What: “Melting Mountains, Burning Fields: Global Warming, Science, and Religion”
Who: John Hart, professor of christian ethics at Boston University School of Theology
When: Monday, Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Atherton Union Reilly Room at Butler University
Event is FREE

“Going green” is the new hot trend, and some faith-based communities are joining the movement after years of denying the existence of global warming.

On Nov. 12, John Hart, a professor of Christian Ethics at Boston University School of Theology, will deliver his lecture “Melting Mountains, Burning Fields: Global Warming, Science and Religion” at Butler University to educate the public about the effects of global warming and how religious faith is related.

The lecture will look at Christian, Jewish, and Islamic perspective on global warming and the responsibility of humans for the impact it has had on the planet. From these perspectives, Hart has developed his own ideas “for ways in which people might better care for our Earth home and habitat, and live lives integrated with the broader biotic community of which we are a part,” he said.

But, according to Hart, the best way to combat global warming is to allow science and religion to work together.

He has worked for several years to initiate such joint projects, and has been able to bring religious communities and environmental groups together in Montana to work towards a solution.

Hart was recently appointed the president of the board of directors of the Montana Environmental Information Center, which is an active environmentalist organization dedicated to protecting people’s rights to a clean Earth. In this role, he hopes to extend his ideas and promote more interaction between religious and scientific communities.

“I have a great appreciation for Earth's beauty, the diversity and complexity of evolving life, and the needs of human communities. I believe that all nature, not just humans, has ‘natural rights,’” he said. “I have a spiritual sense of divine immanence in creation, and a sense of kinship with all creatures.”

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Atherton Union Reilly Room at Butler University. It is part of the J. James Woods Lectures Series and is free and open to the public.