Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Religion and the environment

Are humans an equal part of a greater organism which they should therefore respect, serve and nourish? Or is the very purpose of that organism to serve and nourish the human race?

[...]

"Christianity [...] Not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends."

[...Islam:] "Man should not abuse, misuse, or distort the natural resources as each generation is entitled to benefit from them but is not entitled to "own" them in an absolute sense."

[...] "In the Buddhist mythological Eden, the earth flourishes naturally, but greedy desire leads to division and ownership of the land that in turn promotes violent conflict, destruction, and chaos. In short, in the Buddhist myth of first origins, human agency destroys the natural order of things."


Needles to elaborate on, religion influences both peace, war and the environment. It appears this CNN article ranks Christianity as the least environmentally friendly religion while Buddhism and Hinduism ranks highest.

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