Lynn White Crisis

It is said that Lynn White felt that “the worlds environmental problems,” were at their root caused by Christianity. When considering this opinion, many will turn to the beginning of Scripture, pondering the words of Genesis 1:26, “which gives humans dominion over the earth,” thus determining that God has given mankind permission to do as they desire with His creation, making it ethically acceptable to use nature in any way they so desire. It is this verse that remains at the center of the debate as to whether a Christian should be an environmentalist or not. Furthermore, it is also believed that “religious conservatives” are merely “awaiting the coming of a New Heaven and Earth,” thus, why would they feel a need to remain concerned about the one which mankind dwells upon now Consequently, those who believe that the verses of Genesis give them the right to do with the earth as the please, go about “treating our planet in an anti-human, god-forsaken manner.” Thus, human actions go on adding to the groanings of the earth, which it hath endured since the fall of Adam and Eve. Although some choose to proclaim that Genesis reveals their misuse of earth as morally sound, I do not agree, instead I feel that mankind is called to have “respect for God and God’s creation, therefore, man is not simply ruler, set apart from nature, but should instead be view “creation as a

“ (646) In this paragraph the author engages the reader in thinking about the magnitude of environmental problems in modern day society by creating a parallelism with the Mayan and Polynesian cultures. This is one of the many examples the author uses throughout the text. In this text Diamond introduces a series of factors that have proven to gradually destroy strong kingdoms and cultures throughout history.

A good example that support the theory that “Western Society assumes that humanity and nature are disconnected and that the environment is subordinate to human needs.” are first, Puritans belief that they had the God given right to subdue both nature and any Native Americans they saw, which was all for the glory of expanding the Christian society. A second example is the key beliefs of d’Holbach’s and other philosophers that “humanity towers above nature because of humanity’s capacity for thought and rational decision making. With these abilities, people could decode nature’s laws and more efficiently tame it for the betterment of society.” Colonist believed that the environment existed solely to support human needs.

When it comes to nature everyone has their own personal experience that either made them appreciate the worlds beauty a little more or transformed them from the inside out, yet humans have long been blamed for the destruction of everything wild. What is it about nature that William Mckibben describes in his book End of Nature which makes us “think of people as small and the world as large” and how did this change to where “the opposite has become the truth.” (Mckibben XV) Humans have put their fingerprints all over the natural world and made it to where they demand control of it all, instead of nature demanding to control man. This inclination for humans to think they can make nature whatever they want it to be becomes an issue that must be tackled at a global scale, starting with each individual’s treatment of nature. The end of nature predicted by Mckibben occurs when we ignore the warning signs that are glaring right at us, and choose to not

The issue of Deforestation has been high on the global environmental agenda for many years, and remains a serious problem today. In the tropics and many other parts of the world, nations continue to lose the valuable biodiversity, soil and water conservation, and climate regulation that natural forests provide. Christianity can only address this matter by continuing to combine an acceptance of the command to people to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’ (Genesis 1:28) with a balancing injunction to act as stewards of the environment. Charities such as Christian Ecology Link and World Vision work to increase awareness of the current ecological crisis and encourage adherents to live sustainably and make ‘green’ consumption choices.

Reading William Cronon and Neil Smith, I came to understand that each of the two authors introduces us to a different approach of human conceptual relationship with nature. In The Trouble with Wilderness, William Cronon speaks about how we reject our responsibility toward nature and the potential danger existing in our conception of wilderness (or nature).  On the other hand, Neil Smith in The Production of Nature introduces us to how humanity transforms the nature in the process of producing commodities.

In his essay, The Trouble with Wilderness, William Cronon discusses the importance of preserving wilderness. Nature has been deteriorating since the introduction of the human species, and Cronon attributes this issue to the destructive nature of humans. The essay begins with his thesis “the time has come to rethink wilderness” (Cronon 1). He challenges the reader to find the difference between wilderness and wildness. Cronon’s biggest fear is violating the holiness of nature.

In this belief, Europe in the Inside because it innovates and leads the Outside (non-Europe), which imitates and receives.   In The Colonizer’s Model of the World, J.D. Blaut challenges the belief that European civilizations have some special quality in their race which gives them full superiority over any other culture or community and that the Europeans have made history. One of the most important beliefs of diffusionism is the idea of “the European Miracle,” which is the belief that Europeans were more advanced than all other nations before 1492. This notion was rejected after World War I and it was confirmed that non-Europeans are not inferior in any way, genetically or physically, than Europeans.

One example of this is when she explains prophetic christologies. This kind of christology focuses on Jesus’ grace to the oppressed. Whether it be through eating with outcasts or healing the suffering, Jesus teaches by example to help those in need. However, she then suggests that this lesson can be extended to nature, despite the fact that the environment is not mentioned in these stories explicitly. She argues that nature is the “new poor” and should be treated as such.

He says,” Hence we shall continue to have a worsening ecologic crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man.” pg 6. White is question people belief and putting blame on why people treated the environment because the western Christian do not show proof in the bible that they care for nurture. While some people will argue that nice true. He want Western Christian to change the way they think by explaining, “The greatest spiritual revolutionary in Western history, Saint Francis, proposed what he thought was an alternative Christian view of nature and man's relation to it; he tried to substitute the idea of the equality of all creatures, including man, for the idea of man's limitless rule of creation. “ pg 6. This article could be a very touchy subject because of he talk about

“The Believers Church: A Natural Resource Worth Conserving” by Jason G. Duesing is an article about protection and preservation of the church doctrine. President Theodore Roosevelt’s words, not only addressed “Conservation as a National Day” , but he “was not concerned with any immediate threat to the existence of the growing nation, but rather the present population’s reckless indifference toward a vital problem that threatened its future existence”. Duesing states that culprit indifferences and climate of ecclesiological relativism is on the rise as “believers engaged in old wasteful methods with regards to natural resources of the doctrine of the church”. The doctrine of believer’s experiences indifferences while being intentionally

Whitney White was a beautiful woman, only 30 years old, but she had received something she didn’t expect, a daughter. She now had to take care of the child all on her own, since the father had left her, but on July 6th, in the year of 1962, she decided all of that was going to change.

Christian voice is correcting them or proclaiming the biblical model of man’s relationship to nature which: is unique and superior to the dominant free-market and environmentalist models. . According to Gardner and Stern (1996), in that place are exclusive approaches that have power to be implemented in companionships search to defend the environment. One like approach may take a closer look at holy and regarding duties beliefs and the effects of these beliefs on the environment. The idea to create values and beliefs in environmental issues are important components of having a safer and enjoyable world for its people and the world they live in. Christian and non-Christian, at hand, must see the environment and the shortcoming of business by reason of a proper conversion to an act or purpose of and preservation of the wealth the planet has to support life. Christians as the Bible originate directing the eye to what has to be published by word force in reference to human natures dependence and bounden duty to the nature and its resources. As Christians we should do what ever it takes to make sure this earth glorify God. If we are careless about science and economics — not caring about how they work and what they describe, creation’s economy will suffer (Christians Research Institute).

Despite many Christians, such as Patriarch Batholomew from the Greek Orthodox church who states that ‘For humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life, with poisonous substances. These are sins’ in an attempt to encourage prioritising environmental protection, climate skeptic Calvin Beisner states that “the Bible teaches that earth and all its subsystems… are the product of a God who is an infinitely wise designer”, reflecting that his personal interpretation of God’s revelation has led to his understanding of the Earth being intelligently design, so that humankind could not potentially destroy it, consequently leading to him not placing priority on the protection of the environment.

Looking back at the world in the past few hundred years, it would have been difficult to imagine that one day, majority of Western Europe would come to dominate the world in global economy (Landes, European Exceptionalism: A Different Path, 1998). Frank (2001) described the process of which the western society