It is not only human persons to whom we must show sacred regard. As noted in the conference overview, an all-encompassing Christian doctrine of creation requires that we also treat the non-human creation as sacred rather than profane. In fact, we cannot show proper regard for humanity if we do not steward and sustain the environment well. After all, humans do not live in a vacuum, but on God’s green earth. Thus, for all the talk of pro-life, we must be pro all-life. This session will seek to demonstrate that the emphases on human care and creation care are not mutually exclusive but require one another. This is especially evident for impoverished and displaced people groups who are most vulnerable to pollution and have reduced access to life-sustaining natural resources.

Presenter: Marc Foggin, with Paul Louis Metzger moderating.

About Marc Foggin:  Marc Foggin is a conservation biologist and community development specialist with over two decades of field experience spanning from mountain environments of China and Central Asia to the tropical rainforests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa. His core focus is the complex human dimensions of environmental management and conservation, developing and extending participatory approaches and partnerships for attaining local development objectives. Professional interests revolve around natural resources, protected areas, community-based ecotourism, nomadic pastoralism, and horizontal policy analysis. He is the founding director of Plateau Perspectives and has previously served as acting director of the Mountain Societies Research Institute, University of Central Asia. Dr Foggin has also served as consultant for WWF, UNDP, and IUCN. He is currently an honorary research associate in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia.

View or download the program for this session.

Register for this one session ($5) or the whole series of six ($25).

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About the Maximize—Don’t Marginalize Conference Series

Watch the 5-minute introduction to the conference series:

Synopsis of the Conference Series:

We live in a day and age where it is so easy to depersonalize other humans. It is vitally important to maximize others’ personhood in view of their inherent dignity rather than minimize them. An all-encompassing Christian doctrine of creation will require that we treat the human as well as non-human creation as sacred rather than profane. New Wine’s upcoming conference “Maximize—Don’t Marginalize” will address various pressing issues along these lines: suicide prevention, end-of-life care, minority religious groups’ freedoms, the non-human creation’s welfare, racial sensitivity and policing, and LGBTQ+ youths’ wellbeing. Please join us for these live webinar sessions that will take place every Thursday evening from April 13th to May 18th. All sessions in this series:

• April 13: Suicide Prevention: Beyond Shame to Shalom
• April 20: End-of-Life Care: Wounded Healers
• April 27: Freedoms for Religious Minorities: The Fully Clothed Public Square
• May 4: Creation Care: Pro-Life, All Life
• May 11: Race and Policing: Black and Blue Lives Matter
• May 18: LGBTQ+ Youth: Fostering Care Close to Home