Religion and Environmental Awareness in Today's World

The relationship between human society and the natural world is central to theology. The nature of particular theologies influences the way in which people view their natural environment and. in turn, the life-style they adopt in accordance with these views.

Christian Theology and the Environment. The Christian tradition emphasizes dualism betweenhumanity and nature. According to traditional Christiantheology, the earth was given by God as the dominion ofhuman beings. People have a duty to bring order to thelandscape by subduing the forces of nature.

This traditional theology has been taken as justification for human modification and degradation of theearth's physical systems. In recent years, however, someChristian theologians have advocated a revised view ofthe relationship between human beings and the physicalenvironment. This revised view was prompted by recentscientific evidence concerning global environmentalproblems including global warming, species extinction,deforestation, and desertification.

Revised Christian theology questions the assumptions that the earth was created especially for human beings and that humans have dominion over nature. Instead, large-scale environmental degradation is regarded as an assault on God's creation. Recent Christian environmental philosophy is based on the concept of stewardship. Stewardship implies that people have a responsibility to care for the environment.

Pollution and other problems resulting from industrialization are sometimes seen as antithetical to what God intended for the world because they represent materialistic as opposed to spiritual pursuits. This view suggests Christians, therefore, have a moral obligation to act in an environmentally responsible way, by incorporating ethical and ecological principles in the day-to-day practice of their religion.

The view that human beings have a spiritual responsibility to care for the earth is known as postmillennialism. Current Roman Catholic theology regarding ecological issues is most consistent with the postmillennial view. Although this view is also accepted by many Protestants, others adhere to alternative views. One view, known as dispensational premillennialism, views ecological damage as evidence that Jesus' Second Coming is imminent. Ecological damage along with international conflict, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and other current events are analyzed as evidence that biblical prophecies involving the end of the world as we know it are about to be realized.

The other major Christian theology, known as historical premillennialism, suggests that the physical environment cannot be separated from the human race that is dependent on it. The act of caring for the land is itself a religious duty. Historical premillennialism is accepted by the Amish, Mennonites, and other Christian communities and is often reflected vividly on the cultural landscape (Figure 5-14).

Figure 5-14 The Amish Cultural Landscape. The Amish worldview emphasizes that a close relationship with God is built through humility, rejection of modern technology, and a kinship with the soil. This set of values, markedly different from those adhered to by many other Christians, is reflected in the landscape of the Amish communities in many parts of eastern North America

The Amish and the Mennonites are descendants of Anabaptists, a Protestant denomination that originated in Germany and Switzerland during the Reformation. Persecuted in Europe on account of their religious beliefs, large numbers of Anabaptists moved to the New World.

Today, most live in the United States and Canada, although several communities flourish in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Communities of Mennonites have continued to move across international boundaries in response to several push and pull factors, including the availability of high-quality agricultural land and the intrusion of secular government legislation on Mennonite cultures and life-styles.

The Old Order Amish, numbering about 70.000, are scattered in rural areas throughout northeastern North America. The largest Amish communities are found in Pennsylvania. Ohio, and Indiana, with smaller communities in Illinois. Wisconsin. Iowa. Kansas, and several other states (Figure 5-15). The Amish separated from the Mennonites in the late seventeenth century and practice a variety of the Mennonite faith. Central to Amish religious practice is the idea of self-sufficiency.

Figure 5-15 The Distribution of the Amish. The Amish sect originated incentral Europe, (a) but isconcentrated today in NorthAmerica. Amish communitiesare most numerous inPennsylvania, Ohio, andIndiana, but are also found inseveral other American statesand in Canada (b). In the pastfew decades, some Amishhave moved to rural areas ofMexico, Central America, andSouth America

The Amish believe that life is best lived close to the soil. By growing their own food and providing for their own material needs, the Amish are able to avoid the corruption associated with a materialistic and secular society. Many Amish reject modern technologies and conveniences, refusing to use electricity or drive motor vehicles. Indeed. Amish rejection of the material artifacts associated with modern industrial society and Amish emphasis on living apart from the modern world suggests that their religion might more appropriately be regarded as an ethnic, rather than a universalizing, religion.