The well-being of the environment is the responsibility of all people. From the water in the ground, to the air that we breathe and everything in between, is a gift from God, and worthy of preservation. The book of Genesis says, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Gen 1:15, New American Standard). It is clear by this passage that God intended for man to not only care and prepare the land for growth, but also to remain faithful in his responsibilities that God had given him. Christians should not neglect their responsibility toward protecting the environment and living a life that exemplifies this cause.
David wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1). Just as Adam was placed in the garden to keep and protect it—Christians have the same responsibility to keep the earth God has placed into their care. They should not have the attitude that one day Christ is coming back, so why should they worry about all the pollution that is taking place—like all the groundwater that is being polluted and dried up. As one journal states, “Groundwater tables are falling at phenomenal rates, often more than one meter per year, in many parts of the world. Formerly perennial rivers and streams whose base flow was supplied by groundwater are becoming seasonal or disappearing altogether. Wetlands are drying up. Salt water is intruding inland in many coastal areas, and land is subsiding under cities. Pollution is increasingly threatening those supplies that are available” (Giordano, 2009, p. 153). Christians can do simple things, that when multiplied across this nation, can have a profound effect on the water supply. Like men not ...
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...all the more” (Luke 12:48b). There is no excuse for a Christian to stand buy and do nothing, while their environment is slowly being destroyed. They have been given much; God requires them to take responsibility and to be good stewards of the environment.
References
Giordano, M. (2009). Ground water: Issues and solutions. 34, 153-178
Muller, G. H., & Wiener, H. S. (2009). To the point (2nd ed.) Reading and writing short arguments, New York: Longman
Silvius, J., E., (n.d.) Christian stewardship of the environment, Retrieved from, http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v10n3p24.htm
Stone, D. A., Allen, M. R., Scott, P. A., Pall, P., Min, S., Nazawa, T., at al. (2009) The Detection and Attribution of Human Influence on Climate. 34, 1-16
Day, J., C., (2010), National populations projects, Retrieved from, http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/natproj.html
The majority of this piece is dedicated to the author stating his opinion in regards to civilization expanding beyond its sustainable limits. The author makes it clear that he believes that humans have failed the natural environment and are in the process of eliminating all traces of wilderness from the planet. Nash points out facts that strengthen his argument, and quotes famous theologians on their similar views on environmental issues and policies. The combination of these facts and quotes validates the author’s opinion.
In the journal of Environmentalism as Religion, Paul H. Rubin discuss about how environmental is similar to religion. Rubin want everyone to know that the environment and religion are somehow similar in a way, which they both have belief system, creation stories and original sin.
Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
In the final chapter of the Pope’s encyclical he talks about how “Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings about all who need to change.” The Pope stresses that we need to educate ourselves on the environment and the issues of the world, which would then in turn (hopefully) change people’s attitudes towards the environment and the issues we face and also change their way of life to be more integral and responsible to the earth. The Pope claims that “A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of
An important aspect of the homily is that the environment that God has created for the use of humans is being mistreated and neglected. As stated by the Pope, “Yet no less troubling are the threats arising from the neglect – if not downright misuse – of the earth and the natural goods that God has given us.” God has created this earth for the use of humans and it is at
An environmentalist is a person who worships the environment and cares for nature more than people. Christians and others share the common perception that environmental ethics exist for how human beings should relate to the land, the free market, and the environmental. Humans share a relationship with all creations of the earth. But as humans, they find themselves as having a role in the created order, which is they have a closer relationship with the creator who has charged them with acting responsible within his creation. Even allowing a common complaint of environmental activists is that Stewardship means that the earth was made exclusively because of human beings - that having dominion over nature is the same as having the power and authority of dominion.
“The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole,” (C.V. 48). Whether it is one man or an entire nation that suffers from poverty, humans have the moral obligation to help those in need to make ourselves better. “The Church's social doctrine has always maintained that justice must be applied to every phase of economic activity, because this is always concerned with man and his needs,” (C.V. 37).
I strongly agree with Pope Francis that if we teach younger generations not to be wasteful and show them how to be resourceful, then it won’t be such a struggle in the future. "Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.” (211). There are so many new ways to help reduce our use of natural resources that if from a young age we are taught these methods then we could help save our planet. “All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings. Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when done for the right reasons, can be an act of love which expresses our own dignity.” (211). Again, I agree with the Pope that recycling and reusing makes you feel good because you are making an active contribution to reduce climate
There is no longer any question that our world climate has changed (King, 2004). Over the last 100 years, "temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius and global sea level has risen by about 20cm" (K...
McMean, G. (2007, June). Artic climate impact assessment (C. Symon, Ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge Univercity Press. http://www.acia.uaf.edu/pages/scientific.html
Christian theology states that God created the earth and gave it as a gift to humans to be shared with all other living creatures. This belief is known as the “Creation-centered approach to the natural environment” (Massaro, p.163). This approach emphasizes the value of nature by recognizing humans as being an equal part of God’s creation under which all “species deserve protection” (Massaro, p.163). With such publicly known cases of pollution like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or Bethlehem Steel’s pollution of Lake Erie decades ago, it is evident that humans have been using the environment in accordance with the Stewardship or even the Dominion model, both of which place humans above all other creations. According to Massaro, Christian theology also explains that showing “disregard for the air that others breathe and the quality of the water they drink is to sin against God” (Massaro, p.162). This type of disregard destroys humankind’s relationship with all other living organisms.
The most obvious reason that the environment has moral significance is that damage to it affects humans. Supporters of a completely human-centered ethic claim that we should be concerned for the environment only as far as our actions would have a negative effect on other people. Nature has no intrinsic value; it is not good and desirable apart from its interaction with human beings. Destruction and pollution of the environment cannot be wrong unless it results in harm to other humans. This view has its roots in Western tradition, which declares that “human beings are the only morally important members of this world” (Singer p.268).
People have to start off understanding what environmental sustainability means. Allie Sibole author of, The Ethics of Sustainability: Why Should We Care?, shares a perfect example, “Sustainability is a moral response to an incredible gift” (Sibole 1). What she explains is, our planet is the beloved gift. People need to not take
Hardy, J. T. Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions. New York: J. Wiley, 2003. Print.
The earth is a complex system, which continues to evolve and change. Climate change and global warming are currently popular in the political agenda. But what does “climate” really mean? The difference between weather and climate can be conveyed in a single sentence: “Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.” Based on research of the geologic record, we know that climate change has happened throughout Earth's history and at present, ever-increasing evidence points to the roles that humans play in altering Earth systems. The Earth and its atmosphere receive heat energy from the sun; the atmospheric heat budget of the Earth depends on the balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation from the planet; which has been constant over the last few thousand years. However present evidence seems to suggest that the recent increase in temperature has been brought about by pollution of the atmosphere, in particular the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide, mostly through Anthropogenic Forcing (human activity) and other various internal and external factors. I...