Climate and religion

In their letter titled Will we be bystanders? (The Psychologist, May 2022) XR Psychologists challenge us to take the climate crisis seriously. It is a challenge to which everyone should respond. 

My own interest is in the psychology of religion. I have been pleased to see the number of religious groups that have been formed to address this and other environmental issues. In the UK these include: Green Christian, A Rocha, the John Ray Initiative and the Young Christian Climate Network. They may be heeding Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s often quoted words, ‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’  

Climate change will affect us all, regardless of religion or profession. We must not be bystanders.

John Steley

London