Response to Laudato Si’
At the beginning of the Pope’s encyclical he states that he “would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.” He means to address the whole world, not just the bishops of the church, and not just people of religious affiliations, but to all good people of this world. The goal of the dialogue that is brought up by Pope Francis is to bring about conversation about the environmental challenges that face us ahead; he states that “We need a conversation that includes everyone, since the environment challenges we are under going, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.” When he stated this he also called out the churches of the world to have a conversation as well, as the church is still apart
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It is the way that we live and how we consume things in our world without thinking of the consequences that is causing environmental crises all over the world. The chapter goes on to say that types of technologies and the way that the world produces and consumes products “create a framework which ends up conditioning lifestyles and shaping social possibilities along the lines dictated by interests of certain powerful groups.” Which means that only big corporations and those who have a lot of money benefit from the lifestyle that the western world has created, those in developing countries suffer and are most at risk to the environmental phenomena’s that the world is …show more content…
Yet the same ingenuity which has brought about enormous technological progress has so far proved incapable of finding effective ways of dealing with grave environmental and social problems worldwide. A global consensus is essential for confronting the deeper problems, which cannot be resolved by unilateral actions on the part of individual countries.” To summarize in layman’s terms Pope Francis is suggesting that each nation of the earth deals with environmental issues individually, not relying or looking to other nations for support, but instead band together as one nation of the world, and figuring out, together, what to do about the degradation of the earth.
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
Jared Diamond may be correct in that human activities have caused environmental issues that irreparable. The thing that is missing from this book, was the individual position. The book goes into explanations on how societies as a whole make the decision to impact the environment, when in reality it is the individuals who make the choices and influence those around themselves. What is intriguing is that Jared Diamond not only talks about the mismanagement of environment or the natural destruction of environment, he focuses on how human culture and beliefs influenced the mismanagement. It is very appropriate to engage into the rationalization of why events or the mismanagement occurred. Understanding that hunters and gatherers had to fail in one civilization otherwise there would be no need to enter into the agricultural era. From reading this book, one might find it oddly frightening that the environment is in peril because of personal action. The ideology that this book presents works in a way that it gets people thinking if their way of living is best for the society or if it is slowly, but gradually destroying the
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
On Thursday May 7th Pope Francis and the Catholic Church had announced that they would forgive anyone how has had aborted. However still sticking to the belief that abortion is a sin Pope Francis and the Vatican bid on this to catch up with modern times. He would be sending out his Missionaries of mercy to pardon any women how have aborted a child. In addition to that he would also be reaching out to the doctors and the nurses who help perform abortions. Which will start in the so called Holy Year of Mercy which will be acknowledged on December 8, 2015 through November 20,215. However some think doing this would cause misperception among the Catholic community. But, others like Italy’s Cardinal Velasio de Paolis has said he’s the pope of mercy
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
Economic hardship around the world causes untold suffering and isolation. He talked about the fair and proper "distribution of wealth.” (Pope Francis) as well as the appropriate use of natural resources. He told Congress that he appreciates the importance of business as a way to create wealth and improve the world but he stresses the need to always consider the common good. which must include the earth. For example, I point to the irreversible damage that has been done to the planet by businesses who sought to grow the economy and provide jobs and products as well as great wealth. Here in Connecticut there are sites which are forever unfit for human habitation due to chemical pollution. Specifically I can mention RayBestos in Stratford and Sponge Rubber in
“This means rising above a preoccupation with material gain.” In 1991, the USCCB issued a pastoral statement which called the environmental crisis “a moral challenge” and argued that environmental ethics are an integral part of Catholic teaching — a move that gave environmental concerns added legitimacy within the Church. “What I have heard time and time again from local groups is that if the bishops say something, it’ll be a lot easier for us,” Kearns said. “To go even farther than that, and to have it listed as a Catholic social teaching, was even more significant.” The fourth environmentalist is Pope John Paul II: Environmentalism ‘is linked to a command of
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.
Sorrell, Roger D. Saint Francis of Assisi and Nature: Tradition and Innovation in Western Christian Attitudes toward the Environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
and is existing surely because of humans themselves- overpopulation. “Overpopulation is the problem” and causes other externalities such as pollution, deforestation, and a greater handful of biodiversity losses. In addition, overpopulation causes economic and political factors such as more consumption per person and the reduction of resources that can be provided per person. This contributes to the strain on ecological systems and the economic and population growth. With overpopulation, many resources become finite and an umpteen amount of ecosystems are being destroyed. Overpopulation relates to the impact of humans on pollution. Obviously with more human life, there is more necessity for jobs such as factories that give off fumes, automobiles, and the use for burning fossil fuels. In greater extent, this leads to an environmental factor in that it accumulates chemicals in food chains such as mercury, arsenic, and copper. It can lead to political problems as well, when trying to interact with other countries and stop the problem of global pollution and eventually endin...
The planet earth as we know it had become completely trashed thanks to humankind, and the focus on technology and consumerism caused this issue to be too much that could ever be cleaned up. Buy-n-Large was the major corporation that caused the major focus on consumerism and less attention towards the planet, and their plan to “clean up earth again” while the humans were away on a cruise failed leaving the humans on the space ship in space for hundreds of years. The Buy-N-Large corporation had become so vital to everyone’s way of life, it was socially unacceptable to not be apart of it. This dependance on this corporation made people blind to the effect it was having on the environment. In Bodil Birkebæk Olesen’s article “When Blue Jeans Went Green”, Olesen explains the American social importance to cotton made denim jeans, this parallels the reliance the people in Wall-E had on Buy-N-Large in that their obsession is very similar. Olesen concluded with somewhat of the same warning Wall-E gave, if people don’t learn to give up some of the things that are important to them that are destroying the environment, the planet will suffer. While technology was supposed to be a positive thing by cleaning up all of the trash and allowing the human’s a place to live, the effects of
Environmental stewardship is often view as the sole province of left-wing secular political thought. To extend this stereotype, it is often presumed that explicit care for the environment stands in opposition to principles of Christian thought, or worse, that Christian theology is one under which the exploitation or destruction of the environment is advocated. This is dangerous thinking which diminishes the true message and potential for environmental reform Christian doctrine provides. This work will argue that Christianity offers a strong means by which faith can be exercised in the service of environmental restoration. Once this imperative has been shown, Christian environmental actions can take regarding the environment will be explored.
In Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si, he expresses how, “We urgently need a humanism capable of bringing together the different fields of knowledge, including economics, in the service of a more integral and integrating vision,” (141). To put this phrase into context, Pope Francis was noting the intersectionality of the word crises like climate change and poverty. Instead of allowing just the environmentalist to tackle environmental issues, he suggests real change needs to be orientated in all of God’s people because our global issues are insurmountable alone. Not only is Pope Francis’s call crucial knowledge for the progression of our current society, but it also correlates to a few themes of the Catholic Heritage. To begin, Pope Francis’s
Francis mentions teaching, or in this case authoritative teaching, does affect peoples’ decisions and how people are going to relate authoritative teaching to environmental sustainability. The pope states, “the development of the Church’s social teaching represents such a synthesis with regard to social issues; this teaching is called to be enriched by taking up new challenges” (Francis 46). In other words, the Pope encourages us, as stewards of the planet, to face new challenges, such acting upon environmental
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
One of the major points that Kaplan makes and he focuses on heavily in the beginning of the article is how environmental scarcity plays an impact on people’s decisions. There is a finite amount of natural resources in the world for people to use, and we are fast approaching a point where the world can no longer support our growing population. All of this is spurred on by an increase in practices that cause deforestation, soil erosion, pollution and global warming. A great analogy within the article is that we are robbing from tomorrow’s future to support the present, which is shown in that “…man is challenging nature far beyond its limits, and nature is now beginning to take its revenge.” (Kaplan, 1994) The new major threat that every nation and person has to be aware of is how the immediate results of our mismanagement of the environment can have a tremendous backlash, not only within our lives but the lives of future generations. All of these environmental concerns are dots that connect with Kaplan’s other main arguments.