Posted: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 12:00 am
BY REX SPRINGSTON Richmond Times-Dispatch
Faith is a link that can bring differing people together to help the environment.
That message emerged Tuesday during a meeting of environmentalists and religious people — many sharing both titles — at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
“We (religious people) are seen as honest brokers, and we have exceptional power when we go to the halls of power,” said Nina Beth Cardin, a Baltimore rabbi and environmentalist.
W. Tayloe Murphy Jr., a former Virginia delegate and state secretary of natural resources, noted that the faith community supported civil rights in the 1960s.
“I think that kind of power is out there and available to protect our natural resources,” Murphy said.
Murphy, a Democrat, and Del. R. Lee Ware Jr., a Powhatan County Republican, also said faith can bridge divides between the parties.
The program, called “Living Waters,” drew about 150 people. It focused largely on protecting the Chesapeake Bay and other waters.