Stewardship of the Earth: Taking Care of God's Creation
Introduction
What is the issue? “By destroying the animals, the air, and the trees, we are destroying ourselves” - Thích Nhất Hạnh.
Utilising the See, Judge, Act model, in taking care of god's creation essay I will be analysing the causes and effects of Deforestation, and how as Christians we can find guidance on what we can do about this environmental issue through Biblical passages and Catholic Social Teachings.
Deforestation has continuously been one of the biggest international social issues of this decade, and has been officially defined as 'The permanent clearance of a forest, usually rapidly by cutting or burning over a large area, without replanting or natural regeneration.” . Resulting from this is an abundance of negative effects inflicted on the environment, including climate change, desertification, fewer crops, the decrease of several animal species, and whilst doing so, being in complete contradiction of our Christian values and mission.
What are the causes of the issue?
Although deforestation only became a serious concern in the 1950s, it has been an issue since humans began making fires hundreds of thousands of years ago. Henceforth, the expansion of the human race’s population increased demand and use of these resources. This in hand with the natural causes of deforestation such as hurricanes, fires, parasites and floods has over time caused the total world forest loss to grow to 7.3 million hectares per year.
What is the effect of this issue upon society?
Deforestation can lead to a direct loss of the general degradation of an animals habitat. The removal of trees and other types of vegetation reduces available food, shelter, and breeding spaces, which has lead to several animal species becoming endangered and extinct. Forests cover 31 per cent of Earth’s land surface and house a majority of the plants and animals found on Earth. It is estimated that these diverse ecosystems house 80 per cent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. This proves that every year thousands of animals have been affected by deforestation as wildlife habitats become fragmented, and there are no resources available to them that they need to survive because mankind has confiscated it to be used for commercial needs. For example, Elaeis guineensis (Palm Oil trees) have globally been cut down to be used commercially and has caused several species to become endangered, like Orangutan’s, Elephant’s and Rhinos, all being Endangered or Critically Endangered. Predicted that these species will become extinct in the near future, it is evident that deforestation’s effect on society and more specifically animals is inadequate and is causing the extinction of innocent animals as it increasingly escalates each year.
There have been several Religious World Faith Leaders that have spoken on the topic of deforestation, and as Catholics, we can utilise their words in our day to day lives, but we also need to have guidance from the Bible to allow us to interpret a Religious understanding of this topic in the light of God. Various passages in the Bible focus on the care and love of creation in which we can reflect and find guidance on how to approach this environmental issue. 1 Chronicle 16:33-35 speaks of how God wants us to embrace and give thanks to nature and creation. As Christians, we can interpret this passage to understand that instead of destroying Gods Creation, which we are doing through deforestation, we should care for and appreciate what God has provided us with. The passage also provides specific guidance through the quote “Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy” as it is directly addressing trees and how they should be thriving, not being cut down and used for commercial use like they currently are. Proverbs 12:10 is another passage which provides guidance for Christians as it speaks of how we are obliged to care for the needs of animals. This verse suggests a Biblical division of peopleinto two distinct types – those who are “righteous” and just are kind to their animals, and those who are “wicked” and are cruel to creatures under their care. As Christians, we take it upon ourselves to be those people of righteousness, and in doing so we need to change the actions performed by the people who are ‘wicked’, which we can connect to deforestation as the people who are cutting the trees down are perceived as ‘cruel’ in the light of God.
Christians are also able to find guidance in the Bible passage Isaiah 55:12, which discusses how humans and nature should live in harmony and in doing so will live a joyous life. This passage provides guidance to Christians as we can understand that it was not Gods mission for creation to be destroyed for commercial use, but for both humans and nature to thrive through congruity, which is evident in the depiction “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace”. Overall, it is evident that Christians can turn to the Bible and those specific passages to find guidance for this issue as they all address an effect of deforestation and how Gods words can be applied to this Environmental Issue.
What does Catholic Social Teaching say about this issue?
The Catholic Church believes that deforestation is a sin and Gods creation should be looked after. Pope Francis believes that everyone should have the mindset of it being sacred and Gods creation should not be harmed. The church honours creation as being extremely special and should be looked after by man for future generations. This is evident throughout the values of Catholic Social Teachings, and is supported in the quote “This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation,” Pope Francis.
How do key principles from Catholic social teaching apply to this situation?
Catholic Social Teaching is the Catholic doctrines on matters of human dignity and common good in society, and in doing so being a resource Catholics can turn to for a Catholic understand what applies to their situation and how to act on it in a Religious manner. In the case of Deforestation, two key CST principles apply to the environmental issue, and they are ‘care for common home’ and ‘Solidarity’. Care for common home applies to deforestation as it teaches us that we are all called to respect creation and in doing so we help protect people and the planet. Solidarity applies to deforestation as it teaches us that everyone has the right to promote change as we are all one family of God, which is evident in the quote “We are all one family in the world. Building a community that empowers everyone to attain their full potential through each of us respecting each other’s dignity, rights and responsibilities makes the world a better place to live”.
From a Christian perspective: What can be done to help solve this issue?
In conclusion to care for god's creation essay, Christians can turn to Laudato Si', in which Pope Francis issued an 'urgent challenge' for the World to care for our common home and cultivate a deeper relationship with God's creation whilst proposing various actions to address the multitude of issues revolving around deforestation and how Christians can act upon this issue in the light of God. These include working towards sustainable production, fair trade, ethical consumption and investments, therefore not taking more of these vital resources than needed, and allowing Gods creation to thrive whilst humans can still use materials. Furthermore, the Pope proposed the redesign of curricula around integral ecology, creating ecological awareness for young people, so the next generation will be aware of how the environmental issue is impacting Gods creation and how to act on it. Also, he addressed how we can recover a Religious vision of God's creation, therefore instead of viewing the Earth as an asset for wealth, prompting humans and nature to live in congruity.
Is there a clear link or cohesion between CST and Scripture?
In doing this, we are following the guidelines that have been found through the resources of Catholic Social Teachings and Bible passages. This is because we are fulfilling our duty as Christians as we are advocating fresher air for future generations, restoring Gods creation, caring for our common home and portraying Solidarity in our day to day lives, therefore living out the Catholic Social Teaching principles. We are also living out the messages gained from the Bible passages as we are appreciating the Nature that God has gifted us instead of destroying it like we currently are, as well as being people of righteousness through the fact that we are creating a joyous harmony between humans and nature, which is Gods mission.
Bibliography
- (N/A) “Catholic Social Teaching.” Explore Catholic Social Teaching Principles | End Poverty | Caritas Australia
- Amy Doll (2016) “Deforestation.” Prezi.com
- (N/A) “About CST.” Catholic Social Teaching
- (N/A) “BibleGateway.” BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages.
- Katy (N/A). “Bible Verses on Caring for Creation.” Web of Creation,
- (N/A) “13 Bible Verses about Caring For Animals.” 13 Bible Verses about Caring For Animals
