Faith and Science Collide In Forum

Southern University and Louisiana State University’s Interfaith clubs along with the Atlas Interfaith Foundation held an “Environmental Stewardship: Scientific and Faith Perspectives” forum in the Mocha room of the Smith-Brown Memorial Student Union yesterday at noon.
Graduate public policy major from Turkey and vice president of Southern’s Interfaith club Mehmet Ulupinar said the organizations reason for the event was to offer Christian and Islamic viewpoints on different environmental problems such as global warming and pollution.
“We wanted to show the people on this campus that to respect the environment is to respect the teachings of your religion,” said organization president Bilal Haciogullari. “This campus can be an example of how to be both religious and environmentally conscious.”
Urban forestry associate professor Fulbert Namwamba who spoke from an environmentalist point of view, started the forum by saying that the abuses in science are leading to the deterioration of the earth.
“Science is like a machete,” said Namwamba who was also trapped in Kenya due to civil unrest after the election of Mwai Kibaki. “You can use it to cut meat or kill”
When it came to the discussion of politician’s role in environmental awareness, Namwamba said that leaders should be lead by ground science.
Daniel Collins, a professor also in urban forestry spoke afterward from a Christian viewpoint.
“We as human beings should treat the earth with respect,” said Collins. “If god made it we should respect it.”
He also spoke on science’s relationship to the Bible when it came to the environment such as in Mark 4:30 when Jesus compared faith to a mustered seed and how nature can bring peace not only to the soul but scientifically to the body as an added healing agent.
“After Jesus would preach, he would go into the wilderness and nature to calm down or bring peace,” said Collins.
The last person to speak was urban forestry graduate student and Atlas Foundation representative Trkan Aksoyla, who spoke from the Islamic prospective.
Through a PowerPoint presentation, Aksoyla told those in attendance that when thinking about environmental protection, one must think about why God created the universe, why humans were created and why humans were given the earth as home.
She also related the Qur’an’s message against wastefulness that leads to pollution in the environment according to chapter 17, verses 28 and 29.
“We have to abide by God’s law which is to respect the environment,” said Aksoyla.
After the fourm, Aramark served food where the discussion left people in attendance thinking like graduate public policy major from Ghana Millicent Addo who enjoyed the event.
“We depend on the environment and not only does one’s faith tell us to take care of our environment but we need to sustain it also,” said Addo.