Environmental Foundations.
Our Judaeo Christian heritage is not to blame for the current environmental crisis, and we do not need a new paradigm for our world view. When you take your faith seriously you already know that there is a God ordained connection between man and the earth. We were created out of dust, and to dust we shall return. As believers we are not only entrusted with our own salvation, but we are entrusted with the stewardship of the earth. Those believers who don't take seriously this stewardship will have to give an account to their God on judgement Day. To say that my worldview is contributing to the environmental crisis we are facing is oversimplifying the reality that God created this world, and He created all souls to steward this world for the glory of God and not to exploit it.
I can't say it simply enough, this planet is a gift from God and we are in partnership with each other, and with our Creator to preserve this planet to the best of our abilities. To blame God or His people for not caring for our environment is a mistake, because it assumes that God didn't create it (this world), and that He doesn't know what is best. Of course God created ecosystems and He intends us to preserve them, not destroy them. It's ok to be an environmentalist and a person of faith because we are attached to this planet whether we like it or not. It is not a contradiction in world views to be a steward of this planet and to be also a believer. This 21st century calls all believers to care in some real and tangible way, not just for the souls of men and women, but also for the soul of our planet, which in a very real way is perishing. As believers we cannot use end time eschatology to excuse us from our responsibility to care for our planet.
The world is rapidly deteriorating and we need to do all we can to support efforts at sustaining and preserving our species (animal and human) from environmental catastrophe. It is our duty as believers to see that this world goes through cycles and that the world was in a much more pristine place at the time of the birth of our respective religions. There was no mass exploitation of the earth and it's species and to say that there was would be reinventing history and our religion.
Religion isn't the cause of the degradation of the environment, sure religious people can contribute to it's decline, just as wicked men and wicked women do so as well. To say we need a new worldview or paradigm to teach our children that religious views and beliefs are the cause of environmental catastrophe, spells mischief for those of us who come from very different times and places, and very different world views than the one you might be referring to. This is Mike.
Our Judaeo Christian heritage is not to blame for the current environmental crisis, and we do not need a new paradigm for our world view. When you take your faith seriously you already know that there is a God ordained connection between man and the earth. We were created out of dust, and to dust we shall return. As believers we are not only entrusted with our own salvation, but we are entrusted with the stewardship of the earth. Those believers who don't take seriously this stewardship will have to give an account to their God on judgement Day. To say that my worldview is contributing to the environmental crisis we are facing is oversimplifying the reality that God created this world, and He created all souls to steward this world for the glory of God and not to exploit it.
I can't say it simply enough, this planet is a gift from God and we are in partnership with each other, and with our Creator to preserve this planet to the best of our abilities. To blame God or His people for not caring for our environment is a mistake, because it assumes that God didn't create it (this world), and that He doesn't know what is best. Of course God created ecosystems and He intends us to preserve them, not destroy them. It's ok to be an environmentalist and a person of faith because we are attached to this planet whether we like it or not. It is not a contradiction in world views to be a steward of this planet and to be also a believer. This 21st century calls all believers to care in some real and tangible way, not just for the souls of men and women, but also for the soul of our planet, which in a very real way is perishing. As believers we cannot use end time eschatology to excuse us from our responsibility to care for our planet.
The world is rapidly deteriorating and we need to do all we can to support efforts at sustaining and preserving our species (animal and human) from environmental catastrophe. It is our duty as believers to see that this world goes through cycles and that the world was in a much more pristine place at the time of the birth of our respective religions. There was no mass exploitation of the earth and it's species and to say that there was would be reinventing history and our religion.
Religion isn't the cause of the degradation of the environment, sure religious people can contribute to it's decline, just as wicked men and wicked women do so as well. To say we need a new worldview or paradigm to teach our children that religious views and beliefs are the cause of environmental catastrophe, spells mischief for those of us who come from very different times and places, and very different world views than the one you might be referring to. This is Mike.
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