In this piece drawn from the proceedings of the just concluded CIHA Blog workshop on teaching humanitarianism in Africa, Professor Simangaliso Kumalo, CIHA Blog Co-Editor at the UKZN School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, explains how Africa is predominantly a continent of believers and how religion/s could play an important role in the packaging and delivery of the message of environmental stewardship. He further emphasizes the agency for environmental preservation and sustainability on the continent noting the enormous effects of climate change especially in Southern Africa. He concludes that the use of religious assets could go far in educating religious and by extension secular communities on the sacredness of the environment.
______________________
By Rev Prof Simangaliso Kumalo, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Co-Editor, The CIHA Blog
INTRODUCTION
My intention in this reflection is to share the basics in the teaching of the module on the interface between Religion, Governance and the Environment at the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. In the Centre for Constructive Theology, we believe that there is an integral connection between religion, how society is being run and the attitudes towards care for the environment. It is with that in mind that by bringing these three distinct and complex disciplines together we explore the issues of climate change. This is even more important for the work we are doing with the Critical Investigation for Humanitarian Aid (CIHA), because our attitudes towards religion, how African countries are run and the environment is treated, talks to the issues of dependency on humanitarian aid by African countries.
WHY RELIGION IS IMPORTANT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Religion is critical for the environment because for people to mitigate global warming and climate change, their basic beliefs must not be neglected. Religion matters because it contributes to people’s attitudes towards creation and the ability to be actively involved in its nurturing and protection, which in the language of the church is understood as stewardship. This approach contradicts the exploitation and abuse of the environment.
We are of the view that religion is key in the development of a theology of environmental sustainability. We are also convinced that if the church which has the majority of citizens in most African countries is going to make a tangible contribution in the healing of the rapidly deteriorating environment, it needs to collaborate with government structures and initiatives. Andrew Warmback has noted that climate change is the greatest challenge facing us all, including the church (2017: 8). Additionally, teaching and learning in institutions of higher education has its own unique way of transmitting knowledge about care of the environment to both students, academics and members of the community. We seek to provide programs that are suitable to certain context and people of each of these communities, the academic and ordinary people outside the academy.
CONTENT OF RELIGION AND THE ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION
One of the key aspects of any teaching event is content. Our commitment in the teaching of religion and the environment is gleaning content from the experiences of climate change and global warming by those we have to train. It is for that reason that I usually ask learners if they can still identify the rivers in which they used to swim when they were growing up. Most of the time they will answer by saying that most of those rivers have dried up. Then they will start sharing about how their cattle are dying because of drought and how they can no longer yield good harvests as before in their farms. When one probes further by asking questions on the causes of this drought, people turn to give religious answers, like their need for appeasing God and ancestors, etc. It is then that one develops material to explain the scientific and biological reasons behind these challenges. So one starts moving the learners from the known to the unknown.
We also draw insights and knowledge on how the environment must be treated from people’s sacred texts like the Bible, Quran and the Bhagavad Gita. We also draw from their proverbs, oral stories and sayings. Such resources form a body of knowledge that becomes the basis of conversations and intentional dialogues that leads to new knowledge on all three concepts of religion, governance and the environment. Content is very important in for the teaching and learning event because it determines what is learned or what is missed in the process of knowledge production and dissemination.
METHOD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN CHURCH MINISTRY
Since we are committed to the teaching and learning processes that meets the expectations of a variety of groups, e.g. academic community and ordinary members of faith communities, we have to employ a variety of teaching methods. These range from the lecture method, group discussions, seminars, and excursions.
Formal programs: First, we start with formal modules and programmes that are available for students at the university to take as part of their learning. These modules are offered through the Practical Modules especially in Practical Theology 220 and the THEO737/838, Theologies of Transformation, Religion and Governance.
Community Engagement: We also have workshops in communities where we partner with the local Council of Churches to bring together leaders of faith groups and we train them on issues of environmental deterioration. These seminars become important opportunities of doing research on how this challenge is already affecting people. Such anecdotes and shared experiences become helpful for us as we produce tangible knowledge on the impact of climate change. We take this with us to the university and we produce academic material that sheds more light on the issue.
Formal Lectures: We also organize annual lectures where experts on issues of church and environment present their knowledge of the subject at the university. We make sure that we bring members of the community to the university to participate in these lectures. This ensures that the knowledge is shared by people with different perspectives, e.g. formally educated and informally educated, theory and practice, etc.
CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
According to Tye, context is everything, it refers to the settings, the circumstances and situations within which a particular learning event is occurring (2000: 30). It is important to understand that content is basic and necessary part of context because it speaks a lot about religion and how it shapes a community’s attitude towards its environment. When people hear about the environmental crisis, they turn to associate it with the responsibility of the government and environmentalist only. This is a very limited understanding of environmental education; for this issue affects people beyond science, but goes deeper to how they run their society and what policies they pass towards the environment. One of the key examples of this is that the African continent is less industrialized, so emits less fossil fuels compared to the United States, China and India. However Africans are impacted by global warming more than these countries. Then people want to know why this? In other words, context is vital when we teach for environmental awareness.
CONCLUSION
In this essay, I have tried to show why environmental education matters for religion and governance. It matters to know, how the well-being and even collapse of the environment is viewed from both religious and political perspectives. I have looked at how we teach this subject using the approach of purpose, content, context and methodology. In my view, if we are to mitigate climate change in Africa, we will need to mobilize the religious community because it forms the bulk of citizens. Therefore, environmental education should not only be limited to environmentalists or politicians but it should be approached from a wider religious perspective.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Conradie, E. 2016 The Church in God’s Household. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications
- Haddad, B. (ed). 2015. Keeping Body and Soul Together. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications
- Kaoma, K. 2015 The Creator’s Symphony Public. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications
- Kaoma, J. 2013 God’s Family, God’s Earth: Christian Ecological Ethics of Ubuntu Zomba: Kachere Books
- Nurberger, K, 1999. Prosperity, Poverty a& Pollution Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications
- Van, Niekerk, D. 2001. Governance, Politics and Policy in South Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Raiser, K. 2013. Religion, Power, Politics. Geneva: World Council of Churches
- Tarimo, A. & Manwelo, P. 2007. African Peace-making and Governance. Nairobi: Acton Publishers
- Tye, Karen. B, 2000. Basics of Christian Education. USA. Chalice Press
- Warmback, A. The Church and Ecological Justice. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.