What Roles Can Religion Play? with Shanon Shah

In our final episode of Season Two, we’re joined by Dr. Shanon Shah, an advocate whose work is at the intersection of faith, human rights, and climate change. Shanon's multifaceted career includes journalism, theater, and academia in Malaysia before his relocation to London. A practicing Muslim, Shanon is also a scholar in the sociology of religion and the Senior Deputy Editor of the Muslim Institute's flagship publication, Critical Muslim. He serves as the Director of Faith for Climate, a UK-based organization that seeks to empower faith communities in the struggle against climate change.

This episode is an inspiring dive into the rich tapestry of Shanon's identity as a queer Muslim man and how that identity informs his perspectives on climate justice. He discusses the invaluable role that faith traditions play in shaping our understanding of climate change, social justice, and collective action. From spiritual resilience to confronting issues of power and reparations, Shanon illustrates how religion can provide both a moral compass and a community for change.

Host Nicole Diroff joins Shanon Shah in exploring the role of faith communities in addressing climate change, particularly leading up to and during the COP26 conference. Both speakers wrestle with questions of power, social location, and the complex entanglements of religion with imperialism and colonialism — offering  listeners a complicated but hopeful view of the potential for faith communities to play a transformative role in climate justice.

Grounding: 

The Seed: If you attended Convocation 2021, you'll remember some really sacred moments as our Convocation music leader, Pax Ressler, shared their original song, "The Soil," commissioned by The BTS Center especially for Convocation. Pax joins us to sing “The Seed” as a grounding practice for this episode of the podcast. 

Several of you have asked for sheet music, and with special thanks to Pax, now it's available — and not only sheet music, but a lead sheet, a lyrics sheet, and an mp3 recording — all free for download.

Topics Covered in This Episode:

• The significance of religious traditions in understanding and tackling climate change
• How the concept of 'Loss and Damage' equates to moral and historical reparations
• The role of power dynamics in climate justice
• Collective honesty and complicated hope as pillars of climate activism
• Creating spiritual refuges to endure through and respond to climate change
• The resonance between Islamic and Christian scriptures in relation to social and environmental justice

A Special Moment: Don’t miss the beautiful exchange between Shanon and our host, where Shanon cites prayers from Islamic and Christian traditions that encapsulate the faith-inspired vision for a just and sustainable world.

Next Steps from the Conversation:

Five Steps for Interfaith Understanding (via Interfaith Philadelphia’s Passport to Understanding):

1. Be Curious: Seek to understand others.
2. Venture Out: Experience cultures and ideas different from your own.
3. Welcome In: Be hospitable and open, to learn about oneself and others.
4. Stand Tall: Find pride in your own identity.
5. Stand With: Be part of communities bigger than yourself, including more-than-human communities.

Practical Next Steps:

• Think critically about power dynamics, especially the role of money in enabling or perpetuating societal and environmental issues.
• Visit Interfaith Philadelphia's website to explore their 'passport to understanding'.
• Reflect on Power and Religion: Think deeply about how religion can be an avenue to discuss loss, damage, repair, and particularly the economics behind it all.
• Check out Greenfaith.org: For those interested in the intersection of faith and climate change, focusing on who is financing climate collapse.
• Engage in Vision Casting: The BTS Center’s resource, 'Epistolary Practice of Play for the Seventh Generation', helps you reflect on what wisdom you’d want to pass on to descendants seven generations from now.

Peterson Toscano's Red Cross Volunteering: Various ways to engage in community support through Red Cross volunteering:

Disaster Action Team: Provide immediate emergency assistance.
Blood Donor Ambassadors: Assist in the blood donation process.
Disaster Mental Health Volunteers: Provide mental health support during disasters.
Spiritual Care Volunteers: Offer spiritual guidance and support.

Meet Shanon Shah

Shanon is the Director of Faith for the Climate. He balanced careers in human rights advocacy, journalism, and theatre and music in his native Malaysia before relocating to London in 2010. He holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from King’s College London and is a Fellow of the London-based Muslim Institute, where he is Senior Deputy Editor of its flagship quarterly publication, Critical Muslim. He also conducts research for the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM), an independent educational charity based at King’s College London, and is Tutor in Islam at the University of London Worldwide.

Meet Pax Ressler

Pax Ressler (they/she) is a non-binary performer, devisor, music director, and composer who believes singing is one of the most human and communal things we can do. She blends and infuses her love for cabaret, musical theater, and harmony into her music work, including writing an album of non-binary love songs and gardening Philadelphia’s paid civic singing collective, Rise Choir (@risechoircollective). Pax is a passionate advocate and organizer of the local non-binary and trans theatre community with Genderfunk Philly (@genderfunkphilly). Their compositions have been shared in The Bearded Ladies' Barrymore Award-winning Contradict This! A Birthday Funeral for Heroes and in productions at La Mama Experimental Theatre and at the Guggenheim in NYC. paxressler.com @paxressler