To the editor:
For those of us in the religious community, faith and religion are huge motivators in many of our actions.
In Indiana, many of our political leaders identify their religion among their defining causes for moral action. Gov. Pence is Evangelical Christian, Sen. Coats is Presbyterian, and Sen. Donnelly is Catholic. Each of these faiths has recently publicized writings that identify the importance of environmental protection.
In 2011, the National Association of Evangelicals released a piece called “Loving the Least of These,” highlighting the weight of environmental care because of the horrendous effects pollution has on the world’s poorest populations.
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the USA unanimously agreed with the “Call to Restore the Creation,” stating that God has called upon man to protect and restore his creation, the earth. Most recently, in the Pope’s Encyclical, he called Catholics to action to work toward climate change halt and reversal.
Gov. Pence, should we not be addressing environmental issues in order to help those most in need? Sen. Coats, should we not be cherishing and protecting all of God’s creation? Sen. Donnelly, should we not be taking the pope’s words to heart to own up and act upon climate change before it is too late?
I ask these questions of our leaders because I understand how important their faiths are to them and how important environmental protection and creation care are to their faiths.
Portia Mastin
Greenfield
