--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think communities of faith are…" description: "\"I think communities of faith are extremely important in this question. I think that all faith communities share a common and unusual distinction in our..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/bill-mckibben-1057_accumulation_i-think-communities-of-faith-are-extreme_2873055.jpg" --- # I think communities of faith are extremely important in… ![“I think communities of faith are extremely important in this question. I think that all faith communities share a common and unusual distinction in our time of being the only institutions left that can posit some goal other than accumulation for human existence. I think that's enormously important…” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/bill-mckibben-1057_accumulation_i-think-communities-of-faith-are-extreme_2873055.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/bill-mckibben-1057_accumulation_i-think-communities-of-faith-are-extreme_2873055.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/bill-mckibben-1057_accumulation_i-think-communities-of-faith-are-extreme_2873055.jpg) > “I think communities of faith are extremely important in this question. I think that all faith communities share a common and unusual distinction in our time of being the only institutions left that can posit some goal other than accumulation for human existence. I think that's enormously important because it is that drive for consumption more than anything else that fuels the environmental devastation around us.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith communities uniquely offer goals beyond profit, countering consumption-driven environmental harm. **In simple terms:** Faith can inspire non‑material goals. Key Takeaway Support faith groups to promote sustainability. Themes environment faith values Mood inspirational hopeful Type activist spiritual When to use this quote - church programs - interfaith initiatives - policy advocacy Key Concepts spiritual ecology ethical consumption Questions to Reflect On - How can faith translate belief into policy? - What partnerships strengthen this role? A Different Perspective Faith alone may not change systemic consumption patterns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accumulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption/) [Devastation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devastation/) [Distinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinction/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Faith community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith-community/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Human existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-existence/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [...four in five of us are, to some extent, members of faith communities. If just a fraction of this huge body of believers were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-christie/four-in-five-of-us-are-to-some-extent-members-of-faith-communities-if/) Ian Christie > [We need to do a better job of working, again, with the communities, faith communities, business communities, as well as the police to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-need-to-do-a-better-job-of-working-again-with-the-communities/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [I'm not a member of any faith community, and I think faith is a deeply personal issue that individuals should deal with in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyrsten-sinema/i-m-not-a-member-of-any-faith-community-and-i-think-faith-is-a-deeply/) [Kyrsten Sinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyrsten-sinema/) > [The royals - all of them, especially Prince Philip and Prince Charles - have done outstanding work with the faith communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/the-royals-all-of-them-especially-prince-philip-and-prince-charles/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [“Many faith communities have become little more than gatherings of isolated individuals, while the number of online communities continues to grow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-breen/many-faith-communities-have-become-little-more-than-gatherings-of/) [Mike Breen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-breen/) > [For me, the real goal is how do we make vibrant and vital faith communities that are sustainable for the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blase-j-cupich/for-me-the-real-goal-is-how-do-we-make-vibrant-and-vital-faith/) [Blase J. Cupich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blase-j-cupich/) > [Because we are rooted in a generous Christian heritage, we are eager to collaborate with people of other faiths, and those seeking the common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-d-mclaren/because-we-are-rooted-in-a-generous-christian-heritage-we-are-eager/) [Brian D. McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-d-mclaren/) > [“We are communities in time and in a place, I know, but we are communities in faith as well - and sometimes time can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/we-are-communities-in-time-and-in-a-place-i-know-but-we-are/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [“The only antidote to religious triumphalism is the readiness of communities of faith to permit doubt and self-criticism to play a vital role in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-john-hall/the-only-antidote-to-religious-triumphalism-is-the-readiness-of/) [Douglas John Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-john-hall/) > [“Even religious people are vulnerable to this longing. Those who belong to communities of faith have acquired a certain patience with what is sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/even-religious-people-are-vulnerable-to-this-longing-those-who-belong/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [We would never ask any other faith community to stand up and condemn acts of violence committed by people within their groups. The fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sarsour/we-would-never-ask-any-other-faith-community-to-stand-up-and-condemn/) [Linda Sarsour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sarsour/) > [For people who cannot get to church for various reasons, this is a great option. But it will always be a poor substitute for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-detweiler/for-people-who-cannot-get-to-church-for-various-reasons-this-is-a/) [Craig Detweiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-detweiler/) > [When absolute control and rigid obedience pose as love within the family and the local faith-community , we produce trained cowards rather than Christian persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/when-absolute-control-and-rigid-obedience-pose-as-love-within-the/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [“As young people contribute to the faith community, their competence as members of that community grows; it is in doing the work of ministry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenda-creasy-dean/as-young-people-contribute-to-the-faith-community-their-competence-as/) [Kenda Creasy Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenda-creasy-dean/) > [A faith which we follow upon orders imposed from outside is no faith, and a community which puts its dependence upon such a pseudo-faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/a-faith-which-we-follow-upon-orders-imposed-from-outside-is-no-faith/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Accumulation quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very-cloistered-existence-as-most/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [There has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/there-has-been-for-some-reason-or-more-likely-an-unfortunate/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Ageing is, simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That's all that ageing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/ageing-is-simply-and-clearly-the-accumulation-of-damage-in-the-body/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [The mounting burden of taxation not only undermines individual incentives to increased work and earnings, but in a score of ways discourages capital accumulation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-mounting-burden-of-taxation-not-only-undermines-individual/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. We shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/when-the-accumulation-of-wealth-is-no-longer-of-high-social/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving. This is the grand paradox. You get most by giving most. Conversely, by receiving much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-johnson/the-soul-lives-forever-by-giving-not-receiving-this-is-the-grand/) [Julian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-johnson/) > [Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment - allow it to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-of-the-present-is-even-more-important-than-forgiveness-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) [Browse all 412 Accumulation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think communities of faith are extremely important in this question. I think that all faith communities share a common and unusual distinction in our time of being the only institutions left that can posit some goal other than accumulation for human existence. 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