The relationship between man and the environment is closely intertwined. Man is only able to sustain his life by living off of the land and reaping the treasures that it holds. This relationship of dependency is especially true within the frames of a Christian context, as nature was bestowed upon to man by God. It’s that very concept that lead environmentalist to believe that Christianity is the crux of the environmental crisis. However, it’d be unfair to blame the entirety of the crisis on Christianity, as it seems Christianity was more of a passive actor in the current crises.
The ethical issue that I have chosen to discuss is Climate Change and the Catholic perspective on this issue. This involves what they teach about the issue including Pope Francis and his encyclical Laudato si’ and different opinions and responses within and outside of the church.
The face of Climate Change is humanity, its self, and this is a fact that has become less easy to refute, you can’t separate humans from the equation. My grandmother the head of Bitterroot Valley recycling has been saying this for years and maybe it’s because of people like my grandmother, that I’ve become interested in the Paris Summit and in particular Pope Francis’s word on how Ecology is Human. Yes, everyone who believes in climate change knows that we humans are part of the problem, but it wasn’t until the July 2015 Paris summit on climate change has anyone ever said that climate change issues were more than just deforestation or polar caps melting. Pope Francis has taken a stand and claims that humans are ecology and therefore the real
Recently, Pope Francis has modernized the Roman Catholic Church by urging followers to support scientists in preserving our environment. Pope Francis has drawn parallels between “the scientific and Christian communities, who are witnessing the convergence of their distinct approaches to reality in the shared goal of protecting our common home, threatened as it is by ecological collapse and consequent increase of poverty and social exclusion” (Pope Francis). As the contemporary world faces new problems, like climate change, Roman Catholic Christianity has supported the need for science as a means to preserve the Earth and guard humanity.
The most misguided reading was Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis by Lynn White. This was one of the first pieces we read and I didn’t realize my distaste for her stance on how to fix the ecological crisis until after reading and discussing many of the other works throughout
To solve environmental problems, the ethical approach is often the most effective approach. When faced with tough issues, many rely on the help of their moral compass. Appealing to someone’s morality can often enact change. These changes will last a lifetime. Evangelical Christians believe that taking care of the Earth is their responsibility. They also maintain that the environment was created by God, therefore, Christians need to take care of and protect it. Two main points of Evangelical Christians are that “that earth and everything in it belongs to man” and “the material world is unimportant or evil”. (Psalm 24:1). This is saying that Earth belongs to man, so it is man’s responsibility to take care of Earth. This also shows that the Earth has other purposes than just serving human needs. The next quote, “the material world is unimportant or evil”, shows that being materialistic and having the most stuff is not what is important in life. Instead, it is more
In the Encyclical letter the pope makes valid claims about how When one looks at the current state of the world, it is very clear that private interests are doing their job very well, however the governments of the world are not doing their jobs of protecting the people. It is important to call out those who are not doing their jobs well. Most governments have the power to suppress economic interests that are damaging the environment, however they often fail to because these governments are filled with dishonest and greedy politicians. When one looks deeper, one can see that the fault of global warming does not lie with private interests, but with government, which is failing to do its job. In the letter, the Pope mentions how everything is connected, and how ethical deterioration is leading to environmental deterioration. One solution that the Pope could have proposed is that people should honestly analyze the politicians that they are putting into power, and seek to educate themselves and the rest of the public, to make informed decisions when it comes to putting people in power. Too often people vote without enough education on the subject, and thus they are susceptible to the influence of those who
Polar bears are seen starving to death as they tread on the foreign iceless land. The earth’s ice, most commonly seen in Antarctica, begins to melt due to the rise in temperatures, rising sea levels as well. High temperatures affect the dry lands of California as deadly wildfires are produced
Review 3: Text In the article "Human nature makes it easier to deny climate change than to confront it" by David Horsey in the LAtimes on January 27, 2017. Argues that as a human race we are going the easy way to a void things that is unimportant to address right now. And we also tend to forget about it until it is out of time to address it. Climate change is one of those problem that we as a whole tend to deny it potential of damaging our planets, and further poison our atmosphere. I think this is a major problem that need to be consider greatly, and start to formulate some kind of plan to attack this climate change problem.
Multiple religious groups in the 1980’s organized anti-nuclear protests which included hundreds of thousands of people. Some of the groups involved in this protest include the Southern Baptist convention and the Episcopal Church. The Evangelical Climate Initiative is another accomplishment of Creation Care. This Initiative was launched in February of 2006 by a group of 85 Christians. This group's main goals are environmental reform and ending global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This group plans to accomplish these goals through federal legislator, discussions regarding global warming and climate change in church, and media advertisements showing the links between global warming and natural disasters. The president of the National Association of Evangelicals spoke for himself saying, “"There is no doubt about it in my mind that climate change is happening, and there is no doubt about it that it would be wise for us to stop doing the foolish things we're doing that could potentially be causing this. In my mind there is no downside to being cautious.”- Reverend Ted Haggard. While many Christian’s may be under the impression that global warming is a myth created by the government to help them gain more control, Evangelical Environmentalists have used the words in the Bible to prove that he care of God’s creation is
He brings attention to the fact that Christians have a committment to have concern and to protect the world (216). However, he admits that Christians have not always upheld that commitment. To support this claim, Pope Francis calls to mind Saint Francis of Assisi who taught that a health relationship with the environment is one component of overall conversion. This entails the “recognition of our errors, sins, faults, and failures, and leads to heartfelt repentance and desire to change” (218). This instruction resonates with my human experience as it calls us to recognise and acknowledge our faults in order to fulfil our civic duty of promoting the common good. This concept is not a new one. In fact, this concept is found in the history of the United States of America, from the very foundation of it, to the many movements that fought for the rights of everyone in this country, not just the select
However, that should mean that his advice is should be disregarded when it comes to the economic and scientific world. Interestingly, however, while many republican politicians have been known to respond with “I’m not a scientist” when confronted with scientific data, Pope Francis was actually a scientist before embarking upon his more spiritual endeavors. More importantly, however, the leader of the Catholic Church is himself advised by a 400 year-old collective of scientists, including those who focus specifically on climate-related issues. The Pontific Academy, as it is referred to, is comprised of around 80 members, hailing from a variety of nations and disciplines, who advise the pope at least once every two years on the topics that they consider to be, scientifically, of the greatest importance to society at the
In almost 200 pages, Pope Francis details his position on climate change in an encyclical released on June 18th titled Laudato Si (Praise be to You).
Pope Francis’s encyclical on climate change has caused major discussions throughout the world and many religious leaders have chosen to follow his teaching. Archbishop Thomas Gerard Wenski, a native to Florida, is one of the religious leaders following Pope Francis and starting a movement throughout South Florida by sermons and
The Accuracy of Climate Change Climate change has been a huge debate since the turn of the century: it is been debated whether it actually is happening, it has been debated what people should do about it. it has been debated how it affects people. Many people have believed what they have been told without looking into it. Political leaders tell us that we need to change. A Christian should learn more about climate change, because of its worldwide societal impact, and because not everything said about it is fact.