Can we live our lives sympathetic to the needs of the environment in which we live while our eyes look to heaven?
Gordon D Kaufman’s article, wherein he seems to blame Christianity for a lack of awareness of ecological matters, due to some false sense of entitlement that we receive through the knowledge that we are formed in the image of God, states “the traditional Christian understanding of humanity in relation to God, with its powerfully anthropomorphic God-image, tends to obscure and dilute, in Christian faith and theology, ecological ways of thinking about our human place in the world.” He further argues that nature becomes an enemy of God when evolutionary and ecological issues come to the forefront. These ideas seem to stem from some notion that we cannot become one with God and the environment, but rather the closer we come to connecting with God, the more ‘idolatrous’ we become. He believes that Christian religion is more focused on the human problems, such as “despair, anxiety, guilt, death, meaninglessness, sin, injustice, and so forth.”(Kaufman 149, 155)
In class last Monday Dr. Peck brought up the subject solipsism, which is exactly what I believe is the essence of Kaufman’s argument.
So I ask myself, can we strive to become like Christ and still be ecologically aware?
I share Thomas Berry’s view that “if we lose the environment, we will lose our sense of God as well”.(Haught 276) Joseph F Smith is quoted as saying “men cannot worship the Creator and look with careless indifference upon his creatures…. Love of nature is akin to the love of God; the two are inseparable.” And in Mosiah we learn, “how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”(Smith 201)
I cannot imagine a God of love and mercy, who would turn his back on his creations. Thus it is in my opinion that if we strive to become more like Christ, who is one with his father, we must reverence his creations. I also believe that we are truly in preparation of becoming creators ourselves, and thus it is important that we learn what it means to be righteous stewards.
The Lord has put forth many symbolic rituals to help us understand the important covenants that we make. He does them in a way that we can relate with, or in other words he speaks to us in “our own language”. In order to do this, he must understand the human nature. So if we are to be stewards, we too should learn to understand and be sympathetic with the elements of nature so that we can execute righteous dominion.
While I will agree that it is often our inclination to be anthropomorphic in our perceptions of the world around us, and that that may lead us to be insensitive to the eccentricities of the natural world; I cannot conclude that in our efforts to become like God, that we will be turning our backs on the environment.
"all things unto [the Lord] are spiritual" (D&C 29:34; see also v. 35)
References
(Haught, John F."Christianity and Ecology" Reprinted from The Promise of Nature. pg 276)
(Smith, Joseph F, cited in George B. Handley, "The Environmental Ethics of Mormon Belief," BYU Studies 40, no. 2(2001): 201.)
(Kaufman, Gordon D. "The Theological Structure of Christian Faith and the Feasibility of a Global Ecological Ethic" Board of Zyon.pg 148-161)
The Book of Mormon
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A man's heart is set upon his treasures, and when you find his treasure you've found what he's given his life to. I hope we will all set our hearts on Christ, and in so doing make Him our life's pursuit, and as we pursue that, all other questions in life will recieve their answers in their times.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to better understand our purpose here on earth and as we more fully comprehend our potential we will automatically be more conscience of our impact here on earth.
ReplyDeleteI liked what you said about God. If we want to be more like him, we need to reverence his creations. Of course God loves his creations, and if we want to be more like him we must do likewise.
ReplyDeleteI agree that is we are trying to act like God, we will not be turning our backs on the environment. I also liked your use of the word anthropomorphic, I think people should use that word at least two times per day.
ReplyDeleteI think that people wrongly assume that nature and God are two different masters. You can serve God and love nature, there is no conflict here. The problem only arises when we look beyond the mark and chose to neglect one entirely for the other.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I beleive that we can be Christ like and ecologically aware through our actions. Actions play out louder than words. Christ was all about action. He demonstrate his ideas and views through his action. we can emulate him through our actions and respect his creation by showing reverance for the earth.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughtfulness in this blog. It begs the question: Do all Christians live as disciples of Christ? If that Kaufman guy would realize that Christianity in it's purest sense is not concerned about selfish things (anxiety, pain, guilt, death, and injustice), but concerned with serving others and forgetting oneself in the pursuit of building up others. Christ's life was all about others, not Himself. He gave all glory to God, and served others His entire life. That is the kind of person we need to become. A selfless person will treat the environment better.
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