Part 2: The environment19 October 2008

THINGS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT

THERE ARE SOME THINGS WE JUST DON’T TALK ABOUT

Among these are: Religion and politics (just don’t go there please!) Environmental concerns (that’s for greenies) The world of work and industrial relations(umm… unions

and bosses) War (a necessary evil?) Asylum seekers (aka ‘illegal immigrants’) Changing the world (oh so you are Miss Universe?) Tax (yeah we pay too much) Indigenous issues (tell me who they are again)

The intersection of these things with Christian faith just doesn’t seem to get traction among many Christian or non-Christian leaders

Recap

I’M NOT A ‘GREENIE’ AND I NEVER WAS

My early experiences

of ‘environment’ and

‘wilderness’ were

strongly shaped by my

family: my dad

worked for the

‘Hydro’.

Environmentalists

were therefore seen

as a threat,

particularly at the

time of the flooding of

Lake Pedder.

Wilderness, then was

something to be

tamed and while there

was clearly beauty in

it, conservation was

not something worth

pursuing.

1974

IF IT STANDS, CHOP IT DOWN; IF IT FLOWS, DAM IT!

Back then, few

people thought of

the environment as

an issue that

required a Christian

response. If there

was a Christian

view it was that

‘God gave the world

to men to subdue

it’.

1976

BUT THEN CAME THE ‘GORDON BELOW FRANKLIN’

I recall the polarised

views in Tasmania at

the time. And I

decided to see what

the fuss was about. So

with a few friends I

flew over it, climbed

over it and had lots of

experiences in thick

mud. Was the Franklin

a ‘ditch’ as it was

described? Or did it

have intrinsic value?

Frankly, I was stunned.

1982-1984

IS THERE JUSTIFICATION FOR ‘EXPLOITATION’?

As I travelled around

Australia and overseas,

my intuition told me

that exploitation as an

end in itself is

counterproductive.

While we need to use

the resources God has

put at our disposal,

what is the point in

destroying our natural

heritage, which is on

par with the best in the

world?

I felt that many people

in Tasmania really

didn’t understand the

wonder of what God

had given us in the

place we lived.

1985: Mt Geryon and the Acropolis

SO WHERE DO THESE CRAZY IDEAS COME FROM?

GE 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

This sounds simple

enough doesn’t it?

Reading this in

isolation suggests that

God has delegated us

with his authority, to

fill it, exploit it and

dominate it.

However, we had

better be careful

about reading this in

isolation…Dominate?

We are doing this well!

Exploit?

IS THE ‘IMAGE OF GOD’ CREATIVE OR EXPLOITATIVE?

GE 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.“

GE 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

If it is true that we

have been given

responsibility for (not

just a right to subdue)

creation then we had

better be careful not to

destroy the good that

He has created.

I would then argue

that we do not have

the right to destroy

creation simply for our

own ends—especially

when it is

accompanied by greed,

corruption, deceit and

wilful disregard for the

dignity of human life.

NATURE ITSELF FORCES US TO REASSESS OUR THEOLOGY

JOB 38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?In the scheme of

things ‘dominion’ is

not ours. Rather it

belongs to God.

In the light of this it

just doesn’t make

sense to disregard the

compelling arguments

that are arising in

response to global

environmental

changes.

Reasons for environmental concern:1. Population growth2. Resource depletion3. Reduced biodiversity4. Waste disposal5. Climate change

TOWARDS A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

“While the vast disparity between wealth and poverty remains, Christians are bound to have an uneasy conscience. We should strenuously avoid all wastefulness and greed, not only out of solidarity for the poor but also out of respect for the living environment”. (Stott et al. 2006:157)

It seems strange to me

that while Christians

have been at the

forefront of thinking and

action in relation to

addressing human

poverty, they have been

amazingly slow to

recognise their role in

shaping society’s

thinking about

environmental issues.

Surely the two are

intrinsically linked?

Stott, J McCloughry, R and Wyatt, J, 2006, Issues Facing Christians Today, 4th Edition, Zondervan, Grand Rapids.

WORTH KEEPING

I continue to be

inspired and amazed

at the awesome

wonder of God’s

creation. It strikes me

that there is nothing in

this world that man

has done or created

that comes close.