Christians and Environment - Essay Example

Running Head: CHRISTIANS AND ENVIRONMENT Topic: Christians and Environment Lecturer: Presentation: Outline The need to conserve the environment lies squarely on the shoulders of every individual in the society. Christians on one hand have the responsibility of protecting God’s work of creation, which was left in their hands for them to take care of. In this essay, various actions have been warranted such as respecting the will of God as the creator whereby he gave man authority over his creation, the act of giving, whereby Christians are requested to give out their property such as clothes which they feel are unsuitable for them but can be used by less unfortunate persons instead of dumping them into the open grounds. Individual accountability has also been discussed as a way of ensuring that the society, specifically Christians, follow the laws stipulated by the authorities on the issues concerning conservation of the environment. A counter argument has also been discussed with a rebuttal whereby man is advised to think globally meaning that individual property should not be misused as this may have far reaching effects on the environment especially if everyone adopted such an attitude. Introduction The environment is at the verge of complete destabilization due to a series of human activities, which have been as a result of civilization and industrialization (Abel, 2001). With the large amount of carbon released to the atmosphere from industries, heavy machines such as automotives as well as depletion of natural resources such as forests through legal and illegal logging, it is evident that stringent measures have to be taken in order to save the environment, which is the determinant of the survival of the human race as well as wildlife (Esty, 2009). Environmentalists all over the world have tried to come up with meetings such as the just concluded Copenhagen climate talks and the forth coming Mexico climate talks in November this year so as to promote the conservation of the environment as well as encouraging governments to accept responsibility in what is termed as their participation in the green house gas emissions. However, the responsibility of protecting the environment lies squarely on the shoulders of every individual and community as well as religious and non-religious organizations (Troeh, 2003). This essay is a critical evaluation on the roles and actions that Christians should undertake in the conservation of the environment. Grounds Environmental degradation has in the recent past attracted the attention of non governmental organizations such as the World Resources Institute, United Nations Environmental Program as well as the World Bank among others, which has classified it as a threat that should be managed in all the best ways possible (Abel, 2001). Factors such as soil erosion and deterioration of water quality as a result of poor waste disposal, which at times find its way into the ricers and oceans has resulted to low crop productivity as well as interference with marine life. Consequently, most of the world’s population is being faced with hunger and poverty thereby raising questions as to what best action should be taken to rectify the situation, which is as a result of poor management of environmental resources for example fuel, forest cover etc. According to survey, approximately 80% of the earth’s land is under high degradation with at least 30% of this land being considered as dry land (Abel, 2001). Therefore, everyone especially Christians has a role to play either at individual level or at corporate level in ensuring that these activities are controlled for the sake of future and current generations. Warrant 1 God created man in his own image and gave him the authority to control and manage all the other living things in the world such as forests, oceans, animals etc. Since then, man has been misusing this privilege by destroying nature in order to satisfy his own greed thereby posing a great threat to the environment, which he is supposed to protect. Based on this understanding, Christians should take up leading roles by participating in the mobilization of resources from the governments and directing them towards the noble course. This can be achieved through participation in active politics, which according to (Troeh, 2003), is a way of serving God for those who have the opportunity. In addition, Christians are advised to respect and acknowledge the role of the administration in its efforts to manage the environment by being submissive. This means that they should abide by the stipulated laws such as those governing waste disposal or any ban that may be put in place by the authorities without questioning. Warrant 2 Christians should have a personal commitment to the protection of the environment. Each and every one of them should have the perception that they are responsible of taking care of the surroundings within which they are living in. This would ensure that careless mistakes such as dumping plastic bags in open grounds, felling trees when there are no law enforcers in the vicinity as well as conducting activities such as charcoal burning to enrich themselves does not happen (McDonough, 2002). As the custodians of nature, they should always remember that God is every where and he can see them as they destroy his legacy and for it there is a price to pay. Christians should be in a better position to understand this because it is in their teachings. Usually, people fail to acknowledge the fact that these activities are counter productive and as such, they look for the slightest opportunities to accomplish them. For example, driving a vehicle that is emitting smoke to the environment may be due to the owner being dishonest to him self by failing to admit that the vehicle requires servicing which according to him, is an expensive affair. In the long run, he may end up damaging the vehicle while at the same time, the amount of carbon released to the environment could have already accounted for a significant percentage of the out come, which could be global warming (Hayden, 2008). Such a person would not be justified in any way to criticize the government for failing to provide relief food to his or her family may be due to drought or else flooding. It is the believe of most people, including Christians that conservation of environment is limited only to the public domains such as forests, rivers, lakes and oceans etc, which are protected under acts of parliament. On the contrary, it is a practice that should be encouraged at the early stages of human development through incorporating conservation as a subject in school as well as in the churches (Hayden, 2008). This would go a long way in developing a culture in people who understand the benefits of conserving the environment. Items such as bibles, newspapers, books are products of trees. To save the trees from industries that produce these items, Christians for one should ensure that they buy environment friendly bibles which are produced from recycled materials and which are available from several organizations. Virtually, every believer would like to have their own bibles for making personal references. However, the higher the demand for this commodity, the greater the damage on the environment and as such, they should instead make use of second hand bibles that have been used instead of buying new ones. Warrant 3 The act of giving is advocated in the society as a noble action and therefore, Christians should participate in such activities while discarding their property such as clothing. It is important to state that not everyone is capable of adopting a life style that most of us lead whereby clothing and other personal items are disposed off within a short period just because they are out of fashion. Less unfortunate people would be highly honored to assist in the process, which is for a better course than disposing them in open grounds where they take a long period to decompose (Abel, 2001). This is a strategy that has been implemented by the western countries, who sell used clothing, shoes as well as second hand electronic equipment such as computers, which are helpful to the receiving persons as they can acquire them at a cheaper price than when they opted to buy new ones. The Reusing and recycling of materials such as polythene bags and plastic containers is an environmental friendly act that reduces the chances of their accumulation in the soil thereby tackling the threat of having infertile soils which are not productive in agriculture (Troeh, 2003). Unless these actions are taken by Christians of all denominations, who form a considerable percentage of the word’s population, then, the future of the generations to come may be doomed for they will find a universe that has very little to offer. Rivers will have dried up while others will contain saline water that is unsuitable for human consumption due to concentration of untreated waste discharged by our factories (Troeh, 2008). Water catchment areas will have undergone destruction, leaving Dry River beds while marine life such as fish and whales etc will have reduced significantly not to mention the effects that the destruction has on the wild life. Counter Argument In contrary to expectations, most people believe that they have the right to develop their private property based on the fact that they own them for example through privatization or through inheritance. As such, they claim to have the freedom to utilize the resources such as trees to burn charcoal, quarries for mining in order to sustain their material needs. They may have the right to do so since such rights are protected in the constitution. Rebuttal Human beings should realize that the pieces of land which they own combined make up the whole world irrespective of geographical boundaries. Misusing the resources in their ownership for example through felling trees reduces the forest cover thereby interfering with rainfall distribution. As such, they should instead feel obliged to conduct positive developments on their property such as planting trees and avoiding activities such as rearing large numbers of livestock in order to reduce soil erosion, which may be caused by bare lands that have no grass cover to reduce the speed of running rain water. Conclusion Christians have a major role to play in the conservation of environment based on the virtue of collective responsibility assigned to human beings by God. The holy bible suggests that human beings are responsible for taking care of their creator’s legacy as they were created and given authority over all the other living things, to utilize them in the best way possible while also protecting them. The bible continues to give the rainbow covenant as an example where God ensured that there was continuity after the floods by advising Noah to allow animals and birds to enter the ark in pairs containing both sexes. If God himself saw the need to protect nature, who are we to destroy the remains? Virtually, every person enjoys the fruits of the environment ranging from beautiful sites such as water falls, mountains, forests and wild animals. As such we should be at the forefront in advocating through politics, exercising personal control as well as being submissive to the authorities that govern us, as stipulated in the bible. References Abel, D. (2001) Environmental Issues: Measuring, Analyzing, Evaluating, Prentice Hall Esty, D. (2009) Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, Wiley Hayden, H. (2008) A Primer on CO2 and Climate, Vales Lake Publishing McDonough, W. (2002) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, North Point Press Troeh, F. (2003) Soil and Water Conservation for Productivity and Environmental Protection, Prentice Hall Read More

Warrant 2 Christians should have a personal commitment to the protection of the environment. Each and every one of them should have the perception that they are responsible of taking care of the surroundings within which they are living in. This would ensure that careless mistakes such as dumping plastic bags in open grounds, felling trees when there are no law enforcers in the vicinity as well as conducting activities such as charcoal burning to enrich themselves does not happen (McDonough, 2002).

As the custodians of nature, they should always remember that God is every where and he can see them as they destroy his legacy and for it there is a price to pay. Christians should be in a better position to understand this because it is in their teachings. Usually, people fail to acknowledge the fact that these activities are counter productive and as such, they look for the slightest opportunities to accomplish them. For example, driving a vehicle that is emitting smoke to the environment may be due to the owner being dishonest to him self by failing to admit that the vehicle requires servicing which according to him, is an expensive affair.

In the long run, he may end up damaging the vehicle while at the same time, the amount of carbon released to the environment could have already accounted for a significant percentage of the out come, which could be global warming (Hayden, 2008). Such a person would not be justified in any way to criticize the government for failing to provide relief food to his or her family may be due to drought or else flooding. It is the believe of most people, including Christians that conservation of environment is limited only to the public domains such as forests, rivers, lakes and oceans etc, which are protected under acts of parliament.

On the contrary, it is a practice that should be encouraged at the early stages of human development through incorporating conservation as a subject in school as well as in the churches (Hayden, 2008). This would go a long way in developing a culture in people who understand the benefits of conserving the environment. Items such as bibles, newspapers, books are products of trees. To save the trees from industries that produce these items, Christians for one should ensure that they buy environment friendly bibles which are produced from recycled materials and which are available from several organizations.

Virtually, every believer would like to have their own bibles for making personal references. However, the higher the demand for this commodity, the greater the damage on the environment and as such, they should instead make use of second hand bibles that have been used instead of buying new ones. Warrant 3 The act of giving is advocated in the society as a noble action and therefore, Christians should participate in such activities while discarding their property such as clothing. It is important to state that not everyone is capable of adopting a life style that most of us lead whereby clothing and other personal items are disposed off within a short period just because they are out of fashion.

Less unfortunate people would be highly honored to assist in the process, which is for a better course than disposing them in open grounds where they take a long period to decompose (Abel, 2001). This is a strategy that has been implemented by the western countries, who sell used clothing, shoes as well as second hand electronic equipment such as computers, which are helpful to the receiving persons as they can acquire them at a cheaper price than when they opted to buy new ones. The Reusing and recycling of materials such as polythene bags and plastic containers is an environmental friendly act that reduces the chances of their accumulation in the soil thereby tackling the threat of having infertile soils which are not productive in agriculture (Troeh, 2003).

Unless these actions are taken by Christians of all denominations, who form a considerable percentage of the word’s population, then, the future of the generations to come may be doomed for they will find a universe that has very little to offer.

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