Religion & The Environment

            There is an ongoing list of environmental problems in today’s world. According to John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker, at Yale University, religion should be intertwined in one’s relationship with the environment. Tucker states that we are “one planet and one species” and we should all come together and make some changes.  By believing in a higher power, no matter what religion or culture, it should make a difference in how a person treats and contributes to bettering the environment. Belief in religion is thought to increase citizen’s awareness of the issues and to become motivated to help sustain life in all ecosystems.

            Religion and the role it has on the environment could be a sensitive subject to some, however the perspective one has is that if a person believes that a higher power created this world, why are we not gratefully doing our best to sustain it? Like Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, there are others out there that believe religion and the environment go together in some way. In Research, Conservation and Recycling, the book describes how faith is an “important partner in the implantation of environmental and other policies.” An example that sticks out is how several churches in the United States contributed to the environment with “What car would Jesus drive?” a protest about fuel inefficiency in motor vehicles. The most important message coming from this book is the fact that it’s not solely based on religion but the magnitude is that “any implementation strategy should build on the cultural environment to be successful.”

        Environmental ethics is the relationship between human beings and the environment. Today, and in the past, it is necessary to start living in an environmental friendly way, to decrease the amount of overpopulation, air, water, and soil pollution, and global warming. If more citizens would go forth and develop stewardship, they will become aware of these problems and how to reverse them, and our children and grandchildren will live in safer, more conservative world.