An inconvenient truth ( report) - Movie Review Example

Man as the Protector of God’s Creations While man has been blamed for the destruction of natural resources, it is wrong to assume that all men did not care about nature. In fact, throughout history, there are tales of men who have tried to educate the majority about the destructive force of man. For example, as early as 1864, George Marsh already warned man’s tendency to upset the harmonies of nature and the possibility that his actions could lead to global warming was already mentioned (36).

Marsh believed that because nature provides man’s basic necessities, it is in his interest to preserve the environment. Some men heeded Marsh’s call and forest reserves were established soon after. Meanwhile, John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club helped in the establishment of the Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Park because he believed that all living things had a part to play in the subsistence of the whole world, and must be preserved because they exist. From these early efforts sprung worldwide environmental organizations calling for a more ethical use of the earth’s resources.

By 1972, out of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the Stockholm Declaration was born The Declaration recognized man as both a “creature and molder” of his environment, acknowledged the role of the environment in the sustainability of mankind, and mandated man to protect his environment (United Nations Conference on the Human Environment). It demanded accountability in all citizens and communities, enterprises and institutions to shape the future of the environment. From the early awareness of the importance of nature to man’s survival came an understanding that the Earth is a living being.

In 2010, the Earth Declaration (World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth) afforded Mother Earth with equal rights as humans. It was perhaps the first document to compel nations to recognize the interdependence of life on the planet and that “in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth” (World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth).

I mention these developments in the environmental movement because I wish to believe that climate change will not end the world, instead, it will help man discover who he truly is. George Mash once said, The fact that, of all organic beings, man alone is to be regarded as essentially a destructive power, and that he wields energies to resist which, nature—that Nature whom all material life and all inorganic substance obey—is wholly impotent, tends to prove that, though living in physical nature, he is not of her, that he is of more exalted parentage, and belongs to a higher order of existences than those born of her womb and submissive to her dictates” (36).

Some people might interpret this as a rationale for man’s dominion over the earth, but I personally understand it as a statement for man to discover what his purpose is in life. If man is of higher than the other creatures of nature, then what purpose does he have for living? I believe that in order for man to circumvent the effects of climate change as described by Al Gore, he must realize that living is not about creating economic value, it is not about food, clothing or having shelter. All these have been provided to us by nature.

If man did not strive for anything more than nature provided, there will be no climate change issue. But man did strive for more, he did try to discover his potentials. And as the legacy of Adam and Eve shows, man continues to strive for knowledge about himself and the world. Even modern science is now showing that the mere existence of man is impossible, but man does exist. And there is a reason for all these. It is not to make man consume more than what he is given naturally, it is not to aspire for fame and material gain.

There is something more to man’s existence. It is the discovery of that, I feel, will help man realize that his essence and that of the environment are one. Only when man realizes that his survival is ensured by nature, that everything he needs is already provided for, only then can he move on with a new vision in his life.To end this paper, I’d like to quote Confucius who said that "The superior man seeks what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable." When man finally understands that his existence has been secured by nature so that he can now move on to discover his being, only then can he truly understand why creation is an expression of God’s love.

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7–10)ReferencesJob. The Bible. New International Version.Marsh, George P. Man and Nature: Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. Project Gutenberg, 2011.

United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. “Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment.” Human Rights Education Association. 1972. Print.World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth.” Rights of Mother Earth. 2010. Print.