This semester in HONS 3393 (Topics in Religious Studies and Theology), we have been exploring religion in antiquity, mindful of power, empire and gender relations. We have considered how one community, represented by the book 1 Maccabees, responds to oppression, resistance and violence. These categories, we have found, speak also the environment and to our care of the earth. In honor of Earth Day, we thought to share some reflections on how religion, our treatment of one another and the environment intersect. Significantly, our care of or disregard for the environment impacts others with whom we share this planet and often times our disregard or violence toward others impacts our treatment of the environment. Our work may be summarized into three distinctive areas. First, religious traditions and diverse communities suggest that our relationship with creation matters. Second, our conflicts affect the environment and have lasting consequences for communities and inhabitants. And third, when it comes to how we deal with our neighbors, partnership rather than oppression is to be preferred, and also relates to our ongoing care of creation.
We turn first to the issue of religion and the environment. While some might be inclined to think religion past or present has little to say about caring for nature or the world around us, theologians, religious leaders and teachers have long exhorted people to care for our world. In his first homily as pope, Pope Francis, for example, spoke about the necessity of caring for the environment. We noted such concern as well when examining 1 Maccabees. In this biblical book, written around the year 100 BCE, the environment may be examined as a character of its own right.
Here we read that the war and imperialism of Alexander the Great (in the fourth century BCE) caused the earth to be subdued or quieted (see 1 Maccabees 1). We noted that since the earth has been historically associated with feminine qualities of fertility and nurturance, and even called Mother Earth or Mother Nature by many societies across the globe, the earth has been regarded often as something to conquer or to dominate. In this work, men like Alexander the Great, depicted as proud, arrogant and very mortal, do not use military power to good ends; rather such figures subdue and quiet the earth. Most religious traditions champion instead the protection of creation and present nature as an intimate aspect of God’s creation. In fact, nature is often called to serve as witnesses against the deeds of humankind in biblical texts.
Why care for creation? Why should people have a moral obligation to care about creation? Because all sharing this planet are interconnected, what one does affects another and this is true also when it comes to conflicts and war, one of the topics we have been studying this semester. Although it seems intuitive, we often overlook that the environmental and human cost of warfare are intertwined. Warfare has a significant environmental impact, due to its destructive nature. In contemporary times, the use of chemical agents and nuclear power, as well as other weapons, force people to relocate because the land around them is no longer suitable for cultivation or habitation. As violence expands, its negative effects on human habitation and the earth also increase. The expansion of combat always leads to some sort of environmental degradation; this can be attributed to the fact that progress in war is placed higher on a society’s list of priorities than environmental preservation. The same justification has been used to explain the destruction of human habitation (houses, villages, cities) in order to benefit combat missions. The study of 1 Maccabees shows us the destructive nature inherent in situations where one group is subjugated by another. In this ancient text, villages and cities are not only pillaged, but typically burned and individuals are displaced or are sold into slavery. People are without resources. Thus, in antiquity or today, warfare impacts the environment.
Third, we have considered how power of one group or community over another can impact the environment as well. Colonialism can breed conflict and resistance between an oppressing and an oppressed group of people whether through the form of physical violence between the two parties or through traditional practices being displaced by new and “better” ways of forming society. This sort of situation is described in 1 Maccabees. In this work, Hellenism and traditional Jewish practices are presented as in conflict and the heroes of the story seem intent on driving out foreign oppression. While the book does not linger to such an extent on the transformation of the physical space, beyond detailing new building initiatives, in contemporary times, we know the results of colonialism on a land’s environment.
For example, colonialists introduce new ways of cultivating soil for cash crops, rather than to allow traditional smaller scale farming. Also colonial powers also introduce industrialization; such practices have not benefited the countries under colonial powers. Though the colonists are working to “improve” the economy or productive output of the area, these efforts tend to be more harmful than beneficial. In addition to new and often incompatible methods of land use, colonialism can result in a side effect that impacts native fauna. Colonizers not only bring new ideas and populations to land areas, but also introduce plants and animals that can change ecosystems of places colonized, and their introduction can kill or diminish native species that have no evolutionary defense against new counterparts. This results in the endangerment and even extinction of native species. The misunderstanding of cultures and misuse of the land lead to the degradation of the colonized people, their society, and the very land on which they live and depend. The better course of action would be for peoples of different lands to work together and to form true partnership with parity, where the countries would communicate mutual respect and attempt to work together to preserve the environment which impacts ultimately everyone.
In conclusion, we have learned three lessons so far in our study this semester. First, people who are religious do not take the environment for granted, but respect creation. Second, war and violence have a cost to the world around us. Third, unequal relations among lands, like colonialism, can affect adversely the environment as well.
Written by Luis Alcala, Emily Colwell, Taylor Johnson, Jared McClain, Jordan Schmid, Claire White, Nairod Woods, and Emily Wright. Edited by Denae Dibrell, Melissa Hilliard, Ryan Mitchell and Prof. Kelley Coblentz Bautch.