Historic Roots Of Our Ecological Crisis By Lynn White: A Critical Analysis

Christianity has and continues to be a force to be reckoned with. With a whopping 83 percent of Americans identifying as Christian, it is just to say that it is a very powerful and influential religion.(polls) The religion itself has been interpreted in a similar fashion since the medieval period and the most relevant interpretations are that of the beginning, the creation, the book of Genesis. It is the interpretation of Genesis that has determined and set in motion a main theme that says that humans were made to rule nature. Lynn White argues in The Historic Roots of Our Ecological Crisis that , "What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in relation to things around them. Human ecology is deeply conditioned

“Eino’s ideal city was clearly anthropocentric and Elsa's was very ecocentric. Eino was a typical representative of the ‘Castle’ model while elsa represented the ‘Symbiosis’ model.” (Kjellberg, 271) Both are strong in their views and both views are quite the opposite. Kjellberg found that the reason for their very two different views was due to a different interpretation of the Creation. “Eino stressed in many ways the value of humans as being superior to that of nature...Elsa on the other hand stressed the importance of a community with nature as a whole. In this holistic view, according to her (Elsa), the human species has a special responsibility for ensuring the justice for all parties” (Kjellberg 272). Both these views caused very different opinions on economic life and sustainability as a direct result of their interpretation of the Creation. Eino looks at economic life as something that is there to “..improve human life conditions” and that is all.(Kjellberg 273) Elsa on the contrary believes that a view such as Einos, “...leads in the long run to the destruction of all human community…”(Kjellberg, 273). Elsa believes that a city should live with nature and have it made so both are balanced rather than one taking over the other. Elsa is not only

Economics, defined by Grounding Religion, is “ The study of how people acquire and manage the materials they need to live” (Grounding Religion, 230) Economics although focused on people still has a big effect on nature especially when looking into things such as consumption, production and distribution of products. An important aspect of economics is being able to create sustainability between all those factors. Creating sustainable technologies with a recognition of what's best for both human and nature would be ideal. In Ecology: A Dialogue, Lisa Sideris comments, “Learning to live with natural limits ought to be seen as something joyful....We should consider the gains: reconnection to local communities and bioregions…”( Sideris,70). Sideris acknowledges that both parties would benefit from a new view. It’s because of this fact that a new interpretation of the Creation should be pushed and