I’m not so sure I want to blame Judaism and
Christianity for the destruction of our environment.
Blaming the house of Abraham for all that
illed the world in 1970’s in our environment, would be just as unfair as Christians
taking credit for all the improvement since then. Only part of the blame, and
only part of the credit goes to any one religious group.
Some times people are
greedy, some times people are short sighted. Sometimes people are just dumb.
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“We abuse land because we regard it as
a commodity belonging to us. When we see
land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and
respect.” ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County
Almanac
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Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets,
but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a
pine tree one need be neither god nor poet: one need only own a shovel. - Aldo
Leopold A Sand County Almanac
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I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man
if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting
her sweetness and respecting her seniority.
~Elwyn Brooks White
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Such is the audacity of man, that he has learned to
counterfeit Nature, and is so bold as to challenge her in her work. ~Pliny the Elder
//////
Christianity, with its roots in Judaism, was a major factor
in the development of the Western worldview.... A basic Christian belief was
that God gave humans dominion over creation, with the freedom to use the
environment as they saw fit. Another
important Judeo-Christian belief predicted that God would bring a cataclysmic
end to the Earth sometime in the future.
One interpretation of this belief is that the Earth is only a temporary
way station on the soul's journey to the afterlife. Because these beliefs tended to devalue the
natural world, they fostered attitudes and behaviors that had a negative effect
on the environment. ~Donald G. Kaufman
and Cecilia M. Franz, Biosphere 2000
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The word "wilderness" occurs approximately three
hundred times in the Bible, and all its meanings are derogatory. ~René Dubos
///////
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it
from our grandchildren. ~Native American
Proverb
///////
There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. ~Marshall McLuhan, 1964
///////
Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you
care. - Theodore Roosevelt
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A living planet is a much more complex metaphor for deity
than just a bigger father with a bigger fist.
If an omniscient, all-powerful Dad ignores your prayers, it's taken
personally. Hear only silence long
enough, and you start wondering about his power. His fairness. His very existence.
But if a world mother doesn't reply, Her
excuse is simple. She never claimed
conceited omnipotence. She has countless
others clinging to her apron strings, including myriad species unable to speak
for themselves. To Her elder offspring
She says - go raid the fridge. Go play
outside. Go get a job. Or, better yet, lend me a hand. I have no time for idle whining. ~David Brin
////////
There are Christians that care about the
environment.
The William Greenfield Center for
Environmental Stewardship is a community of educators, practitioners, and
individuals, engaged in education and promotion of personal inquiry into the
relationships among human beings and their cultures, their daily lives, their
vocations and avocations, and the environment.
The Basis for the William Greenfield
Center for Environmental Stewardship is the relationship between our creator
and humanity, and between humanity and the earth. In Genesis God gave dominion
to man to subdue and control plants and animals. We believe that with dominion
also comes a mandate to not waste and to improve the gifts that God has given
us.
Click a link below, or copy and paste to your browser, to go there!
A little bit of prose, some poetry,
and a song- all about the environment.
http://billyholcoutdoors.blogspot.com/2012/05/whose-garden-was-this.html
A frank discussion about wilderness
and nature.
http://wmgcenter.blogspot.com/2012/05/can-you-find-wilderness.html
Facebook pages about the outdoors.
Outdoor Photography
Hiking Trails, Boardwalks, and outdoor
recreation construction topics
http://willwalkforfun.blogspot.com/
