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 | Rabbi Daniel Swartz: "We in the industrialized world have allowed our appetites to outrun both our resources and our humanity." 1 |
| Dalai Lama: "Too much consumption or effort to make money is not good." 2 |
| Pope John Paul II: "Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle." 1 |
| James Parks Morton: "The challenge before the religious community in America is to make every congregation – every church, synagogue and mosque – truly ‘green’ – a center of environmental study and action. That is religious duty. 3 |
Overview:
One of the greatest challenges to the contemporary religions is how to
respond to the environmental crisis, to demands on protecting and restoring
creation. The destruction of the environment must be seen as one of the most
serious moral issues of our times. 4
Human ecology is deeply conditioned by what we believe about our nature and
destiny - that is, by our religion.
5 The moral imperative and value systems of
the various religions are indispensable, if we want to mobilize everybody to
protect and preserve the environment for future generations.
To succeed in our efforts, attempts have to be made to incorporate the ethics of ecology into today’s religious framework. The aim is to modify existing religions, so that, in the words of Arnold Toynbee, they teach “respect for the dignity and sanctity of nature.” The required adjustments are going to require a spiritual discipline that involves a change from our anthropocentrism to biocentrism and geocentrism. 6
Topics covered in this section:
| Introduction | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Responses by:
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Responses by Christian groups are discussed elsewhere.
References used:
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"Tricks of the Trade," New Internationalist, 353: 2003-JAN-FEB. Online at: http://www.newint.org/
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"Hong Kong Summit: Green or Dirty?" BBC News: 2005-DEC-12.
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"Quotations on the Environment," Web of Creation, at: http://webofcreation.org/
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Thomas Berry, quoted in McDonagh Sean, "The Death of Life. A Challenge to Christians," at:
http://www.columban.com/ -
Lynn White Jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis," Science 155 (No. 3767), 1967.
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Sean McDonagh, "The Greening of the Church," Geoffrey Chapman, (1990). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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Home page > Environment > Religion > here |
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Home page > Science/religion > Environment > Religion > here |
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Home page > Morality and ethics > Environment > Religion > here |
Copyright © 2006 by Vladimir Tomek
Original publishing date: 2006-AUG-08
Latest update on: 2007-MAR-03
Author: Vladimir Tomek
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