Lynn White, Jr's article states that ever since humans have become a numerous species they have affected the earth and its environment in many ways. Some of which have had negative impacts for the environment. Partly to blame for our abuse of nature is religion. Judeo-Christian scripture brings forth the idea that God granted us dominion over the natural world "nature has no reason for existence save to serve man." This belief along with advances in technology including agriculture has resulted in our ever increasing impact and modification on the natural world. Presently there are many different religions and cultures that people follow, however many can be traced back to either christian ties or influence. It is Christianity that insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends.
If we are to get out of our current ecological crisis we must find a new religion or modify our existing ones, for technology and science alone will not be able to save us until we change are way of thinking and forget the old ideas of humans above nature. Instead we must learn to think of ourselves as being part of nature and of equality among all organisms including humans.
I really enjoy and support Whites opinions, he raised many good points about peoples view on the world and regard for religion. I feel that society needs to start letting go of religion. We once depended upon it to explain the unexplained and to give people something to believe in. Religion also served as a basis for peoples morals. However I feel with today's modern technology and advances in science we no longer need religion because we can explain how and why things have happened. Through social networks and media we can portray are own basis for morals, without the use of religion. Therefore I conclude in saying that religion has become obsolete in today's modern society.
Thank you for this summary. I agree with the viewpoints of White and yourself.
ReplyDeleteReligion is not something that becomes obsolete with time, or can be replaced with things like "social media" and "modern technologies". Religion is an essential part of life because without God there would be no social media, modern technologies or us. Just as we grow as a society and as technology grows so should peoples faith in God. There is a reason the Bible is the number one best selling book of all time, people have a desire to know God and to learn about him even if they have never been introduced to the idea of religion. People got along fine for ages without even having the wheel invented, but what humans have always had and needed is Religion. Some day technology and social media will pass and fade but God and Christianity will stand forever.
ReplyDeleteAs a Christian myself, I encourage you to rethink the predominantly weak points in your argument and attempt to find logical evidence. For example, people did not get along just fine for ages, Adam blamed his sin on Eve, the very first people, and by human generation number two, we already had a man whose father and mother (whom he was still living with) had literally walked with God, going forth and brutally murdering his own brother! By Genesis 6 we read, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” That sure doesn't sound like "People got along fine for ages without even having the wheel invented, but what humans have always had and needed is religion." I encourage you to rethink many of your views in a Biblical light, and please, for the sake of the perception of the Christian faith, please don't post things that have inaccurate, weak, or illogical points.
Delete-Matt Johnson
I would like to challenge you on your comment about religion being obsolete. I am 18 years old and still have a lot to learn about my faith, however I do know this, religion is essential. Christianity provides hope for the hopeless, rest to the weary (in this I am speaking primarily on emotional weariness due to grief, stress, mental fatigue, etc.), and repairs broken lives. More so than that though, Christianity also offers things such as an irrefutable explanation to the existence of evil in the world, our sense of moral law, and shows how both a perfect God could have created a perfect world and yet still have evil exist. When you boil it all down, atheism provides the explanation that there really is no such thing as evil, and therefore there is no such thing as morality. I think we can all agree that an incident like that of Sandy Hook was not simply the universe weeding out bad genes, but rather an evil act by the choice of an individual. If there is no such thing as evil, then why is racism bad? In fact, by the argument that morals developed in order to maintain order within a tribe, racism should be a good thing, it should encourage unity among the tribe, so why is it wrong? Explain the existence of evil. I also find it hard to understand why atheists think it illogical that a PERFECTLY DESIGNED universe SCREAMS of a designer.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the initial post however, I do not believe that White fully understands what is meant by dominion over creation. It is not a charge to manipulate nature for the sake of our own advancements exclusively, but rather it is a mandate towards proficient stewardship of creation! If you would like my opinion in detail, I wrote a 15 page essay on the topic of a Christian's relationship to nature that I would be more than happy to share with anyone who wants to read it. I am also willing to go more in-depth on anything that I mentioned which you might have questions about. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of my points. God Bless,
-Matt Johnson
I am 21 years old and don't believe or partake in religion. I prefer to not be referred to as an atheist either because that suggests that I am part of some kind of following. I am merely an environmental student who wished to create a blog which pertains to environmental issues. Further discussion is encouraged as it can lead to innovative thinking along with promoting environmental protection, however religious preachings will not be tolerated. Any further argument about religion will be deleted. Religious arguments (or battles) get people nowhere; they have been the cause of many useless wars and genocides.
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ReplyDeleteJust going to throw this out there that in the 20th Century, the most dangerous time to be a human being, nearly every genocide committed was by some sort of atheist led group, especially the Communist Party and ethnically based groups. And also, this is not a "religious preaching" post, I'm just curious on how you would identify yourself as somebody who is not an atheist, but yet does not believe in any god? Atheism is a following, it's a following of science as a form of religion, something that is worshiped (worship defined as something that is ascribed worth). Could you please explain to me how that dynamic works with not being a part of something? Thank you.
ReplyDeletemaybe it is not a matter of whether religion is obsolete or not...the fact that giving what is due to God which is the primordial meaning of religion became a part of our lives, history, culture...we can't just dump religion on the trash...i invite you to read other articles like "the ecological crisis: a common responsibility" by JP II, nature symbolic promise and the sacrament of creation..these are good articles that could give you a bigger picture....
ReplyDeleteMatthew Johnson, you sir, are a douche. That is all.
ReplyDeleteNo grounds as to why I am? Eh, I can live with that.
Deletebeing atheist does not in any way mean you don't believe in evil. there are certainly evil people as well as good people in the world. This good and evil just comes from the lives people lead and the choices they make. The sandy hook shooter was definitely an evil person, atheists just don't see him as being tempted by the devil or some evil force, he was just an evil person that made an evil choice. No person would argue against this. The universe doesn't punish people by causing tragedies, some people are just messed up.
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