SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
3.1 social and ecological issues: Video Clip
We see four friends, Lindsy, Sarah, Ariella and Michael, walking outside a classroom at school. Suddenly Lindsy gets a message. Her online order, a new dress, has arrived at her home. Sarah and Michael react irritably: does she really need so many clothes? Doesn’t this contribute to the negative consequences of climate change? Shouldn’t we all think more about our buying behavior and our (over)consumption? Ariella gets involved in the discussion and defends Lindsy: climate change is not Lindsy’s fault. Ariella points to Christianity as the big culprit of the current climate crisis. Michael and Sarah are confused, how can Christianity be to blame for the climate crisis? And is this really the truth? Is it really true that Christians are responsible for all of this? Are today’s Christian believers not interested in this problem? When the friends leave on a camping trip, they get an answer to all their questions...
3.2 Caring for our planet: time for action?!
“Global warming is causing extreme weather conditions. Extremely hot and dry weather increases the number of natural fires.”
“The rate at which Antarctica is losing its ice has risen sharply in recent years.”
“Every year in the Amazon, an area the size of about one million soccer fields disappears from the forest. This accelerates climate change.”
“If we do not take action against climate change, one-third of all plant and animal species on earth will become extinct within a century.”
“The earth is sick and exhausted.”
ASSIGNMENT. Read the statements above and answer the following
questions:
Are you worried about climate change? Why yes/no? What worries you
the most?
In what way do you try to take care of the earth?
Do you have any idea how the Catholic Church handles the care of our planet?
3.3 The Catholic Church and the care for our planet
3.3.1 Introduction
Things are not going so well with the earth, environment, and climate
right now. Humans have polluted the earth, and this has led to the current
climate crisis. The climate crisis manifests itself, particularly in global
warming. This warming has several serious consequences for man and
nature, such as health problems, the extinction of animal species, water
scarcity, the deterioration of available fertile land, natural fires, extreme
weather conditions, conflicts between population groups, and so on.
For Christians, caring for the earth is very important. Christians believe
that God created the earth. The earth is thus God’s creation and Christians
want to take care of all of His creation.
To better understand this, we are going to read the story of creation. This
is a story from the book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament.
3.3.2 The importance of Genesis 1
[26] Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to
our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals
of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
[27] So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he
created them; male and female he created them.
[28] God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves
upon the earth.”
[29] God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon
the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have
them for food.
[30] And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything
that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every
green plant for food.” And it was so.
[31] God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And
there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Source: NRSV, Genesis 1:26-31.
ASSIGNMENT. In the text, indicate verses
In the biblical text, indicate verses …
• That you do not like;
• That surprise you;
• That you do not understand.
The story of creation is a very old text written a long time ago in a very
different culture than ours. This story can be found in the book Genesis.
This is the first book of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is more than
2000 years old. Although Bible stories were written a long time ago, they can
still have an important meaning for us.
If we think about the relationship between man and nature, what can we
learn from the creation story today? We will discover this step by step below.
3.3.3 All human beings are created in the image of God. What does this mean?
[27] So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he created
them; male and female he created them.
Source: NRSV, Genesis 1:27.
ASSIGNMENT. In the Bible fragment, it is written that humankind was created in the image of God. What does this mean?
Michelangelo - ‘The Creation of Adam’
Image: Wikipedia
ASSIGNMENT. Read the text below, and filll in the missing words.
care – responsible – symbolic meaning – reign – literally
If you read the Bible story in a literal way, it may indeed seem that man,
as the one in charge, can
over the earth and thus do what he
wants with nature and animals. Yet this is not the message of the story. You
should always look at the
of every Bible story. This means
that you must look and think beyond the words that are
written down. Moreover, in Bible texts, you should not look for facts, but
rather look at the images and symbols used to express a vision of God, the
world and humankind.
Genesis 1 teaches us that man was created in the image of God. This means
that man must
for the creation of God, the earth, just as
God would do. It means that man is
for nature, animals and
other people. Creation is a precious gift from God with which man must deal
in a caring manner.
3.3.4 Man will ‘rule’. What does this mean?
ASSIGNMENT. Below you can find the Bible story again. Indicate in the Bible story the verses that make it seem that man is allowed to rule over the earth.
[26] Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to
our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals
of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
[27] So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he
created them; male and female he created them.
[28] God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves
upon the earth.”
[29] God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon
the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have
them for food.
[30] And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything
that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every
green plant for food.” And it was so.
[31] God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And
there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Source: NRSV, Genesis 1:26-31.
Which verses make it seem that man is allowed to rule over the earth?
In the Bible fragment we can read that man must ‘rule over’ creation.
Important! This does not literally mean that man is allowed to be in
charge of creation just like that! With the word ‘rule’ the story refers to the
responsibility that man must bear towards all life on earth. So, we can better
understand the word ‘rule’ as ‘serve’. Man is given the task by God to ‘serve’
the earth by taking care of life in creation: nature, animals and other people.
ASSIGNMENT. Do you think that humans today, as rulers, abuse the earth, nature and animals? Why yes/no? Is this an appropriate attitude?
ASSIGNMENT. “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Would he think so today? Why yes/no? What would you ‘recreate’ in the existing world?
3.4 And what about caring for our fellow human beings?
The story of creation does not only want to tell us something about how humans should deal with nature. Man, just like all plants and animals, is part of creation. So, the story of creation is not only about caring for nature and animals, it is also about caring for others.
Did you know that climate change has a major impact on human
relationships? Climate change can lead to a shortage of drinkable
water or food, health problems, extreme weather (heat, drought, torrential
rains), and so on. Because of the consequences of global warming, the
living environment of more and more people is under threat. This can lead
to a source of frustration and discussion among people! So, caring for the
climate is also related to caring for each other!
“Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change.”
– Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (202)
ASSIGNMENT. Read the quote above. Do you agree with this quote? Why do you/do you not?
ASSIGNMENT. What can you personally do to take more care of the earth and of others?
GLOSSARY
Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism is the tendency to put the human being at the center of the universe and consider him as the only point of reference. In this view, man is seen as the culmination of creation and can therefore rule over the earth.
Genesis
In a symbolic reading of the Bible story about the Sacrifice of Isaac, we may also ask ourselves whether we
are making an ‘Isaac Sacrifice’ today. Sacrifices are part of life. They teach us to reflect upon ourselves. This
is also called ‘to bring an Isaac Sacrifice’. For believers, such an Isaac Sacrifice can cause them to question
not only their image of humanity but also their image of God.
The story of creation
The story of creation is a very old text written a long time ago in a very different culture than ours. The story of creation can be found in the book Genesis. This is the first book of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is more than 2000 years old. Although Bible stories were written a long time ago, they can still have an important meaning for us.
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