Care for Creation a Christian Environmental Ethic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
Today, more than ever before, the phenomenon of the environmental crisis is
presented as the crucial threat to all life-forms on the planet. Forests are cleared, rivers
are drying up, rains are becoming short and unpredictable, cancer cases are increasing,
and nuclear accidents just as it has happened in Japan on March 22/2011. All these
situations have become a cause of great concern for all people living on earth.
Innumerable conferences and meetings, from Rio de Janeiro to Pocantico, from Kyoto
to Kuala Lumpur, from Copenhagen to Cancun and Durban, have been held by world
scientists, economists, and policymakers in the same spirit of great concern about the
environmental crisis, as an effort of searching for a global solution for this problem
because every creature is suffering from it whether directly or indirectly. Peter Raven,
the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, wrote in the paper titled “We Are Killing
Our World” with a similar sense of urgency regarding the destruction of nature. Many theories have been developed about the damage to the earth. Some people
have even charged Christians with carelessness and an arrogant attitude towards
creation. Others blame human activities through modernisation and technology as the
roots of the damage to creation which we are experiencing today. Other people still say
that human beings have nothing to do with the environmental crisis because it is mostly
natural. They, for instance, mention natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, floods
provoked by typhoons or tsunamis, etc.
I had an experience during my childhood concerning the environmental crisis.
We used to play football in a big green field with many trees, reserved for children’s
games. That space does not exist anymore because all the trees have been cut down and
houses have been built. This is the case as well for some forests which have completely
disappeared in my region. In face of such a situation and being aware through the
courses I had in Theology at Tangaza, I have realized that this problem cannot be
overlooked anymore. In order to be concrete in my topic, I took the case of my country,
DRC, which has become one of the greatest victims of the environmental crisis caused
by the careless attitude in using the natural resources which are considered as a
‘scandale géologique’
resources.
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, in other words, the incommensurable quantity of its natural
I believe that in this turmoil, the Church already plays a preponderant role in the
environmental crisis as the moral, spiritual teacher and conscience of society. This fits
well with DRC where more than half of the population are Christians. I find the Christian approach to environmental ethics very inspiring. It comes
across as the best remedy to the suffering we are causing to the earth and to ourselves.
Christian ethics on the environment does not only concern the relationships between
humans with humans but also humans with creation and humans with God. It says that
the root of the problem is interior (selfishness) expressed through the human irrational
exploitation of creation forgetting that the human being is part of it. It is this spirit of
selfishness and consumerism which destroys and kills our world today. Thomas Berry,
viewing that people have become so selfish in excess in the way they relate with the
environment; he suggests a “new cosmology in order to value the beauty of nature”
This is a good and wise suggestion because once humans destroy the ecosystem,
the web of life in creation, everything starts falling apart. Therefore we cause global
warming which manifests itself in many different ways like drought, desertification,
erosion, extinction of species, air and water pollution, etc.
This ‘Copernican revolution’ in the environment crisis grew fast, especially in
the domain of science and technology around 1960s; it was initiated a long time ago by
E. H. Haeckel
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in 1873. Many solutions as well have been suggested with regard to the
environmental crisis from the secular world and the Christian world as well. From my
part, I am going to show how a Christian approach to environmental ethics is essential
and important to restore peace and harmony between humans and non-humans. Pope
Benedict XVI in his message for the World Day of Peace of January 2010 chose the title ‘If you want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation’. This theme shows that the
relevance and necessity of harmony between human and creation and between humans
and the Creator is fundamental for our survival. In his conference on new cosmology,
Joseph Mitchell quoted Thomas Berry stating that ‘to destroy creation is to destroy
humanity’. Therefore, it is of our interest to take care of creation and play our role of
co-creators created in the image and likeness of God; to be more responsible for the
creation which God himself found good after having created it (Gn. 1:1-25). Sean
McDonagh confirms the previous idea saying that if the present trends continue, by the
turn of century we will face an environmental catastrophe as irreversible as any nuclear
holocaust.
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Keywords
Christian, Ethic, Congo, Environmental Degradation, Deforestation, Plastic Bags