Imperative Action: Christian Environmentalism
Christians need to begin to take awareness, use their voice, and partner with science to prevent further degradation of environments as a result of the corrupted logging industry and irresponsible release of fossil fuels leading to the destruction of important ecosystems. Christianity, as a whole, is not considered to be an advocate for environmental protection, and with the changing conditions of the world, that must change with Christians becoming some of the loudest voices in the advocacy for this change. Christianity needs to break down the Enlightenment constructed wall put up between them and science to bridge a gap necessary for both areas of thought.
Unfortunately, because of the loud and proud in Christianity, the faith is often directly tied to the accusation of being against furthering scientific understanding. People see Christianity and conservative politics as nearly one in the same, and conservative culture doesn’t put a huge emphasis on environmental protection. Christian faith focuses on salvation as the most important concept to grasp, and rightfully so. But when Christians put blinders on to the rest of the discussion within the Bible that speaks about responsibility and creation care, worldly credibility is lost. Unlike eastern religions that can often take a pantheist perspective directly resulting in creation care, Christianity sees nature separate from God, making the protection of the world not as valuable and pressing an issue. Yet the Bible clearly still speaks on the topic. Psalms 65: 9-13 discusses how God is the artist constructing the beautiful harmony that is the coexistence of man and the earth he inhabits. This passage articulates how God provides for us through the creation He has given us, if we take advantage or spoil that, we essentially are imposing on the blueprint God made for creation and are infringing on the mechanical system God set up through his creation.
Now, to a more specific topic consisting of logic... In this section I will be borrowing and expanding on ideas brought up within the essay Spiritual and Religious Perspectives of Creation and Scientific Understanding of Nature by Calvin Dewitt. When we look at the correlation between thought throughout different areas of perspective we should start with the shape of an equilateral triangle; every side is equal and plays an integral part to the whole. The first of the three parts is Science which expands on and explains how the world works within its current state. That is just a basic reality, as humans progress, our knowledge and understanding of the world progresses as well. Next, we have the concept of ethics or what Christian morals are founded on. This area of thought expands on what ought to be. Finally, we have the culmination of them both: praxis. Praxis takes the knowledge of science, the moral compass of christianity, and points us to the understanding of what must we do based on the conclusions ethics and logic have yielded. Praxis is relative of course, it is dependent on the important components that make up the time we occupy.
Considering my argument is shaped around environmentalism and its importance in Christianity, lets focus on that. Combining Science with Ethics in the area of praxis leads us to the understanding that both areas speak and promote the conservation of earth, one morally, one logically. Praxis, therefore, would say we should take the necessary steps to have these two partner together and work toward their common goal.
A claim against this stance would state that ultimately, creation is broken, and to conserve it to an extent that limits the ability to put it to good use for us as humans is irresponsible and unnecessary. This however, is rather ignorant, because if you take this stance, you are basically saying that all that is broken doesn’t deserve the opportunity for the life it is given. If you are a Christian and you take that stance, why are you here? Each aspect of creation that is broken is broken because of humans if you believe in the literal understanding of the Adam and Eve story. If that is the case, it is the humans fault the rest of creation is broken. Which in turn should convict Christians even more to feel bad for what has been done and not cause such destruction to the world.
Humans love logic, but logic without emotion is tainted by strictly thought and lacks transcendence, a powerful concept that points us to the more significant meaning behind the basic understanding. If we do not work towards the cease of the destruction us humans are causing, the ability to connect to God through His amazing creation will slowly cease as well. Nature, although not God Himself, does point us to Him in ways that are profound and compelling. Just as we can experience God through a conversation with someone, we can experience Him by looking at a tree or listening to a bird sing or watching a mother deer care for her children. When I look at a tree, I see an organism with outstretched arms, welcoming all other creatures to inhabit and come live communally with each other within its grasp. A tree represents an ideal definition of community and the open arms God has for his children. Nature is more than a resource, it is more than a means to production and a practical and lucrative way of building up our civilization. Nature, the harmony it consists of, is a book of seemingly endless metaphors that God has provided us. A book whose pages are never ending and full of the potential for us to continually draw closer to God. Every tree we cut down without legitimate necessity, is a page we are tearing from this beautiful and awe-inspiring book.
