Morality, Religion and Green Values

I've been kicking around the idea of how a lot of "green" activities are actually also morally upright. I sort of alluded to this in my previous post when I complained how not composting seems wrong in the face of soil degradation that can be linked with famine and may increasingly be so in the future.

It's an interesting idea because a lot of religious organizations and movements seem to feel threatened by the green movement (though that's changing rapidly) because it seems to them to smack of something pagan, or worshiping the "Creation" instead of the Creator. I'm a spiritual person. I was raised Christian-ish. I don't think there's any disconnect between Christianity and having green values. When we protect our environment, we generally protect ourselves. When we make sure nutrients are being cycled back to where they belong rather than stagnating and slowly releasing methane in landfills, it's sort of a step removed from, "Don't waste your food, because there are people starving around the world," (though God knows that argument doesn't work as well in a prosperous world where the other element in waste - dollar value - doesn't mean as much.) Increasingly, I've caught myself thinking of various examples of environmental harm and carelessness as sinful. I felt sort of guilty about it, myself somewhat blasphemous, but not anymore. The Vatican seems to agree that causing environmental damage is sinful. It's only our twisted economic system which seems to make this hard to clearly discern, when doing right ecologically means lost jobs and the subsequent fallout and human suffering. It seems like it's a structural or transitional problem that should be overcome, not put up with.

In other green-spiritual news, the Catholics aren't the only ones concerned and making it known.

Indians from Mexico, the United States and Canada gathered before dawn Monday to light incense, pray and sing in the shadow of ancient Mayan pyramids, asking the contaminated earth for forgiveness.

Now if only the CEO's and their stockholders and the heads of state would start feeling that same overruling sense of responsibility as they run their corners of the world, we might start getting somewhere.

Sphere: Related Content