Thoughts on Deep ecology.
It’s not that I argued something against our faith, but I didn’t argue anything for it either. I actually never thought to until I was reviewing for the class final and read a small excerpt from the text concerning an idea entitled deep ecology. It goes as follows:
It is argued that because of this verse, our country wrecked havoc upon our natural resources. After all, we were mostly Christian at that time and if Scripture tells us to do something, by golly we will. Hopefully as Christians, we would follow the teachings of scripture; unfortunately this is not always the case. We often neglect to love our neighbor as ourselves or to turn the other cheek. But what about Genesis
First of all, this verse is a command from God (since we are speaking of Christians who believe in the truth of scripture, it is appropriate to say this), so it is not human centered but God centered.
Secondly, it appears that when people shoot down this verse, they forget the full analogy being used. Yes this verse essentially turns men and women into kings and queens of the natural world, but it does not follow that this is a bad thing. We assume that Genesis
Third, although humans may be given an elevated position in scripture, this does not remove value and worth from the rest of creation. After each day in the creation story, what was made is called good. After the last day, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Rather than giving a free reign on nature, scripture gives Christians a responsibility to take care of that which God loves.
It seems that a deep ecology could in some ways be problematic. If we are all “plain citizens of the biotic community” as Leopold argues, does that not avoid responsibility? The president or an ambassador of our nation has a much greater responsibility when interacting with other nations than a citizen does because of the power and knowledge that they hold. The chief of the police has a much greater responsibility to keep the streets safe for the same reason. Just because we call ourselves “plain citizens” does not mean nature will be more protected than if we have a lord and master mentality.
1 Comments:
biocentric equality and christianity (gen. verse) seem to be mutually incompatable. the same can be said for many policy and humanistic issues as well. stay strong and don't forget to litter from time to time. and rule the birds.
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