Comments Please!

The following is my WebCT posting I wrote about the readings for my Environmental Ethics class this week. The readings were very anti-Christianity, and basically blamed Christians for environmental problems and exploitations. Here is my response. I would appreciate any feedback on it!

Thoughts From a Christian...

White's essay essentially places the blame for environmental exploitation on Christianity. Whilte it may be the case that Westerners did begin to use nature for their own needs and wants, this is not what the God of Christianity intended to happen. White (2002, p. 11) claims that "it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends". This is simply not true. It is true that God gave humans dominion over His creation; however, His intent was that we would be caretakers of the creation - not exploiters of it. In fact, God tells us His intent in Genesis 1:29-32. It says:

Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for
food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all
the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life
in it - I give every green plant for food.' And it was so. (The Holy Bible, New
International Version, 1984, p. 1).

God's intent was not for man to kill animals and use them for food. His intent was for man, as well as all the creatures of the earth, to use seed-bearing plants for food - plants that could multiply and feed creatures sustainably. God's plan was not for humans to exploit nature but to live in harmony with it and use it in a way that it would not be destroyed or degraded, much like Sir Francis of Assisi suggests (White, 2002). In fact, the first death of an animal did not occur until after what the Bible refers to asthe fall of man, or when man first understood the difference between good and evil and chose to do evil.

Therefore, I would argue that it is not Christianity that is the root of the environmental problems facing our planet. I would argue that it is mankind in general that is the root. Nowhere in the Bible, which contains the basis of Christianity, does it suggest that we should exploit nature for our use. Yes, it does contain narrative of people using nature for their benefit, but it does not suggest that nature should be used for our benefit so much that there is scarecely a nature left. White's (2002, p. 13) suggestion that "[t]o a Christian a tree can be no more than a physical fact" is simply not true. I am a Christian, and a tree is certainly more than a fact to me. When I see a tree, I see the amazing creativity of an awesome God. I see splendour and majesty. I see beauty. I see much more than a physical fact.

References:
The Holy Bible, New International Version. (1984). Genesis. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.

White, L. (2002). The historical roots of our ecological crisis. In D. Schmidtz & E. Willott (ed.), Environmental ethics: What really matters, what really works (pp. 7-14). New York: Oxford University Press.