An Interview with Marty
In preparation for his article on RENEWAL, Ben Tepfer conducted an email interview with Marty. There's some great stuff here. Enjoy.
BT: What was your motivation for making the film?
MO: We wanted the public to know that religious-environmentalism is no longer just an idea. It's an active emerging grassroots movement with enormous potential to speak to people about the critical need to find a sustainable new way of living on our planet. We also wanted viewers to understand that this movement carries the promise of bringing people of diverse religions closer together, through their common concern for the earth. But above all, we hoped to inspire people to action. We wanted to encourage them to join or create religious-environmental initiatives in their own faith traditions -- initiatives that can help them find the strength and courage that will be needed to face the large ecological challenges of our time.
BT: Why now? What is the significance of the film today, several years into the 21st century?
MO: Time is running out for human society to make the changes that are necessary to address the great environmental challenges of our day. Religions speak to the deepest dimensions of human experience and the ways we morally and ethically choose to lead our lives. For many years there has been a valuable secular environmental movement -- but it has not been sufficient. We need something that will go even deeper than that. Something that can move society more effectively than the secular movement has been able to do. Once people recognize that the environmental crisis is more than an issue about science or economics -- that in its most profound form, it's a spiritual issue -- there is some hope that people will become inspired to make the personal changes that are needed to address the problem.
BT: The film is very factual about events around the country. What do you hope views to do after seeing this film?
MO: I hope viewers will come away from the film sharing a sense of inspiration and connection with all the people of diverse faiths in our stories. And that they will be inspired to think about ways they can become active through their own religious affiliations, to explore things they can start to do to make a difference. Their own synagogues, churches, mosques, temples may already have a link to a greener future. Or, perhaps the viewers will become that essential link for their own house of worship. There are many resources that religious groups can draw on for support in these efforts. Our website, www.renewalproject.net, is one place people can start to find out about things that other religious groups are already doing.
BT: This question is intended to be a critical analysis rather than accusatory: The film takes place across the country which obviously costs a fair amount of money as well as the emissions of carbon through transportation. In what ways were you able to cut carbon emotions while filming? Is there any part of you that feels hypocritical about the extend of travel needed to make the film?
MO: Not hypocritical, but perhaps sad about the situation. In many instances, there's no way of getting around the flying issue. But here are a few things we did. During an extended east coast research trip, we did not fly. We drove in one car. Driving is still a problem, of course, but a lot less than if we had flown to all the places we visited. Also, in a number of instances when we did fly, we engaged local people to work with us rather than bring a full crew as we would have done years ago. Still, you're right to identify this as a real problem. We cut back whenever we could but at some point, if you need to be in New Mexico, you simply need to be in New Mexico at the time an event is happening there. It's a problem that everyone's starting to confront these days. Perhaps your generation will have some innovative ideas for filmmakers to follow in the future!
BT: The film focuses a great deal on individual religious groups and their environmental goals. With the exception of the IPL and the religions in the "Sacred Celebration", there is little mixing of different faiths. Is there a good way to bring different religions together? Or, is it better that they work individually at this point?
MO: I personally feel it's a good thing when diverse peoples come together to learn about greater ways to respect each other. So, I care a lot about that. I'm not sure that goal is as important to all religious groups as it is to some. The important thing, I think, is that all groups make the essential link to the sacredness of the planet. If they are able to move beyond that, to discover the sacredness of human communities coming together despite differences in beliefs, I think that's great. But if they're not yet able yet to take that step, the key thing is for them to engage with the environmental issue on any ground that is comfortable for them. It's not either or. The need is so critical today that we require all approaches happening at once. And it seems inevitable to me that once people begin to deeply understand the interconnection of all things -- which is what the earth offers to teach us -- it's just a matter of time until diverse religious groups will come closer together. Understanding the lessons from the earth can lead us to greater practices of justice, tolerance and peace.
BT: And now the big questions that I am sure you have gotten countless times: Where do we go from here?
MO: We go to the fundamental teachings of our faith and we use them as directives toward action. We ask ourselves, what does it mean to be a human being at this time in the world? What is my relationship with all other life on the planet? What are my responsibilities to the earth -- this sacred gift we've been? How can I become a better steward for our planet to help build a sustainable future? What is my relationship and responsibility to God? We recognize that the environmental challenges we face are immense. But we refuse to be beaten down by language of doom and gloom. We accept that our lives have beauty and meaning and we dedicate ourselves to finding ways to fulfill the promise of a better world for us all. So, we move forward with hope and the commitment to perform hard work and make changes in ourselves. And we do it with the knowledge that there's a growing army of others too who are ready to join us in this effort for renewal.
BT: Where does Atheism fall into this spectrum? What is the best way for someone to get involved without religion?
MO: You don't need to be a religious-environmentalist to be an environmentalist. For people who do not believe in God or religious practice, you can be fully engaged in the secular environmental movement in hundreds of ways. Just choose the issue that speaks to you most strongly, spend a little time on the web and find the organization that best appeals to your instincts. Get involved with it and don't worry about finding a spiritual connection. There's room for everyone at the inn!
BT: What do you say to the teenagers who want to take the next steps with environmental change in their religious communities?
MO: First and foremost, you have to believe that people truly care about what you think and what you do. That may be hard for you to accept, but it's true. We are at a turning point in our culture today, when change and hope is in the air. Following many years of cynicism, everyone is starved for inspiration. Your generation is the generation of hope and a new vision for the future. Older people are waiting to see that young people have the energy, courage, commitment and willingness to try new ideas that can help us out of our planetary mess. The most terrible thing you can do is to do nothing, because you think you're too young for people to take you seriously. Here are some ideas for getting active. Become familiar with the religious thought that stands behind the practical eco-initiatives. Read books by Ellen Bernstein or Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Those writings are great ways for you to get inspired about Judaism's deep roots in the natural world. They will help you think philosophically and spiritually about these issues. They can provide you with a vision that will make you want to go out and get environmentally active for the long term. Find out about the religious environmental groups that exist in your area and see if they have a special outreach for teens. If they don't, go see your rabbi or talk with another adult at your synagogue about starting something. You can be the spearhead. As Rev. Harper says in the GreenFaith story of our film, the hardest thing about getting started is just getting started. At some point, you just have to jump in and start doing something. Don't worry if you're not the world's greatest environmental scientist. There's lots of room in this effort now for on-the-job training. We're all learning as we go along. The important thing is your commitment and your willingness to act. Talk with a few friends. You don't need the whole congregation on board. Just a few people working together, leading the way, can inspire others--and suddenly you've got something going! Every one of the initiatives in our film was started by just one or two people. Judaism especially has some excellent environmental education programs for young people. Take advantage of organizations like The Teva Learning Center, The Adamah Environmental Fellowship, Hazon, and COEJL to find resources, get inspired and become active. If your concern is primarily focused on climate change, Interfaith Power and Light has chapters in many states across the nation. Their mission is to offer a religious response to global warming. They are a great resource for helping you make changes in your own house of worship -- and in your own home. Their approach is both spiritual and practical, helping congregations discover the bonds between their religious beliefs and sustainable life choices. Best of all, they offer precise programs to reduce CO2 emissions while at the same time saving money! So, there are many different avenues young people can pursue.
BT: What is your recommendation to teenagers who want to capture a story through film? What power does film specifically offer that is unique?
MO: People today have unlimited resources available to make films. They're doing them with their cell phones! When I was a teen I joined a special workshop for teenagers and traveled two hours on the weekend from Long Island to the 92nd Street YMHA , where over the course of one winter I was able to make my first film with equipment that no longer exists to make movies. Because of the technologies then, it was an experience you had to be initiated into. Today, everyone and his cousin makes videos. That's both good and bad. The door is basically wide open. The important thing is to ask yourself about the story you want to tell. What do you really want to say and what's the most direct and simple way to say it? We all like to see the world through eyes that are different than our own. Older people are fascinated to see how young people see the world and nothing will do it as vividly as a film. The power of film is immense to capture the intimate detail and personality of people's lives.
BT: What did you learn the most while making this film? What was most surprising? Why do you think it is important that others know it as well?
MO: The most surprising thing we discovered while making this film, was the incredible lack of communication among groups who were doing this religious-environmental work. Many people assumed they were the only ones -- but they were doing it anyway because they felt it was part of a deep spiritual calling to make a better world. When we told them about other people we'd met in our travels who were doing similar things, they were often surprised and delighted to learn they were not alone. It gave them an inspired sense to keep moving forward with what they were already doing. To use a political term that often sounds like jargon, it really helped "empower" them. It gave them a sense of strength and solidarity that was often lacking in their efforts. We hoped the film would be able to do that on a large scale: to offer a mirror to many people around the country who were involved in religious-environmental initiatives, to show them an image of their own good work and the fact that they were not doing it alone.
Finally now -- both inside and outside the world of religious-environmentalism -- I think people are starting to get it, to understand that there really is a religious-environmental movement and that it has the capacity to provoke deep and lasting change in the ways we live on the planet. And In the end, the renewal we talk about is something more than just a renewal of the earth. It's also a renewal of the soul and a renewal of your individual faith experience. It was amazing to see people having intense religious experiences -- many said it was for the first time -- because of their engagement with the natural world. "My religion felt relevant and alive to me, in ways it never had before, " was a theme we frequently heard. It was exciting to see people putting it all together: faith, reinvigorated religious experience, and hands on environmental activist work!
BT: What was your motivation for making the film?
MO: We wanted the public to know that religious-environmentalism is no longer just an idea. It's an active emerging grassroots movement with enormous potential to speak to people about the critical need to find a sustainable new way of living on our planet. We also wanted viewers to understand that this movement carries the promise of bringing people of diverse religions closer together, through their common concern for the earth. But above all, we hoped to inspire people to action. We wanted to encourage them to join or create religious-environmental initiatives in their own faith traditions -- initiatives that can help them find the strength and courage that will be needed to face the large ecological challenges of our time.
BT: Why now? What is the significance of the film today, several years into the 21st century?
MO: Time is running out for human society to make the changes that are necessary to address the great environmental challenges of our day. Religions speak to the deepest dimensions of human experience and the ways we morally and ethically choose to lead our lives. For many years there has been a valuable secular environmental movement -- but it has not been sufficient. We need something that will go even deeper than that. Something that can move society more effectively than the secular movement has been able to do. Once people recognize that the environmental crisis is more than an issue about science or economics -- that in its most profound form, it's a spiritual issue -- there is some hope that people will become inspired to make the personal changes that are needed to address the problem.
BT: The film is very factual about events around the country. What do you hope views to do after seeing this film?
MO: I hope viewers will come away from the film sharing a sense of inspiration and connection with all the people of diverse faiths in our stories. And that they will be inspired to think about ways they can become active through their own religious affiliations, to explore things they can start to do to make a difference. Their own synagogues, churches, mosques, temples may already have a link to a greener future. Or, perhaps the viewers will become that essential link for their own house of worship. There are many resources that religious groups can draw on for support in these efforts. Our website, www.renewalproject.net, is one place people can start to find out about things that other religious groups are already doing.
BT: This question is intended to be a critical analysis rather than accusatory: The film takes place across the country which obviously costs a fair amount of money as well as the emissions of carbon through transportation. In what ways were you able to cut carbon emotions while filming? Is there any part of you that feels hypocritical about the extend of travel needed to make the film?
MO: Not hypocritical, but perhaps sad about the situation. In many instances, there's no way of getting around the flying issue. But here are a few things we did. During an extended east coast research trip, we did not fly. We drove in one car. Driving is still a problem, of course, but a lot less than if we had flown to all the places we visited. Also, in a number of instances when we did fly, we engaged local people to work with us rather than bring a full crew as we would have done years ago. Still, you're right to identify this as a real problem. We cut back whenever we could but at some point, if you need to be in New Mexico, you simply need to be in New Mexico at the time an event is happening there. It's a problem that everyone's starting to confront these days. Perhaps your generation will have some innovative ideas for filmmakers to follow in the future!
BT: The film focuses a great deal on individual religious groups and their environmental goals. With the exception of the IPL and the religions in the "Sacred Celebration", there is little mixing of different faiths. Is there a good way to bring different religions together? Or, is it better that they work individually at this point?
MO: I personally feel it's a good thing when diverse peoples come together to learn about greater ways to respect each other. So, I care a lot about that. I'm not sure that goal is as important to all religious groups as it is to some. The important thing, I think, is that all groups make the essential link to the sacredness of the planet. If they are able to move beyond that, to discover the sacredness of human communities coming together despite differences in beliefs, I think that's great. But if they're not yet able yet to take that step, the key thing is for them to engage with the environmental issue on any ground that is comfortable for them. It's not either or. The need is so critical today that we require all approaches happening at once. And it seems inevitable to me that once people begin to deeply understand the interconnection of all things -- which is what the earth offers to teach us -- it's just a matter of time until diverse religious groups will come closer together. Understanding the lessons from the earth can lead us to greater practices of justice, tolerance and peace.
BT: And now the big questions that I am sure you have gotten countless times: Where do we go from here?
MO: We go to the fundamental teachings of our faith and we use them as directives toward action. We ask ourselves, what does it mean to be a human being at this time in the world? What is my relationship with all other life on the planet? What are my responsibilities to the earth -- this sacred gift we've been? How can I become a better steward for our planet to help build a sustainable future? What is my relationship and responsibility to God? We recognize that the environmental challenges we face are immense. But we refuse to be beaten down by language of doom and gloom. We accept that our lives have beauty and meaning and we dedicate ourselves to finding ways to fulfill the promise of a better world for us all. So, we move forward with hope and the commitment to perform hard work and make changes in ourselves. And we do it with the knowledge that there's a growing army of others too who are ready to join us in this effort for renewal.
BT: Where does Atheism fall into this spectrum? What is the best way for someone to get involved without religion?
MO: You don't need to be a religious-environmentalist to be an environmentalist. For people who do not believe in God or religious practice, you can be fully engaged in the secular environmental movement in hundreds of ways. Just choose the issue that speaks to you most strongly, spend a little time on the web and find the organization that best appeals to your instincts. Get involved with it and don't worry about finding a spiritual connection. There's room for everyone at the inn!
BT: What do you say to the teenagers who want to take the next steps with environmental change in their religious communities?
MO: First and foremost, you have to believe that people truly care about what you think and what you do. That may be hard for you to accept, but it's true. We are at a turning point in our culture today, when change and hope is in the air. Following many years of cynicism, everyone is starved for inspiration. Your generation is the generation of hope and a new vision for the future. Older people are waiting to see that young people have the energy, courage, commitment and willingness to try new ideas that can help us out of our planetary mess. The most terrible thing you can do is to do nothing, because you think you're too young for people to take you seriously. Here are some ideas for getting active. Become familiar with the religious thought that stands behind the practical eco-initiatives. Read books by Ellen Bernstein or Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Those writings are great ways for you to get inspired about Judaism's deep roots in the natural world. They will help you think philosophically and spiritually about these issues. They can provide you with a vision that will make you want to go out and get environmentally active for the long term. Find out about the religious environmental groups that exist in your area and see if they have a special outreach for teens. If they don't, go see your rabbi or talk with another adult at your synagogue about starting something. You can be the spearhead. As Rev. Harper says in the GreenFaith story of our film, the hardest thing about getting started is just getting started. At some point, you just have to jump in and start doing something. Don't worry if you're not the world's greatest environmental scientist. There's lots of room in this effort now for on-the-job training. We're all learning as we go along. The important thing is your commitment and your willingness to act. Talk with a few friends. You don't need the whole congregation on board. Just a few people working together, leading the way, can inspire others--and suddenly you've got something going! Every one of the initiatives in our film was started by just one or two people. Judaism especially has some excellent environmental education programs for young people. Take advantage of organizations like The Teva Learning Center, The Adamah Environmental Fellowship, Hazon, and COEJL to find resources, get inspired and become active. If your concern is primarily focused on climate change, Interfaith Power and Light has chapters in many states across the nation. Their mission is to offer a religious response to global warming. They are a great resource for helping you make changes in your own house of worship -- and in your own home. Their approach is both spiritual and practical, helping congregations discover the bonds between their religious beliefs and sustainable life choices. Best of all, they offer precise programs to reduce CO2 emissions while at the same time saving money! So, there are many different avenues young people can pursue.
BT: What is your recommendation to teenagers who want to capture a story through film? What power does film specifically offer that is unique?
MO: People today have unlimited resources available to make films. They're doing them with their cell phones! When I was a teen I joined a special workshop for teenagers and traveled two hours on the weekend from Long Island to the 92nd Street YMHA , where over the course of one winter I was able to make my first film with equipment that no longer exists to make movies. Because of the technologies then, it was an experience you had to be initiated into. Today, everyone and his cousin makes videos. That's both good and bad. The door is basically wide open. The important thing is to ask yourself about the story you want to tell. What do you really want to say and what's the most direct and simple way to say it? We all like to see the world through eyes that are different than our own. Older people are fascinated to see how young people see the world and nothing will do it as vividly as a film. The power of film is immense to capture the intimate detail and personality of people's lives.
BT: What did you learn the most while making this film? What was most surprising? Why do you think it is important that others know it as well?
MO: The most surprising thing we discovered while making this film, was the incredible lack of communication among groups who were doing this religious-environmental work. Many people assumed they were the only ones -- but they were doing it anyway because they felt it was part of a deep spiritual calling to make a better world. When we told them about other people we'd met in our travels who were doing similar things, they were often surprised and delighted to learn they were not alone. It gave them an inspired sense to keep moving forward with what they were already doing. To use a political term that often sounds like jargon, it really helped "empower" them. It gave them a sense of strength and solidarity that was often lacking in their efforts. We hoped the film would be able to do that on a large scale: to offer a mirror to many people around the country who were involved in religious-environmental initiatives, to show them an image of their own good work and the fact that they were not doing it alone.
Finally now -- both inside and outside the world of religious-environmentalism -- I think people are starting to get it, to understand that there really is a religious-environmental movement and that it has the capacity to provoke deep and lasting change in the ways we live on the planet. And In the end, the renewal we talk about is something more than just a renewal of the earth. It's also a renewal of the soul and a renewal of your individual faith experience. It was amazing to see people having intense religious experiences -- many said it was for the first time -- because of their engagement with the natural world. "My religion felt relevant and alive to me, in ways it never had before, " was a theme we frequently heard. It was exciting to see people putting it all together: faith, reinvigorated religious experience, and hands on environmental activist work!
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