On and off this platform, climate change and religion are being paired up.

Photo via http://ehsmanager.blogspot.com/

Representatives of the world’s main faiths met today in London to harness the power of religion in the fight against climate change, Church bells rang out 350 times on the Day of Action, and on Sunday, Ban-Ki Moon said how important religious leaders will play in mobilizing the climate change crusade.

"Without the full support and co-operation of religious leaders, it will be very difficult to create a political climate conducive in agreeing a balanced, harmonious and equitable and binding agreement at Copenhagen next month," The UN Secretary-General said in a BBC radio interview on November 1.

On this platform, bloggers have taken up the issue.

It started with Jodi Bush and her post If Climate Change is Our Religion, Than Who is Our God?

Jodi discussed the case of Tim Nicholson, a former Executive at a large UK property company, who took his employer to court for unfairly dismissing him on the basis of his strong belief in Climate Change. (and I just read on BBC today that Tim won his appeal)

Jodi went on to ask:

"If I believe fervently enough in Climate Change, should my beliefs be protected in the same way as those under Islam, Judaism or Christianity? Is religious belief somehow different because it is faith based, rather than scientifically grounded?"

Jodi's post launched a lengthy discussion on patriotism, paradigm shifts and profits.

Then, there was Muusa.

Her post, It's All About The Money mentioned Finnish MP Timo Soini (True Finns) who  said that the climate change is becoming a new religion. Muusa discussed the way money factors into belief, and asked if believers will have to foot the bill to save the planet, because sceptics won't have the impetus to invest.

Yesterday, Vitezslav's post "Is Climate Change A Religion" got a lot of TH!NKers riled up. 

Vitezslav proposed that belief in climate change is a return to ancient idolizations of nature as god. 

"Almost all fertility cults of the past were obsessed with climate and weather. Praying to gods for good harvests. Making sacrifices to ensure good weather, to avert storms and drought," he wrote.

Today, Eamonn's post on Al Gore addressed Gore's new strategy for climate change out-reach. 

"Gore's new strategy is "to appeal to those who believe there is a moral or religious duty to protect the planet," Eamonn writes. "Is this what Vitezslav was hinting at in his post?"

Discussions like this one are what TH!NK2 is all about. Build other posts into your own and create an interactive conversation through your writing. 

Religion is a heavy topic and it can get messy. But so far, it's been really interesting to read what you all think about belief in general, and the role it plays in environmentalism. And I'm looking forward to hearing more about what you have to say.