1.1 environmental issues

An introduction

  • environment → the surroundings on which humans and animals live and depend on for survival

  • environmental issues → a discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of humans between , and also the value and moral status of, the environment and other animals

Animal welfare and protection

  • historically, western philosophical tradition has given little consideration to the welfare and protection of animals

    • Aristotle → animals are judged as subordinate to humans due to their inferior rational capacity

    • The bible contrasts to many religions originating in the Indian subcontinent e.g Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism (principle of ahimsa “do not harm”)

      “rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky'“ [genesis 1:28]

Dominion VS Stewardship

Dominion

  • Dominion is a traditional christian approach to the environment from genesis which sets out the idea that humans were instated by god to rule over earth and use its resources for our own purpose → some have interpreted this as their right to plunder

  • Dominion is an anthropocentric approach (humans above all others)

‘God blessed them and said to them “Be fruitful and increase in number: fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground”.’ [genesis 1:28-29]

  • This resonates with the philosophy of Aristotle and the Greek’s :

    ‘She [nature] has made all the animals for the sake of man’ [aristotle]

    • Aristotle thought of nature as a hierarchy in which those with less reasoning power exist for the sake of those with more

    • Aquinas (heavily influenced by aristotle) also believed this but believed the hierarchy was created by god (as described in genesis). In his classification of sins, aquinas has room for only sins against god, ourselves and our neighbours. There is no possibility of sinning against animals/ the natural world (unless humans are harmed in this process)

  • Dominion has also influenced ‘end time theology’, beliefs about the end of the world maintained by some Evangelical Christians in the USA. 

    • According to this brand of theology, concern for the earth is irrelevant because the earth will be destroyed at the end of time and God will make a new earth in its place. The Rapture is a time when God takes from the earth the faithful people, leaving the rest behind for a time to be tested. The quicker we use up the world’s resources, the quicker the Rapture can come

  • The notion of science during the renaissance and the enlightenment was very much a philosophy of domination: science and technology could bring benefits to society as a whole

    • e.g Francis Bacon argued that nature was a slave and that the purpose of science was to control it

Stewardship

  • Stewardship is the idea that god has given the earth to human beings and expects us to protect and preserve the environment

    ‘the lord god took the man and put him in the garden of eden to fill it and care for it’ [genesis 2:15]

    • Many christians consider environmental issues to be important because of the impact on other’s lives and might consider ‘love thy neighbour’ as providing a clear reason to act on environmental issues

  • Modern readings argue that the role god has given humans is that of carers or stewards. Richard Bauckham (leading biblical scholar and theologian) argues that the opening chapters of genesis support this view.

    • At every stage of the creation process, god sees that what he has created is good. This implies that what he has created has value which goes beyond being a mean to an end for human consumption. Bauckham argues that dominion means responsible stewardship.

  • There is a strong tradition of love and care for the environment among some of the christian saints and teachers. St John Chrysostom and St Francis of Assisi both taught that man must love and protect the whole of creation.

  • St Francis is often portrayed with animals (birds sitting on his shoulder, pacifying a wolf that has been killing shepherds in a village, preaching to animals) and believed that animals had souls and encouraged a reverence for nature. He believed that nature was god’s creation so being close to creation meant being close to the creator.

  • St Francis’s attitude to the world was Christocentric (Christ-centred): since Jesus was god incarnate, Francis took god’s appearance within nature as a sign that humans should care for nature as a whole.

    • there is also, for some Christians, a belief in Creation Spirituality. This is the idea that God can be found in all of creation. There are parallels with the Gaia hypothesis (see below)

      ‘The Saints are exceedingly loving and gentle to mankind, and even to brute beasts… surely we ought to show them great kindness and gentleness for many reasons, but, above all, because they are of the same origin as ourselves’ [St John Chrysostom]

    • in his Homilies, St John Chrysostom expressed a sense of love, compassion and respect for all of God’s creation: for people, for animals and for the environment.

Modern Ethical Implications of Stewardship

  • Evangelical churches often strongly support the view that Christians must care for the environment. The Evangelical Environmental Network refers to ‘creation-care’, that is, preventing activities that harm God’s creation and helping human beings become better stewards.

  • The Church of England states that God has entrusted the world to humankind and therefore we are responsible for it: we are the Earth’s curators and trustees. Stewardship is about caring management, not selfish exploitation. Argues that we are part of the whole and have responsibility to love what god has entrusted to our care. The second great commandment calls upon us to ‘love thy neighbour’; climate change reminds us that this applies to our neighbours of tomorrow just as much as our neighbours of today.

  • The Catholic Church’s position starts with an understanding of human beings in relation to god. Humans are created in the image of god; this implies that humankind has a similar role to play. Just as god maintains the universe, the role of humankind is to maintain god’s creation, which means to be responsible for it and to take care of it. Pope Francis argues that :

    ‘what is crucial is responsibility on the part of all in pursuing, in a spirit of fraternity, policies respectful of this earth which is our common home’ [pope Francis]

    • this means that we should stop the greedy exploitation of environmental resources because we share the earth with everyone, and otherwise there will be devastating effects.

Conservation

  • Conservationism is the act of creating the circumstances necessary to preserve and protect species and ecosystems.

    • It is an approach to the environment that many Christians take because of the central idea of stewardship.

  • The idea of conservation refers to the protection of natural resources and the environment from the dangers of climate change and human activities like deforestation, over-fishing and industry with polluting effects. It encompasses the ethics of how to allocate, protect and use resources (incl other species) responsibly and regulate human use of oceans, forests and so on.

    • conserving the environment is necessary to protect future generations of animals but also future generations of humanity. The concept of conservation is thus tightly linked to christian arguments for stewardship

Strengths and Weaknesses of Christian Stewardship

Strengths

  • christian organisations are able to mobilise large numbers of people and amass significant funds for their conservation efforts

  • there is a large focus on the christian poor and underprivileged meaning there is a significant focus on the developing world, where the effects of climate change are often felt most severely

Weaknesses

  • By viewing conservation as an instrumental rather than intrinsic good, Christians are unable to appreciate the true worth of nature

  • Focused on the consequences for humanity, rather than on other living species and the natural world itself →anthropocentric

    • Peter Singer criticises the christian approach for putting humans at the centre of the moral universe, which disregards animal rights

  • Lynn White argues that the historical roots of our ecological crisis are in Christianity and a major factor in environmental destruction

    • he argues that the western christian world view supports and encourages exploitation of nature for man’s benefit

    • the idea of crusades perpetuated colonisation and prioritised human dominion over the holiness of nature

    • protestant work ethic→ encouraged to work hard/ gain capital/ be rewarded (get involved with industrialisation)

    • the distinction between man as made in gods image and the rest of creation implies that other creatures are soulless and therefore inferior

    • white doesn’t suggest that a secular approach is necessarily better, rather that Christian guilt over the destruction of the environment should push Christians to change their world-view and adapt religious views to the current crisis. Religion still has a role to play as it helps us understand our place in the world and our role in sustaining it. Christianity and ecology are compatible.

      ‘man named all the animals, thus establishing his dominance over them. God planned all of this explicitly for man’s benefit and rule: no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man’s purposes. And, although man’s body is made of clay, he is not simply part of nature: he is made in god’s image’ [Lynn Townsend White"]

  • not all christian denominations support environmentalism

    • early christians placed eschatological beliefs before any other considerations. These christians believed that our existence on earth is only temporary and that the end of the world would lead to resurrection

    • some evangelical christians argue that our real life starts in heaven and that since the old earth will be replace a new one, there is no purpose in protection or conservation. some go as far as saying that the current environmental crisis is a sign of the end and the earth will soon be destroyed. Mass deaths of animals are a sign of the end of the world

    • some groups argue that the earth is temporary and can therefore be used for profitable purposes. others, however, argue for transformation rather than destruction

      ‘then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.’ [revelation 21:1]

  • Ronald Nash and the Cornwall Alliance have been prominent critics of environmentalism, which they call the ‘Green Dragon’. They are very critical of the ideological link between some evangelical churches and supposedly ‘extremist’ environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Earth First.

    • The Cornwall Alliance understands stewardship as a god-given duty to be responsible for the natural world but disagrees with the social movement that is environmentalism and its argument that we have a duty to protect entire species and ecosystems.

    • It is critical of environmental policies to fight global warming which, in its view, is a waste of money and prevents poorer countries from using the fossil fuels they need to rise out of poverty, and so effectively perpetuate the cycle of hunger, disease and death. Political leaders should implement policies which defend the rights and liberties of individuals and make energy more affordable

    • The CA is critical of what it considers ‘radical environmentalism’ (the argument that all living things have intrinsic value). It blames the influence of deep ecology on Christian environmentalism as they claim nature is not god, as Nash claims pantheism is fundamentally anti-christian.