For those who watch Glenn Beck, on Friday’s show, he introduced America to the latest attack from the Tides Foundation [1], “Let There Be Stuff”. “Let There Be Stuff?” is designed for confirmation classes, bar and bat mitzvah classes, and ongoing youth group and teen programs at churches and synagogues. The six sessions are each designed to last an hour, with extensive resources and guidance for adult leaders. [2]
I fully realize that Glenn doesn’t have time either on his radio show or his television show to fully explore who is behind this latest attack and frankly, I believe too many people may either too busy or too lazy to check into the background of Greenfaith so, using their website information here is the information for those who really give a damn.
Let begin with what exactly Greenfaith believes.
GreenFaith is an interfaith environmental group, and we're proud of what we believe. These four (Evidently they can’t count…OM) principles are the moral and religious themes that provide the foundation for our work.
1. The Earth is the Beloved Creation and Possession of the Divine
Consistent with the world’s great religions, we affirm that the earth is creation, possession, and gift of the Divine. Creation has an intrinsic value that cannot be defined solely by its usefulness to humanity. While the material world does not capture the full extent of the Eternal, GreenFaith affirms that the earth and the entire cosmos are a sacred blessing, a sign and embodiment of the generosity, creativity and power of the Holy.
2. Human Beings are Steward Commanded to Care for the Earth
In relation to the earth, humanity’s primary role is that of a steward, reflecting an understanding that we are embedded in earth’s web of life, and therefore steward an earth to which we also belong. Stewardship is a service that humanity is commanded to offer to all creation, a multi-generational trust to protect the earth as a sacred commons for life present and future, and not for short-term selfish use.
3. All People Deserve a Healthy Environment - Regardless of their Race or Income
All people suffer from environmental degradation, but ethnic minorities and the poor around the world suffer its worst impacts. In the United States, research shows conclusively that people of color and the poor suffer the impacts of environmental harm disproportionately.
GreenFaith strongly affirms, consistent with the values of compassion and justice present in every religion, that the Divine commands us to care for the poor and vulnerable, protecting them from environmental injustice, racism and harm.
4. Our Souls are Strengthened in Relationship with Creation
The natural world represents a remarkable expression of power, beauty and creativity, and evokes our awe at its majesty. Our experience of the earth, and its sheer beauty and splendor, reveal the Divine to us, and constitute an important source of spiritual and religious experience. GreenFaith believes that religious groups must help their members.
5. Religious Communities Must Work to Protect the Web of Creation
Consistent with our belief that the entire cosmos is an embodiment of the creative power of the Divine, we affirm that humanity is commanded to protect the web of creation, its diversity of life forms, and the ecosystems that support them. Recognizing the serious threats that some forms of human activity pose to the earth, religious communities should commit themselves to protecting the earth. [3]
Now for those who have been paying attention, have you noticed one important word missing (at least in my mind and I hope many other people’s mind) from this so called “religious” organization’s belief system?
How about their “mission”? Besides propaganda and an attempt to destroy the American way of life.
Mission and Areas of Focus [4]
GreenFaith's mission is to inspire, educate and mobilize people of diverse religious backgrounds for environmental leadership. Our work is based on beliefs shared by the world’s great religions - we believe that protecting the earth is a religious value, and that environmental stewardship is a moral responsibility.
There are three core values that guide the work that we do, and define us as an organization:
Spirit
We believe that religious traditions see the sacred in nature and that people grow spiritually through a strong relationship with the earth. Through environmentally-themed worship, religious education and spiritual practices, religious institutions have many opportunities to celebrate creation and strengthen their members' connection with the earth. They believe that “Our Souls Grow Stronger in Relationship with the Natural World.” [5]
Stewardship
We believe that our consumption habits can help heal and restore the earth. From energy and transportation, to food, water, and other areas, religious institutions and their members use a lot of resources - and therefore have many opportunities to lessen their impact on the environment. Their idea of Stewardship is “GreenFaith provides tools to help religious institutions and their members adopt sustainable consumption habits.” [6]
Justice
We believe that all people deserve a healthy environment, regardless of their race or income. The world's great religions share an ethic of social justice, and GreenFaith is committed to fighting environmental injustice and racism. Educating around the topic of environmental justice and advocating for change is a vital area of engagement for religious institutions. “GreenFaith offers access to different kinds of resources to educate and mobilize religious communities to seek environmental justice.” [7]
A visit to the site’s GreenFaith Board of Directors page reveals some very interesting people involved with this “faith based” group. [8]
Executive Committee
Steven Blumenthal, CPA, Chair, is Director of Tax at ERE LLC, an accounting and financial services firm based in Manhattan. He serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bergen County Work Force Investment Board and as Treasurer and past President of the Executive Exchange, Inc.
Gary Matthews, Ph.D, CPA/PFS, Treasurer, is a Personal Financial Specialist and an investment advisory representative of First Affirmative Financial Network specializing in socially and environmentally conscious (SRI) investment strategies. He received a Doctorate in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary.
Dana Hiscock, Esq., Secretary, is a Partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, a New York law firm where he specializes in estate planning and tax-exempt organizations matters. He chaired the Board of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies from 2002-2005 and is a founder of the Environmental and Social Justice Committee at Church of the Epiphany, Allendale.
Deborah Prinz is Executive Director of the South Orange-Maplewood Education Foundation. She is a member of the New Jersey Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, the New Jersey Jewish Film Festival Committee, the Community Relations Committee of the United Jewish Communities Metrowest, and an officer of Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston.
Layne Mark Johnson, Ph.D., is a biomedical information and knowledge management executive and has performed environmental research for the National Environmental Health Association, the National Science Foundation, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. He has published in a number of scientific journals and books and leads the Environmental Outreach Committee at Christ Church, Ridgewood.
Theodore Eisenberg, Esq., Ex Officio, Counsel, is Roseland Office Managing Partner for Fox Rothschild LLP. He has negotiated collective bargaining agreements and instituted alternate dispute resolution procedures in a range of industries. He is a Trustee of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life.
Board Members
Benjamin Alter is Vice President of GZA GeoEnvironmental, an environmental services firm. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Hunter College School of Health Sciences and has published articles on hazardous waste investigations and remediations in a range of professional journals.
Valorie Caffee is Chair of the Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and a leader of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. A nationally-recognized environmental justice leader, she has published articles on environmental justice in national and statewide publications.
Kathleen Deignan, CND, PhD, is a sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame and Professor of Religious Studies at Iona College where she founded and directs the Iona Spirituality Institute. She has written extensively on classical and contemporary Christian spirituality, particularly the wisdom legacy of Thomas Merton. Her books include Christ Spirit: The Eschatology of Shaker Christianity; When the Trees Say Nothing: Thomas Merton’s Writings on Nature; and Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours. She is artist-in-residence at Schola Ministries, which has published 12 recordings of her original sacred songs and psalms.
Jennifer Duckworth, MSESP, is a Senior Environmental Engineer with Tetra Tech, Inc., and she provides custom environmental presentations through her own business. She has served with the US Environmental Protection Agency and worked for numerous environmental engineering firms. Winner of the New Jersey Environmental Federation’s 2008 Grassroots Leadership Award, she is Chair of the Millburn Environmental Commission and leads the Green Committee at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ.
William Friedman, Esq., is a Partner at the law firm of Wolf Block Brach Eichler. He is experienced in environmental and toxic substances law, and served with the US Environmental Protection Agency prior to entering private practice.
Laurel Kearns, PhD., is Associate Professor of Religion and Environmental Studies, Drew Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion, Drew University. She serves on the sustainability committees of Drew University and the American Academy of Religion, speaks nationally and internationally on religion and ecology, and is a widely published author on religious-environmentalism. She is on the Executive Committee of the Green Seminary Initiative, which seeks to integrate ecological concerns into seminary curricula and operations nationwide.
Robert Schucker is President of R&S Landscaping, a regional pioneer in sustainable landscaping practices. A widely-respected environmental leader, R&S provides residential clients with a range of high-quality, environmentally sensitive landscaping solutions including strategies that require less water and fewer chemical herbicides, make use of native species, and create roof gardens.
Nicky Sheats, Ph.D., Esq. is Director of the Center for the Urban Environment of the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy at Thomas Edison State College in Trenton. He attended Harvard Law School and served as a public defender in New Jersey before returning to Harvard for a Ph.D. in Biology, followed by a Fellowship at the Earth Institute of Columbia University. He serves as a convener of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and is a leader of the Diesel Emissions Leadership Group, a collection of advocates working to reduce diesel emissions in New Jersey.
The Rev. Ronald Tuff is Executive Director of the Paterson Task Force for Community Action, a nonprofit community action agency in Paterson, NJ. He served for 16 years as the first Director of the Newark Taxi Commission, and then attended New Brunswick Theological Seminary and was ordained as a Baptist minister. He became the Executive Director of Paterson Task Force in 1990, and he has expanded the services of the agency to serve over 30,000 clients per year. The Task Force oversees a range of programs including a weatherization program, a culinary school, a computer school and a shelter for homeless mothers.
The Rev. Lynne B. Weber is Rector of The Church of the Atonement, an Episcopal parish in Tenafly, NJ. Under her leadership, Atonement has integrated environmental concerns into many areas of its congregational life, and convenes meetings for other Bergen County congregations on religious-environmental leadership. She is Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, where she chairs the Ecumenical and Interreligious Commission. She is a Board member of the North Jersey Christian-Muslim Project and of the Interfaith Brotherhood-Sisterhood Committee of Bergen County.
Now, maybe I just a little cynical, but shouldn’t an organization that professes to be an “interfaith environmental group with principles that have moral and religious themes” would have members of the clergy working to “direct” the organization. If you look at the Executive board and Board members, you will find 3 that are actually members of the clergy, one a nun and one of them served for “16 years as the first Director of the Newark Taxi Commission” before becoming a “preacher”.
This ladies and gentleman is just another enemy that we are facing, and they are as insidious as any spy or government agency. They are coming after the children.
“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”…….Adolf Hitler