Forum on Faith, Economy and Ecology:
Moving beyond growth to a sustainable Earth community
May 2-3, 2009
Held May 2-3 in Washington, D.C., the Forum on Faith, Economy and Ecology: Moving beyond growth to a sustainable Earth community engaged communities of faith more deeply in creating economies that support right relationships between humans and the rest of creation.
The forum was sponsored in part by the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
See program with list of speakers' bio here.
Breathtaking scientific discoveries are unveiling the 13.7 billion year old and yet-unfolding story of the universe and the place of humans in it. The ethical implications of this insight are extremely important in an era of economic, social and ecological crises, highlighting the need to design a way forward that ends the false dichotomy between human well-being and ecological integrity.
Intrinsic connections between the ecological crisis and the socio-economic crisis are increasingly evident. The now-global economic system, with its unrelenting pursuit of economic growth, has marginalized billions of people and brought empty prosperity to a few based on the wanton exploitation and destruction of natural systems, species and earth’s limited resources.
We believe that religious communities and institutions with a growing cosmic consciousness can help build the political will for a moral economy that respects earth’s limits while it produces measurable improvements in the real quality of life for all, but especially for marginalized and impoverished people, many of them women and children.
The Faith, Economy and Ecology (FEE) Working Group, which sponsored the forum, represents communities with deep experience in the global South that have been engaged for many years in the work for economic justice through fair trade, debt cancellation and corporate accountability. We are working with many others who are leading the “over-developed” world away from excessive fossil-fuel dependence and unwarranted consumption. We believe those working for economic justice and those working for ecological integrity are natural allies.
An impressive array of speakers and panelists was assembled to energize our conversation. See the program with short bios of the speakers. Participants in the forum included leaders from a spectrum of faith communities in the U.S. and partners engaged in important dimensions of this work for a global economic model that respects the deep integrity of the cosmos.
The forum was held at the Center for Educational Design, 821 Varnum Street, NE.
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