I'm putting this up for Courtney as she was having some trouble.
“The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” By: Lynn White
This article is a prime example of how religion and the environment can be related. I think that the key question that White asks is “What did Christianity tell people about their relations with the environment?” If we look at the creation story in Genesis, we see our entire environment being created. At this time the environment is pure and new. If we look at the environment that we live in today, can we say the same thing? White talks about “The Christian dogma of creation”. She states that, “ God had made nature, nature must also reveal the divine mentality. The religious study of nature for the better understanding of God was known as natural theology”. Many people find God through nature and in the natural world and that is their way of experiencing faith. As the world has evolved and changed from its original state, do you think that it is harder to connect with God through nature? And do you think that this ecological crisis has affected the way that some people practice religion? Lastly, do you think that religion has influenced the ecological crisis?
I do not think that the environment we live in is pure and new (at least not anymore). One of the things that I have learned while growing up is the fact that we should learn to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. Instead of getting so caught-up with finding God in, say, a church, we should learn to look for God among the little intricacies of nature. That is a process that has become increasingly difficult, if not near-impossible, over time. Instead of viewing the natural world with awe and reverence, people look at the physical earth with a loot and plunder mentality. Respect for the environment, if there ever was, has depreciated significantly. Additionally, the problems that human beings get themselves into over the physical earth (namely war) is a testament to the fact that the we do not hold to the same esteem the environment as we do other things that we engage in conflict over. In an environment like this, finding God has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible.
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