Environmental Ethics

Introduction

Christianity is a group of believers who have great faith in God. They represent a group of people who believe in life after death and therefore expect everyone to act in just ways with the hope of having an eternal life after death. Performing in just ways entails practicing justice at all times. This means doing what you would also expect others to do to you. This is also referred to as the Golden Rule. Others, in this case, represent the family and other neighboring individuals within the society. Believers trust in doing what is dictated by the Ten Commandments. Acting contrary to such commandments is regarded as sinning.

Before an individual starts the Christianity journey, one has to be redeemed off their previous sins and declare that they are born again and would, therefore, walk in the light. Regarding the environmental ethics, people are expected to walk in the Christianity life while taking care of the environment and those other animals or species that also depends on the environment (inter allies between the plants and animals in the environment). The environment consists of both human beings as well as animals. However, human beings are people with brain capacity more than that of animals, but human beings are sinful than animals. The animals do have the same brain capacity as that of human beings, yet human beings are more susceptible to committing more crimes to the environment than the animals. According to the Christian belief, God created both plans and animals and commanded human beings to take dominance and control over such plants and animals. This Christianity version does clearly states what is expected of human beings regarding environmental ethics. However, the assumption of Christianity life expects that human beings should as well provide justice to the environment. This corresponds to the dictates of environmental ethics and environment protection. This is the foundation of environmental ethics, which is the topic study.

Based on the above premises, this research will provide a detailed analysis of the moral issues in Christianity and how they related directly or indirectly to environmental ethics. The animals are expected to feed well from the gifts of nature. However, they are mandated to provide protection and conservation of the gifts of nature. [1]Ben’s theology puts into consideration of element of evil in the lives of humankind. However, as a staunch believer in God, he has strong faith in God. He is sure of life after death, and so even at his hour of death, he recognizes in his conviction that one day, he will rise again with Christ (Larson 2012). According to Ben’s philosophy about participation and evil, he blames Satan for the misconducts that men do from time to time. According to Ben, even failure to observe environmental ethics is as a result of the misleading caused by Satan. He recognizes that God is the most potent being as per his faith but still put into consideration the magnitude that can be caused by Satan.

Ben theology explains how human beings make efforts to fight evil by instigating evil acts against their opponents. People fight crime through the use of darkness. No one is ready to do something beautiful as a remedy to battle evil from an evil person. When there is an evil emanating from a specific environment, human beings always strive to find solutions that can help alienate that particular problem. In most cases, whatever option they think of first is to identify the source of evil. Once they have identified the harm, they then strategize on how best they can eliminate the crime through the use of another evil act. On many occasions, even the Christians are profound of doing evil to others and the environment to solve the heinous act. Such principles do not apply to find solutions to environmental-related problems. For example, when Iraq attacked the United States, such damages will be done on the environment. However, when the U.S commits the same evil intending to solve the problem instigated by Iraq, it will instead create more questions on the environment. Such actions are against the environmental ethics principles as narrated by Larson and according to Ben’s theology of participation and evil.

Explanation

Ben’s philosophy presumes that nothing can exist in this world without the creation of God. God even created Satan and therefore wonders why God took his time and patience to allow such tempting to survive in a world with his people. These are people that God expects to act rightly in terms of behaviors and also to act responsibly in terms of protecting the environment as well. Therefore in identifying the source of all these evil acts, Ben argues that it God who might be behind all these evils through Satan. It all started when the serpent tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. It is true God knew that such a case would happen. However, He did not prevent it from occurring.

[2]According to Fergusson, the doctrine of creation gave humankind the full authority to have control of the environment and the animals and other plants that were on it. Barth’s doctrine of creation proposes that human beings should lead lives as expected of the almighty God. The expectations are jotted in the Ten Commandments, and everyone is therefore mandated to abide by such rules and regulations. [3]People are made up of different personality, and the way they are likely to judge between rights or wrong also differ from one person to the other (Holmes 2018). The right or wrong perception of the situation is also cognizant of the degree of importance that such a person may attach to the need to protect the environment and having the environment policies in mind at all times (Fergusson 2016). Both the doctrines of creation, as proclaimed by Bath and Thomas Aquinas, share the same similarities. They different the kind of actions that can be associated with God and those which cannot be associated with God. They propose that God can be related to the legal acts, while the evil deeds on both humanity and the environment are not associated with God.

The doctrine of creation is based on the assumption that human beings have a right over other plants and animals which make up the environment. However, environmental ethics stipulates proper and responsible means of protecting the environment and being accountable for everything that the environment provides. Over the past few years, the environment has been facing a lot of degradation due to pollution as well as other forms of human encroachment. This is a result of the rising need to clear large tracks of lands either for pasture, agriculture, other sporting activities, as well as settlement, among other contributing determinants of environment encroachment.

Karl Barth tried to provide a theological perspective as to why the environment has continuously been encroach. He assumes that human beings were given the full mandate of taking care of the environment. Such an order also came with other responsibilities of interdependence between human beings, other animals, and plants in general. However, social activities have surpassed what was expected of them, and their actions have led to more detrimental conditions. Such conditions include excessive exploitations of the natural resources that were on top and beneath the earth’s surface. There is an acute depletion of natural resources from time to time, and this means that the future generation is likely to earn nothing or maybe less amount of natural resources compared to the current generation.

[4]According to journalist Herbert Morrison, about the creation of eco-justice, he happened to have witnessed terrifying moments in history. Watching airship go down was the scary thing that happened in his life and, therefore, begun to wonder why such a thing would happen (Bock 2013). He thought of the consequences to the environment in terms of earth and the water on the sea. He thought of life on the land as well as the aquatic life and how such horrific events would impact them. Such an accident had detrimental effects on the environment. The people were psychologically tortured, the victims contracted chronic diseases, and there was acute hunger among other challenges. These challenges are seen to relate to the environment ethics principle. This makes such an occurrence an exciting scenario for the study. Although it caused by machine failure, the root cause of such a problem can be traced back to the personnel who were operating the ship, or the faultiness might have resulted from the engineering roots before the vessel was actually. However, it is also essential to consider that there could be some natural calamities within the environment that might have facilitated the accident. Therefore humanity strives to relate the effect of theology concerning theology and to determine

Human actions such as deforestation and environmental pollutions have led to total climatic change. The weather patterns have changed over time; therefore, they remain unpredicted from time to time. Changes in the weather patterns have resulted in the deterioration of other economic activities such as agriculture as well as detrimental effects on the aquatic lives. The long term effect of such environmental change is witnessed in the manner in which most of the natural lives, including animals and plants, become extinct over time. Such an extinction effect is used to express the importance of practicing environmental ethics at all times. It includes appreciating the gift of nature and how it benefits the current generation and many generations to come.

To understand how important the topic of research is, Kay brings a similar perspective on situation analysis. His analysis is based on the relationship that is between God, the Creator, and the created organisms. This perspective is referred to as pastoral theology. The theology is embodied in two aspects, which include science and religion (Kay 2005).[5] The pastoral theology also narrates the importance of conserving the environment and other gifts of nature. The pastoral theology also assists in explaining the effect of climatic change on the environment and to the general plants’ and animals’ lifestyles at large. According to William K Kay, the rural theory can also be referred to as the environmental theology as well as the Green Theology. Such terms are used to express how important the environment is to humankind as well as to another living organism. It is referred to the green theology since it is a source of livelihood to many bodies.

The green plants are the significant sources of food for human beings and pother herbivorous, which directly or indirectly depend on the green pasture or plants. The green plants are directly linked to the kind of weather that is witnessed in a particular region. The trees regulate gasses of the sort that flow within a specific area. They attract wind or clouds bearing rainfall. They directly determine the kinds of climate that are expected within a particular area. The theory proposes that humankind has become too exploitative with the desires for economic. Many people have lost their conscience when it comes to environmental ethics. There is a greater urge for economic sustainable across all nations, and some people have resorted to clearing the beautiful sceneries with the hope of driving their economic development from natural resources. However, the degree of exploitation has exceeded what is expected of the environment ethics. It is essential to understand that environmental ethics requires humanity to use whatever is provided by the gift of nature adequately.

Optimum use of such resources would result in the proper balance between what is taken from the environment and what is given back to the environment. The philosophy of environmental ethics dictates a mutual correlation between the plant’s ad animals within a particular environment. However, humankind has gone against what was proclaimed in the creation account. As much as humanity was given the responsibility to have control over another living organism on land and those in the sea, the limits were exceeded. Indeed they relied on such plants as dictated by the Almighty; however, due to greed and hatred among humankind, a lot of exploitations have been witnessed in the past. It is also likely that the level of greediness might continue for the unforeseeable period.

Moltmann’s philosophy regarding environmental ethics suggests that churches are also constructed depending on the environment where they are proposed to be located. This concept is mindful of environmental ethics principles. Environmental ethics e=recommends an analysis of the nature of the proposed location before one can take the actual steps of constructing a house. It is essential to understand the environment before you take any measures to develop such a situation. For example, when creating a church in a particular area, it is necessary to consider those people who reside in such geographical locations. The number of people occupying such space matters a lot since it is a determinant of the size and shape of the church one is willing to install in a particular area. Besides, the nature of the environment is also essential. This is in terms of its topography, which directly influences the kind of church construction and other accompanying components to be installed around it.

Bath’s philosophical dialectics proclaims that man was created and given the mandate of control of the environment he stays. Besides, such responsibilities came with other added roles, including making the environment a better place to reside in. Humanity was expected to change the perception of the world, including the environment where they live for the reception of the highest eschatological Kingdom of the Creator. However, according to Descartes’s sentiments, humanity, too, the different opportunities to make themselves the masters of the natural world (Environment and its resources). Despite these summons given by the Creator for man to take full care and protection of the natural world, the man instead exploited the natural, and there are fewer efforts to rehabilitate or reclaim the polluted environments. This is contrary to environmental ethics principles. The modern theology significantly differs from God’s ideas on so many occasions. God’s thoughts are pegged on how a Christian should lead a fruitful life together with its neighborhoods. However, according to Mark McIntosh’s ideas on modern theology, he explains the need for divine purposes and salvation and how they can be used to promote wellbeing in society. Much importantly is the conservation of resources in the environment and how to optimize the use of such resources (McIntosh 2012).

The Marxist doctrine assumes that nature or the environment is a place destined for human survival. It cannot serve its purpose without the man’s influence. Although, on several occasions, man has acted contrary to the principles of environmental ethics. Much is still expected of him, which is, taking full care of the environment and critically following the policy considered within the environment as environmental codes of conduct. The creation accounts declare that humanity was to get everything in the form of food from the Creator. However, the messianic principle states that these foods did not come on a silver plate. Humanity had to toil to gather fruits and honey within the environment. Part of that labored did not account for the overexploitation of the environment, which later followed as a result of man’s actions.

Analysis

Problems

The problem key is this principle is the effect of environmental degradation, which has been implicated by human beings. The scriptures narrate that human beings look like God, who is the Creator of heaven and earth. However, human beings are sinful, which is the opposite of God’s image and likeness. God gave man the responsibility and control of the environment and all that sprouts on the earth as well as the water bodies and all that it bears. However, due to the sinful nature of human beings, they exceeded the preset limits set by the Creator and ended in further exploitation than what was expected of them. This has left the environment more depleted, polluted, and a lot of resources over exploded as well as squandered.

Construction

Solutions

Baths’ doctrine principle on the environmental ethics proposes that humanity must realize at all times that they under the illuminating light of the Creator. God is omnipresence, and therefore his powers are within reach at all times. He can see every man’s actions. This means that no man can hide from his face. Based on this, Kay proposes that men should be in a possible to account for all their actions regarding how they utilize the natural world. Humankind is expected to conceive the environment and every other thing that is found within the earth’s surface. Besides, there should be optimum use of the natural resources found within the space.

Moltmann also assumes that humankind might have acted in an improper way that might have annoyed the Creator. As a result of such annoyance, The Creator withdrew his light from the space. Humankind was then left in total darkness without much focus on how best they could continue controlling the area. To reclaim God’s view, it necessary to repent and condemn the previous misgivings. Through this, the relationship that existed between God and humankind can be reignited. The reunion can provide more and better space for human survival. This is as per the scriptures. Even after repentance and the condemnation of the previous, humankind is still expected to act following the principles of environmental ethics. Without putting much consideration of the principles of environmental ethics, the natural world cannot be a better place for survival.

Human beings are expected to take into consideration the essence of time in their lives. No one knows when the world was created, and no one can tell accurately when the world is likely to end. This premonition is an indication that human beings should always act in more outrightly in terms of taking care of the surroundings as well as building a good relationship with the Creator. Conservation of the environment should be the core subject of the human era. Besides the preservation of the environment, mutual relationships with others within such a background should also be fruitful both in the short-term and in the long-run basis. Everybody within the environment should be in a position to appreciate the gift of nature. They should not at any time feel that there is a group of people taking more advantage than others. This means there should be equality in the manner in which the natural resources within the environment are unitized.

[6]Equity/fairness and accountability for every action should be at the core of every activity taken by human beings (Bock 2013). Resources must be equitably be distributed among the players in the space. Besides, they should also regard the future generations and what kind of resources they will find once the current generation is gone. Moltmann suggests that man should be driven with the hope of making the environment a better place for survival. They should practice humility both to their fellow human beings as well as practicing the capability of conservation, rehabilitation of the environment as per the environmental ethics.

According to the theology of Wolfhart, Christianity demonstrates a union of believers who have hope of a better tomorrow and a brighter future. It assumes that the moment an individual loses faith in life, then it means such personalities have stopped believing in God. A non-believer may act in a manner that is not so welcoming within society. They lose their innocence and might be guilty of various crimes within the society[7]This doctrine assumes that such personalities are also likely to act mysteriously without putting much regard for environmental conservation. Some of the fellowship groups that have aligned themselves with this faith include the Roman Catholics and Anglican, among other faithful (MCCULLOH n.d.). They take the doctrine of creation and modern theology seriously and unite the two philosophies to come up with the responsibilities of humankind regarding the conservation of the environment as well as their actions towards others. They expect everyone to act in ways that do not hurt people, plants, and other animals within the environment.

[8]According to Martin Luther, God created a living and non-living organism on the earth’s surface. He set man free to act in specific ways except committing evil. God knew about sin before, man. He knew so well the weaknesses of man, and he was sure that man would fall into the traps of sin. Martin Luther wonders why God did not prevent evil from happening. However, he does not associate God with corruption, an issue that leaves us wondering where the darkness came from and when it descended on humankind. It also brings the thought about God working with crime behind the scenes (SCHWANKE 2016). However, as a staunch believer in God, Ben theology, together with Martin Luther’s sentiments, refutes such claims. God is ideal and works everything in the limelight to prove even to the non-believers that genuinely, he is the Almighty God. Logically, when God created heaven and earth, the initial thing was formless. Throughout the story of Gods, there is no place mentioned that God created Satan. Such a statement might contradict many versions, but the truth is that there is an existence of evil, and only God knows its mystery and influence on the earth (Belousek 2016).

Conclusion

Environmental ethics deals with how humankind relates to the environment while its ethics relates to how human beings’ actions affect the environment. The ecological ethics, therefore, considers than humanity is part and parcel of the society and in addition to other creatures, which also depend on the environment for survival. It entails recognizing the rights of [plants and animals (flora and fauna). Environmental ethics, therefore, is an embodiment which recognizes the interdependence between the plants and animal. It means that humankind depends on plants and other creatures within the environment, and therefore they should honor and respect them with a lot of consciousness. Besides, environmental ethics or philosophy requires that every humanity extends a helping hand to all human and non-human worlds.

Some of the detriments of failure to practice environmental ethics highlighted by the various scholar, as mentioned in this research, are much reaching. The damages include global warming, pollution, extinction of other indigenous plants and animals, world-wide climatic change, and reduction of the natural resources base. Other challenges include deforestation as well as resource degradation. It is, therefore, necessary to practice environmental ethics for a better relationship between human beings and then the natural world. Other contributing factors towards a high rate of pollution include the depletion of the ozone layer, which results in global warming, overpopulation which can also lead higher rate of erosion as well as acid rain, which causes weathering of plants and finally leading to the loss of their lives. Other agents include disposal of raw household wastes to the environment, climatic change as well as urbanization.

Every human being is tasked with the responsibility of practicing environmental ethics, which means ensuring protection and the safety of the environment. To prevent deforestation, humanity should reduce the rate at which they cut down trees. In places where trees are needed, such as fore building materials as well as furniture, they can be replaced with metals. Besides, it is essential to plant more trees (afforestation) where others have cut and also to plant more where others existed before to offer anchorage to the soils in such areas.

The general effects of such pollution cases include a negative impact on human health, rise in the sea level, which is likely to affect the aquatic lives as well as animals and other structures around the sea. Overexploitation of the natural resources which negatively affects non-renewable sources of energy. Besides, it can also result in the melting of glaciers, reduction of soil viability, water pollution, and circulation of toxic dust and gases in the air, among others. Human beings should also use materials which, when after use, do not pollute the environment. Proper disposal should be carried out to reduce pollution to the environment. The world population continues to increase from time to time, and therefore, the encroachment of natural habitats and natural will continue to rise for unforeseeable periods. This will lead to high levels of degradation, which limits the environmental ability to effectively and efficiently provide towards human needs. The rate at which human beings consume natural resources is higher than the rate at which the world can naturally replenish their supplies.

From the scholars cited in this text, environmental ethics requires humanity to act in more responsible ways with environmental conservation at heart. Environmental ethics is a scientific approach to ensuring that the principles, morals, and conservation practices are implemented in every environment where people stay. Environmental ethics requires that human being should at all times make logical decisions which revolve around ecological conservation. Also, it is crucial to consider the fact that human being’s intelligence level is higher than that of other animals on the earth’s surface. They are, therefore, expected to use such intelligence levels to implement environmental ethics. That will lead to a more significant conservation of the environment for the good of every organism that directly or indirectly depends on the livelihood of the environment. Environmental ethics recognizes that human beings have the rights and freedoms of natural resources at their disposal. However, the same ecological ethics do give human beings the mandate to use such resources anyhow. This confirms the ex nihilo concept and the significance of having a mutual relationship with God.

According to natural theology, environmental challenges can only be rectified by solving the relationship that exists between man and God. However, I find less application of this philosophy. This is because, when a man was created, he was given a lot of intelligence more than other animals; hence, he can use his knowledge conveniently to take care of the environment by observing the environment ethics. However, as a staunch belief, I have faith in God, and I recognize that He is the giver of wisdom and intelligence in man. He can, therefore, affect an environmental change through the provision of knowledge and skills as well as the understanding necessary to take care of the environment. Besides, wisdom on environmental preservation can as well be borrowed from one person to the other. Those who have it can share with those who do not have it.

On the other hand, those with little intelligence on environment ethics should, therefore, reach out to those with such skills. The long-lasting need for such intelligence, according to the environmental philosophy is to protect the environment and to make the world a better place than we found. The theology of the environment also provides a solution towards changing the environment through the change of human beings’ perception and attitudes towards the environment. Besides, it is necessary for human beings to change their justification and behavior towards the environment as well as to appreciate everything that is provided in the environment. In this perspective, the gift of nature can only be understood by appreciating the effort of God of creating the earth and providing what is necessary for human survival.

From the sentiments made by ecclesiology, there is no particular way in which the size and shape of the church can be determined to be dependent on the environment.

Bibliography

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Bock, Nelson. 2013. “An Eco-Theology: Toward a Spirituality of Creation and Eco-Justice.” Toward a Spirituality of Creation and Eco-Justice (ATLAS Serials).

Fergusson, David. 2016. “Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Creation: Church-bells beyond the stars.” International Journal of Systematic Theology (John Wiley & Sons Ltd) 18 (4): 415-431. doi:10.1111/ijst.12144.

Holmes, Christopher R.J., 2018. “REVISITING THE GOD/WORLD DIFFERENCE.” Modern Theology 34 (2): 159-176. doi:10.1111/moth.12395.

Kay, William K., 2005. “God Creation: A Reflection on Jurgen Moltmann’s Theology.” Rural Theology 3 (2): 75-84.

Larson, Benjamin, Splichal. 2012. “Participation and Evil: The Problem of Doing Evil When Attempting to Fight Evil.” Currents in Theology and Mission (ATLAS®) 39 (6): 449-456.

MCCULLOH, GERALD W. n.d. “Creation to Consummation: The Theology of Wolf hart Pannenberg.” Review of Article.

McIntosh, Mark. 2012. “THE MAKER’S MEANING: DIVINE IDEAS AND SALVATION.” Modern Theology (Blackwell Publishing Ltd) 28 (3).

SCHWANKE, JOHANNES. 2016. “Martin Luther’s Theology of Creation.” International Journal of Systematic Theology 18 (4): 399-413. doi:10.1111/ijst.12185.

[1] Larson, Participation, and Evil, 2012, PP. 449-456

[2] Fergusson, Karl Barth’s Doctrine, 2016, PP.1-2

[3] Holmes, God/World Difference, (April 2018), PP. 159-176

[4] Bock, an Eco-Theology, 2013. PP. 433-446

[5] Kay, God in Creation: Rural Theology’ 2005

[6] Bock, an Eco-Theology, 2013. PP. 433-446

[7] — Mcculloh, Review Article, Creation to Consummation.

[8] Schwanke, Martin Luther’s Theology of Creation, 2016, PP. 399-413