25/06/2025

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 25, 2025

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One point away from climate doom A LL the civilisational religions in Malaysia have missed their timing in performing a vital service followers of each nation’s dominant religion. These leaders are expected to defend the faith.

But to this day in Malaysia, there is no concern by religious authorities over climate change because the term is not used in any scripture. Scientists recognised that the current bout of global climate change (there have been several over millions of years) began around 1750, and it is called anthropogenic climate change – meaning it is completely induced by human activity. No leader of any religion warned in the 18th century of the approaching climate change and yet all religious hierarchies claim to be guardians of revelation entrusted by God with the task of enforcing His commandments for humanity. We provide below a representative sampling of the ecological teachings contained in all the world’s scriptures. The Quran teaches that humanity is a trustee of the Earth; the natural world is created in perfect balance

to the people – and that is, to galvanise the entire population into taking action to prevent climate change before it is too late. This negligence does not seem to disturb us and yet it is clearly stated in the scriptures of every religion that humans must relate to the environment with care and an attitude of stewardship towards the planet. This negligence has resulted in the worsening heat in our cities. Temperature readings in the shade are now at a regular 34°C-35°C. On June 11 in Kuala Lumpur, the temperature hit 35°C at 4.30pm, 36°C at 5.15pm and for one brief minute at 5.43pm, it hit 37°C. On June 12, the temperature was at 36.5°C throughout the afternoon. The next day, it was 35°C at 6pm. The air at 4am in Kuala Lumpur on some nights smells like burnt charcoal. At night, right up to the hours before dawn, the

and human actions should not upset it; and animals and ecosystems are part of God’s creation and environmental degradation is linked to human actions. The Bible also affirms the principle of stewardship; everything created by God is good; creation suffers due to human sins – that is the sin of harming the environment; and Jesus often withdrew into nature to pray. Hinduism teaches that all forces and elements in nature are manifestations of the divine and must be respected; living in harmony with nature is seen as a spiritual responsibility as enjoined by a Vedic verse: “The Earth is Mother; I am Son of Earth” (Atharva Veda 12.12);

temperature is at 30°C but you feel stiflingly hot because the 80+% humidity makes you feel that it is 34°C. This is called the wet-bulb temperature (WBT). It is unknown whether a wet-bulb thermometer is available in Malaysia. Even a dry-bulb thermometer is hard to find. This tells you how there is little concern over the climate. Hence, very few Malaysians know that if we hit a sustained 37°C dry bulb reading during the day or 37°C WBT at night, hundreds of frail elders and sickly babies will die. When were these scriptural verses on planetary care and stewardship revealed? During scriptural times centuries or millennia ago. If all religions throughout the world had made environmental care a topmost priority and passed this value down through generations, climate change may have been prevented.

If all religions throughout the world had made environmental care a topmost priority and passed this value down through generations, climate change may have been prevented. – AFPIC

The first piece of hard evidence that global temperatures had risen because of CO2 emissions surfaced in 1938. The term “global warming” started being used from 1975, and in 1988 climate change entered mainstream public discourse. But it was only in 1990 that the world’s first sermon on climate change was delivered – by the Pope at the Vatican City, more than 150 years after the process of climate change had begun. How far behind have all our religions slipped since the days of revelation? What can explain their steadily declining relevance even in countries such as Malaysia? How can all religions become more relevant in terms of climate change? There are three categories of factors that need to be understood and rectified as soon as possible in the interest of national survival. 0 No interest in scientific inquiry 0 Excessive focus on personal sin 0 Ignoring multifaith commonalites No interest in scientific inquiry During the 19th and 20th centuries, religions felt threatened that their monopolistic claim on revealed Truth was being challenged. The biggest controversy centred on the biologist Charles Darwin and his discovery of evolution – that all species are related as in a tree with one seed sprouting roots, a trunk, branches, twigs, leaves and flowers. Each form develops from an earlier form. His depiction of a “tree of life” greatly upset religious leaders as they had been preaching that according to their scriptures, God directly created each species. The fault lay with the religious leaders for interpreting scripture literally without placing verses in the context of existing knowledge. Darwin’s evolution created lasting enmity between religion and science, and to this day evolution remains a taboo subject

permits all manner of personal sins. But has American society broken up? No. It remains the world’s greatest power. When Donald Trump launched his tariff war, all nations except China bowed low and respectfully asked for negotiations. Unless religions switch their focus to planetary sin, they will stay out of sync with modern needs and become increasingly irrelevant. By maintaining a strong conservative grip on the minds of followers instead of pointing their minds towards climate change, religions let people fall into the hell of climate catastrophe. Ignoring multifaith commonalities Religious hierarchies stay hooked on the archaic meme: our faith is the best and most complete – it is the only way. Other ways are false, incomplete or have become outdated. Even at interfaith dialogues, all panel speakers talk only about their own religions. Exclusivity leanings are based on misinterpretation of key scriptural verses and they deny the universality of God’s Truth. Just as water is essential to life and is universally present, Truth is present in all religions. No religion is more updated than another because all religious teachings are contextual. Thus, all religions in Malaysia have failed to build a multifaith action platform to address climate change. For preaching exclusivity instead of inclusivity that ties all religions together in a bond of common action, we lose another point. Our climate survival scorecard is now at -9 points. Malaysia is just one point away from slipping into climate doomsday. JoachimNg champions interfaith harmony. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

in theology schools. As climate was discovered by science, it was thus ignored until Pope John Paul II – usually highly conservative except for this occasion – drew the attention of Catholic Christians to it in 1990. But to this day, very few leaders in Malaysia’s religious hierarchies across all religions display much interest in science or climate change. Excessive focus on personal sin Up till now, preachers in Malaysia remain fixated on sexual misconduct and even frown on misdemeanours such as holding hands before marriage, alcohol- drinking and gambling in whatever form, with primary attention currently directed at LGBTQ behaviour, which is seen as invoking the wrath of God who punishes humanity with floods and heatwaves. Thus, queer people become scapegoats for all our hostile environmental actions. This excessive focus on personal sin ignores the importance of context. In the much simpler pre industrial societies, personal sin had wide societal ramifications in weakening the bonds of family, which was then the most important pillar of agricultural societies. Cottage industries were also family-centred as families owned factories and trading centres. So all scriptures railed against personal sin and there were no commandments against carbon and methane emissions, microplastic pollution and biodiversity loss. These were unknown phenomena in scriptural times. Personal sin no longer has such damaging effects because agriculture is not the anchor of post-industrial societies and, hence, families are no longer essential to hold societies together. The proof is in America, which change

“By maintaining a strong conservative grip on the minds of followers instead of pointing their minds towards climate change,

religions let people fall into the hell of climate catastrophe.

practising ahimsa implies minimising harm to animals, forests and rivers, and environmental degradation is often understood as the result of adharma (unrighteous actions). Confucianism and Taoism teach that tian (heaven) is both cosmic and moral order; nature is not a resource to be exploited, as enjoined in this powerful verse: “Humans are modelled on the earth. The earth is modelled on heaven. Heaven is modelled on the Tao . The Tao is modelled on nature.” – Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25; and harmony between humans and tian implies behaving ethically towards the natural world. In 1824, scientists had identified the greenhouse effect. In 1856, CO2 was discovered to absorb heat. In 1896, scientists predicted the onset of global warming from industrial CO2.

This is because religion has since the dawn of civilisation been the major guiding force directing civilisational thoughts and societies. Although political leaders at the dawn of every civilisaton ruled with absolute powers, these rulers doubled up as religious leaders as well. Thus, politics and religion have become intertwined to this day. Even in modern societies, with elite assemblies governing nations, the religious component of the power structure is dominant. Modern democracies across the world, including Malaysia, India, Pakistan, and certainly America, continue to elect leaders who are supported by the hierarchy and