Critics Who Consider Christianity To Be Arrogant Religion Essay

St. Paul in one of his most of import Hagiographas told the Christians of Rome “ make non be conformed to this universe. “ A For over the past two millenaries Christian theologists and philosophers have struggled with the issue of what is the rightful topographic point of worlds in this world.A Some take it to intend merely the societal constructions and establishments of their clip, while others understand it to include all earthly life, the whole physical kingdom and the remainder of creation.A However from the clip of Paul to our ain, Christian minds have interpreted this as human separation from the natural universe which has been the footing Western culture.A It is because of this thought that Christianity has been called chesty towards nature and charged with being the historical root of our ecological crisis. Furthermore modern scientific discipline and engineering being merchandises of Western civilization find no other demand for the being of nature other than to function world ; hence Christianity bears a immense load of guilt for the current planetary nutrient crises the universe is facing.A Most Christian denominations confirm that the ecological crises confronting us is a serious issue while many Christians feel that their faith and its derivative Western worldview along with their planetary power are mostly responsible.A It is a known fact that on one manus an ecological crises occurs when the environment of a species alterations in a manner to destabilise its continued endurance, while on the manus human ecology is profoundly conditioned by beliefs about our nature and fate viz. by religion.A In the words of the ego acclaimed atheist George Bernard Shaw who said, “ Religion is a great force – the lone existent motor force in the world.A But you must acquire a adult male through his ain faith, non yours. ”[ two ]Until we find a new faith or reconsideration Christianity, the ecological crisis caused through environmental debasement, over population, unethical usage of engineering and consumerism will intensify the planetary nutrient deficit crises good beyond the control of human beings.A

Critics who consider Christianity to be chesty toward nature rely on the words of Scripture which states, “ God created adult male in His ain image, in the image of God He created him ; male and female he created them. And God blessed them ; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and make full the Earth, and subdue it ; and regulation over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every life thing that moves on the Earth. ”[ three ]The reading of this quotation mark asserts the singularity of humanity and is tied to human power over the Earth and other animate beings. God has provided worlds with psyches that distinguish them from all other animals in add-on to giving them nonnatural value.A Further God has created worlds in His image which must return to Him finally. Harmonizing to Christian divinity, humanity ‘s existent place does non lie in the remainder of creative activity but instead with God in Eden and in a sense His creative activity is for the sole usage of humanity to be used at their discretion and in any mode they wish to choose.A Famous Catholic theologians Rosemary Radford Reuther wrote, “ we have no place outside the Earth and so our devastation of this place is the lasting devastation of ourselves every bit good, ”[ four ]while Thomas Berry in his statement of the Christian tradition stated that “ we were non an built-in constituent of the natural world.A Our fate was non here.A We deserved a better universe, although we had non even begun to appreciate the beauty and magnificence of this universe. ”[ V ]Acerate leaf to state that personal redemption for Christians transcends all other concerns ; giving them the freedom to go on with the devastation of the ecology. As worlds it must be realized that we exist as portion of an ecological web in which everything affects everything else.A We can non merely make as we will with the natural universe for any effort to make so will spell disaster.A The thought that ‘nature knows best ‘ calls for proper humbleness in our intervention of the Earth and its ecology lest we all jointly acquire trapped in life-denying signifiers of behaviour that will go on the environmental debasement and contribute to the planetary nutrient crises.

A While environmental debasement continues to set a strain on the universes nutrient supply with the loss of cultivable land and clime alterations ; human overpopulation is doing a planetary environmental catastrophe. Worlds ought to recognize that “ non merely is the land available to bring forth nutrient finite, it is besides shriveling in the face of desertification, overgrazing, salination and urbanisation. ”[ six ]However, God besides instructed world toA ” be fruitful and multiply, and make full the Earth. ”[ seven ]These words seem to hold been taken out of context by most Christian religious orders and particularly Catholics for harmonizing to Sacred Scripture and the Church ‘s traditional pattern big households are visualized as a mark of God ‘s blessing.A Even though the Catholic Church considers overpopulation of this Earth as both a existent issue and an unreasonably feared one but steadfastly goes on to corroborate that its cause can non be attributed to God but instead to the upset on adult male ‘s portion due to his selfish nature and desire for the accretion of wealth. In their support of big households the church does non waver to indicate out that “ big households have been in the head as the cradles of saints ”[ eight ]Equally long as the Earth is viewed as the personal belongings of the human race, a belief embraced by most spiritual religions, we are destined to inherit a biological wasteland.A When viewed from another position in the instance of the hapless ; holding kids is the lone signifier of wealth they can portion in.A Having a big household was thought to increase the capableness to supply and by making so able to heighten the household position within the community.A In yearss gone by it may hold proved true and utile, for so the human population was comparatively little ; holding a big household so would assist increase wealth by doing it possible to raise production since a big household was considered to be more productive.A But those yearss are over for the lone donee of overpopulation today are the employers in rich states, traveling their production installations to hapless states where workers are plentiful thereby utilizing the crises for their ain benefit.A As the universe population continues to turn, great force per unit area is being placed on cultivable land, H2O, energy, and biological resources to supply an equal supply of nutrient while keeping the unity of our ecosystem.A All steps to forestall the debasement and the devastation of our ecosystem will be useless if we do non cut down the rate of population growing for it is considered ‘the monster on the land ‘ . If this monster is non harnessed shortly it will decidedly lend to the ongoing planetary nutrient deficit and a crisis of humanity.

A With due consideration to the negative consequence that overpopulation has on the planetary nutrient supply state of affairs ; the unethical usage of scientific discipline and engineering in nutrient production is an on-going concern for all humans.A Many scientists in yearss gone by have been members of spiritual orders including Mendel, the laminitis of genetic sciences ; nevertheless “ the Christian Church has a hapless record in footings of obscurantist resistance to scientific progress. ”[ nine ]It is non that the Church should encompass any scientific discipline or engineering that is developed because most finds in these subjects need to be scrutinized for their moral, societal and ethical values. The really success of scientific discipline and engineering has bred an attitude which has allowed for the development and domination of the natural universe in complete neglect of the societal and ecological effects ; the general policy being that if something can be done, it must be done.A No admiration Christianity considers scientific discipline without moralss a treaty with the Satan for “ do n’t rupture apart the work of God over what you eat.A Remember there is nil incorrect with these things in themselves.A But it is incorrect to eat anything if it makes another stumble. ”[ x ]A While biotechnology may be adult male ‘s greatest hope in the production of staple nutrient grains because of the fact that it uses less H2O and pesticides doing less strain on the land and produces higher and a more alimentary yield.A However on the other manus familial technology is considered to be an look of ungratefulness and discourtesy for nature.A It is a typical manner by which worlds exhibit their domination of nature and in consequence claim a patent on life procedures and life signifiers ; seeking to ‘play God ‘ . Most Christian scientist involved in this field usage Bible to support their abuse of engineering by confirming that God is the Godhead of this universe and His work must go on. Further since worlds areA made in His image, humanity is tied to creativeness and if God creates, so can worlds. To rebut this thought and as the representative of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II in his 1983 reference to members of the World Medical Association, agreed with research scientists that “ God is genuinely the Godhead of Eden and Earth and of all that is seen and unobserved ”[ xi ]nor did he deny that scientific discipline is an eminent and an indispensable signifier of service to mankind. However, he besides cautioned that the “ extraordinary and rapid progress of scientific discipline and associated engineering entails frequent rethinking of its deontology. ”[ xii ]A If worlds are to go on to experiment with nature and in making so tamper with the rudimentss in agriculture and agribusiness ; humanity will hold to postulate with a life style of hungriness and famishment worldwide.A A

Although the unethical usage of engineering is one of the factors doing an escalation of the planetary nutrient deficit state of affairs, farther part to this ecological crisis can be attributed to the impact of consumerism, surprisingly supported within the Christian tradition.A In order to warrant this societal involvement it is indispensable that we travel back through clip to the pre Christian epoch where communities followed the ascetic manner of life including the folk from which Jesus hailed ; the Essenes.A These people were austere in visual aspect, mode and attitude ; practising personal and religious subject yet Jesus stated that “ there is nil better for persons than to eat and imbibe, and happen enjoyment in the labor. ”[ xiii ]A Jesus did non sponsor asceticism instead advised His followings to seek the Commonwealth of GodA and by making so set up the publicity of common good within society. A Harmonizing to the theologian, John Cobb, “ If one ‘s concern for ownership or ingestion supersedes one ‘s committedness to justness and righteousness, so it is sinfulaˆ¦ . But if one puts foremost the Commonwealth of God, so one may happen that deriving or retaining belongings is still acceptable. ”[ xiv ]Following the instruction of Jesus, Christians know that it is incorrect to derive wealth or get ownerships in such a manner that it oppresses others and the pursuit for justness and righteousness is of paramount importance to them.A

A The Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century a great alteration occurred in the life styles of societies in the western world.A Peoples began to specialise in insistent undertakings and fossil fuels were being used to replace human labour so that corporations could maximise their entire production per unit of labor.A Although, this signifier of ‘rational ego involvement ‘ was viewed by many Christians as being comparable to greed, one of the deathly wickednesss, it really helped to increase the figure of goods & A ; services and the entire wealth of society in general ; thereby assisting to function the common good.A “ The alteration of terminology from greed to rational self-interest combined with the extremely positive assessment of its overall effects has confused Christian minds from that clip on. The present province of Christian thought and moral instruction has grown out of, and still reflects, that confusion ”[ xv ]coercing Christianity to stay soundless when it comes to the current economic theoretical accounts that are doing this world-wide ecological crisis.A It was at this point in clip that ‘consumerism ‘ was coined and started to play a major function in society henceforth.A A Consumerism being the “ societal and economic order based on the systematic creative activity and fosterage of the desire to possess material goods and personal success in of all time greater sums, ”[ xvi ]many Christians do non recognize that as the criterion of life rises through consumerism it helps fuel the economic system to alter A people ‘s wonts from aA modest degree of ingestion to an excessive one thereby making wastage and striping people who most need it from affordably geting it.A This causes an addition in demand for goods and services, which in bend causes a immense but inauspicious impact on Earth ‘s life support system.A “ Greed and changeless stimulation of new desires that feed itaˆ¦have become acceptable and glorified. ”[ xvii ]In add-on, an addition in the criterion of life, reflected through an addition in the GDP, does non reflect a step of distribution which merely creates divisions in society ; the formation of categories based on income groups.A Although people have stated that consumerism is the new faith of Western states, its political orientation has been integrated and intertwined with the instructions of Christianity such that people of this spiritual tradition seem unmindful to the fact that it is holding a damaging consequence on the environment.

A The followings of Christianity together with many others that make up the human race are soon populating in a state of affairs in which the glorification of world has become the devastation of the Earth while the devastation of the Earth is going the fate of its human inhabitants.A Based on their spiritual beliefs this universe does non count in the ageless strategy of things so competently lyricised by the late vocalist Jim Reeves that “ this universe is non my place, I ‘m merely go throughing through, the hoarded wealths are laid up someplace beyond the blues ; the angels beckon me from celestial spheres unfastened door and I ca n’t experience at place in this universe any longer. ”[ xviii ]The heads and Black Marias of Christians are focused less on this life and more on the life to come, and justly so scriptural prognostication predicts the devastation of this universe and the creative activity by God of a new Eden and a new Earth. Furthermore the faith besides promotes the creative activity of big households as a approval from God go forthing their followings to adhere to the natural ‘rhythm ‘ method of birth control.A Christianity treads carefully when doing remarks on scientific discipline and engineering perchance due to apprehension.A All through history, particularly in the Catholic Church, finds in scientific discipline were non readily accepted as suited for society for fright that scientific discipline would contend Holy Scripture.A Restrained by Christianity ‘s many warnings of ageless damnation against greed and covetousness, traditional capitalist economy ‘s accent on work and the wagess of honest labour produced great benefits for society.A Today with faith relegated to the borders of society, consumerism is gyrating upwards unchecked barely recognizing that Earth ‘s resources are finite while homo ‘s demands and demands tend to hold no terminal in sight.A If worlds religiously continue in the debasement of the environment without some signifier of refilling, maintain reproducing unconcerned of the handiness of resources for future coevalss, develop scientific discipline and engineering to work out immediate jobs without thought of the long term effects, and embracing consumerism with a passion thought that there is no tomorrow ; they are simply intensifying the crises of planetary nutrient deficit and life in a ‘Fool ‘s Paradise ‘ .