Symposium V: Goals
June 2003
It is delight that we welcome the publication of the proceedings and presentations resulting from the Religion, Science and the Environment Symposium held on the Baltic Sea in the summer of 2003. It is our conviction and prayer that this book comprises more than a mere compilation of deliberations and decisions. Committing these texts to print is an indication of our commitment to the preservation of the natural environment.
The 5th Symposium took place in early June 2003 under the theme: “The Baltic Sea: A Common Heritage; A Shared Responsibility.” It was held in the waters and on the surrounding shores of the third of only three enclosed seas in Europe. The other two enclosed seas were the focus of study during previous symposia in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. With this symposium, the Religion, Science and Environment Committee directed its attention north. The Baltic Sea is bordered by nine diverse countries and cultures. Some of these have historically proved to be privileged nations; others have struggled through a problematic history. In each case, heavy industrialization has impacted directly on riparian neighbors as well as on the sea itself.
It is for this reason, then, that the goal of this particular symposium was to begin to determine and define an environmental ethos as a responsible way of sharing and living, beyond mere environmental ethics as a set of norms and principles. As committed and faithful “priests” of God’s beautiful creation, we are called to receive and return this world to future generations and to the Creator in an act and attitude of thanksgiving. This implies responsibility in a world of sinful wasting; it calls for sharing in a contemporary global world; and it demands justice in a world of sinful inequality.
