Faith, COVID-19 and the push for a healthy environment

Faith biodiversity and a healthy environment

Faith provides spiritual and practical support to billions of people, especially in times of crisis. We are seeing this in action yet again as churches, mosques, temples, other places of worship and faith-based organizations around the world offer support, food, housing, donations and medical services during the pandemic. Such solidarity is sorely needed as millions suffer the physical, economic and emotional toll of COVID-19.

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My faith is my inner sanctum – not your body politic

Prof. Azza KaramWorking with religion and religious actors of various hues and shapes is meant to be a humbling experience. At best, an opportunity to learn how those entities and bodies which have long predated secular establishments, served countless people, and continue to do so. At worst, it is meant to be a means of questioning assumptions about all worldviews, and the actions taken based on them.

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Faith-based organizations can help the transition to a more sustainable post-COVID-19 world

UNEP-Faith for Earth

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has noted that the coronavirus pandemic is more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis which is attacking societies at their core.

To tackle it, policymakers will need the support of scientists, experts, and society at large, including religious leaders, scholars, and communities.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is partnering with others, within and outside the United Nations, to get people, including adherents of the world’s religions, to revisit our relationship with nature and rebuild a more environmentally responsible world.

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New Zealand and Covid-19: Why religion will look different

Kiingitanga karakiaReligion is in transformation – as it should be. The task of religion is to lead the devotee, the worshipful participant to Kingdom Come – in whatever name and form the religious participant aspires for. After Coronavirus, with the shut-down of places of worship, organised assembly in religion will face many changes. This article explores this experience from the purview of worship in New Zealand.

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Religious groups are embracing technology during the lockdown, but can it replace human connection?

Online Prayer Service

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced religious congregations to stay at home after the doors have been closed to their churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and gurdwaras across Australia.

But religious life has not stopped. Congregations are discovering new ways to meet virtually on plenty of online video platforms.

Google searches for the word “prayer” have skyrocketed in recent months, apparently in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, for one, said his “prayer knees were getting a good workout” as he prayed for the nation and for religious communities facing the closure of sacred meeting spaces due to the pandemic.

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Ramadan Focuses Debates on How Religious Practices are Affected by the COVID-19 Crisis

muslim child with face maskDebates began even before the start of Ramadan, and they continue, about how standard practices and especially prayer are affected during the holy month. Al-Jazeera has reported that scholars have generally agreed that Friday prayers should be conducted from home; this has happened as mosques have closed around the world in the past two months.

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Keeping Community Alive During COVID-19: Baha’i Initiatives

Baha'i InternationalFrom Italy to India, Australia to the United States, and in communities across the global, restrictions on gathering because of physical distancing restrictions present challenges that different communities are meeting in ways that are both traditional and new. The Baha’i community offers some examples.

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Ramadan lectures in Australia will move online due to coronavirus, but prayers won’t.

ANIC OnlineAs mosques are closed due to coronavirus restrictions, Australia’s Muslim leaders are set to host online seminars and lectures during Ramadan. However, prayers will not be observed online. Two of Australia’s most senior Islamic leaders tell us why.

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During Ramadan in isolation, Muslims get creative to preserve community

Rawalpindi Mosque, Pakistan

(Religion News Service) — The holy month of Ramadan, observed by fasting from dawn to dusk, has many themes: sacrifice, discipline, devotion, empathy, gratitude, generosity.

But for many Muslim communities, what defines Ramadan, which begins this week, are the moments of community: sharing platters of dates to break their fasts, the call to prayer reverberating through the halls of packed mosques, filling empty stomachs with mouthwatering nightly meals known as iftars — plates piled high with the black Muslim staple bean pie, South Asian samosas and maqluba in Arab traditions — the charitable zakat collections and the never-ending mosque fund-raising pitches.

It is the coming together, many Muslims say, that builds a heightened sense of spirituality, individually and communally.

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