*Peace Islands Institutes Upstate, NY branch organized an Abraham's Table on "Religion and Ecology" at Syracuse University"

Peace Islands Institute (PII) organized the first Abraham's Table on "Religion and Ecology" at Syracuse University on Feb 7, 2013. The event was held in Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life with a turnout of more than 70 attendees among whom were students, academicians, community leaders, and environmentalists. 

The panel facilitator, Gulmammad Mammadov, a PhD candidate at Syracuse University, began the program by expressing gratitude to the dean of the Hendricks Chapel, Tiffany Steinwert, for her generous support and the Hillel Center for Jewish Life for offering the space for the event. The program proceeded with the introduction of PII and the work it does to address the challenges humanity faces. 

The panel discussed teachings of the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam related to preserving the environment. The panelists were Daniel Fellman representing Judaism, Anthony Bartlett representing Christianity, and Aaron Spevack representing Islam. The speakers began to present in accordance with the historical order of the represented religions.

Daniel Fellman, the first speaker of the program, holds a B.A. in Political Science from Colorado College, and Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He was ordained in 2005.

Rabbi Fellman underlined that in the modern world Jews have sought to preserve environment by utilizing natural resources through wise and efficient ways. He also highlighted the significant role of scholars and religious leaders in creating an overarching and universal awareness towards environment. Some examples he gave were teaching children about recycling and preferring green technology such as hybrid cars over the fuel based ones to minimize the environmental damage. Rabbi Fellman, at the end of his speech, expressed that he believed all the Abrahamic religions had similar take on environment; and collective action aiming at environmental preservation can be and should be exerted. 

The second speaker, Antony Bartlett, is a theologian and received his PhD from Syracuse University. He was an ordained Roman Catholic priest from 1973 until 1984 and taught as Assistant Professor of Theology at Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary in Rochester NY. Together with his wife, Linda, he founded a bible study community, Wood Hath Hope, in Syracuse. He is the author of various books on Christianity. 

Dr. Bartlett began his speech by a story on how a Muslim Sea Captain changed his perception of the world. He met the Sea Captain on a train on his way back from Rome where he was a priest. The sea captain told him that every morning, he came out of his house, and expressed his profound gratitude for everything he was blessed with such as good neighbors, beautifully shining sun and appropriately functioning body. That" he continued, "put my feet back on the ground."

Dr. Bartlett laid stress on the importance of religious leaders to take initiative on bringing people together and exposing them to the challenges of the environmental crisis. With that regard, he extended his gratitude to Mr. Fethullah Gulen, honorary president of PII, for leading the movement and bringing people together on the topic. He also made a startling point about the misconception within Christianity that since heaven awaits in the hereafter, there is no need to worry about the physical world. Christian religious leaders, he emphasized, should address such misconceptions.

The last speaker, Aaron Spevack, is an assistant professor of religion at Colgate University. Dr. Spevack earned his B.A. at Harvard University and PhD at Boston University. He held teaching positions at Loyola University, Harvard University, and Hamilton College before moving to Colgate University. He is the author of the book "Ghazali on the Principles of Islamic Spirituality".

Dr. Spevack emphasized the commonalities that Islam, Christianity and Judaism have and thanked to the other speakers for bringing up their perspectives. He read some verses from the Holy Qur'an in Surat Ar-Rahman that emphasized on the mercy of the Creator and how he created the man, the earth and the universe all in balance and asked humankind not to transgress within the balance. He also read some of the words of Prophet Muhammad where he encouraged his followers to plant trees by reminding those would be rewarded in hereafter. Dr. Spevack read another verse where God says “eat and drink and waste not" and he said that was also a way how Islam would remind the muslims to be people aware of their surroundings. He finished his speech by mentioning the definition of ecology as the interaction of living things with its surrounding and said "Islam teaches muslims to deal with their environment as a sacred trust which they should treat with respect and balance".

The program continued with questions and comments from the audience. At the end of the event, a sister organization of PII, the Turkish Cultural Center, presented special gifts to the panelists and invited the guests to socialize and enjoy the food.

Antony Bartlett (on the right) receives a special gift by the Turkish Cultural Center.

From Right: Panelists Aaron Spevack, Antony Bartlett, Rabbi Daniel Fellman