknowledge the natural world as an essential phenomenon through which we may better come to know the divine and our oneness with it.