Conservatives often say that progressives act as if climate change is a religion. They can now say that without a shred of irony.
Students at the Union Theological Seminary of Manhattan recently performed a religious ritual in which they confessed their sins to plants.
Coy Westbrook reports at the College Fix:
Seminary defends confessing sins to plants: ‘Beautiful, moving ritual’Students at a seminary in New York City recently confessed their sins to plants during a chapel service, an experience that drew nationwide ridicule but that a campus spokesman defended as a “beautiful, moving ritual” in a statement to The College Fix.On Tuesday, Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan shared on its Twitter account a photo of a group of students speaking to an arrangement of house plants. “Today in chapel, we confessed to plants. Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor…According to its website, Union Theological Seminary was founded in 1836 by nine Presbyterian ministers, who were seeking a “new vision for theological education.” Long known as a center of progressive Christian theology, it has graduated and hosted liberal thinkers from Harry Fosdick to Cornel West. Elsewhere on its website it states that “the fragility of our planet” is one of “the most profoundly challenging issues of our contemporary experience.”
How do people do this without feeling stupid, embarrassed, or ashamed?
It’s hard to believe this isn’t parody:
Jon Brown of the Washington Examiner has more:
‘Absolute theological bankruptcy’: Union Theological Seminary students confess climate sins to plantsStudents at Union Theological Seminary prayed to a display of plants set up in the chapel of the school, prompting the institution to issue a statement explaining the practice as many on social media mocked them.”Today in chapel, we confessed to plants,” the nation’s oldest independent seminary declared Tuesday on Twitter. “Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor. What do you confess to the plants in your life?”The ceremony, which is part of professor Claudio Carvalhaes’ class “Extractivism: A Ritual/Liturgical Response,” drew ridicule from many on Twitter, some of whom accused the seminary and students of having lost their minds.
The seminary posted this thread to explain:
Some progressives take great pleasure in looking down on people of faith. It’ll be fascinating to see how they react to this.
[Featured image is a screen cap of the Union Seminary Twitter account.]
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