Are people that are against recycling, reusing, etc. or those believing that global warming is a conspiracy less spiritual? Is there a link between the two? What influence does nature and the earth’s wellbeing have on your spirituality?
Are people that are against recycling, reusing, etc. or those believing that global warming is a conspiracy less spiritual? Is there a link between the two? What influence does nature and the earth’s wellbeing have on your spirituality?
Personally it has a great effect, I do connect both but some members at my church do not end up bothering to practice it.
Amish people live a simple farming life.
I definitely see a link. I believe in God and I think that the earth and her creatures were formed in a purposeful and loving way. I also think that we were given dominion over things, in a role of stewardship and advocacy and not just for our own selfish gain. To me this is a divine assignment. We are the ones with the biggest brains, the opposable thumbs, etc. We are the ones who choose behaviors, and we are the ones who must answer for how the world turns out. So I think I should be helping take care of things, to show my gratitude for a gift given, and to show my respect for my home.
I also get a lot of spiritual nurturing from experiencing nature, as well as simplifying my life. They are acts of faith, really, for me…stepping out of the guarantees of my own surroundings and my comfort zone, and going into the wild places of the world, shedding the non-essential, and believing that it will be fine.
I also do realize that the earth is pretty resilient and can probably take whatever we throw at her. Our preservation of things here is because we need earth to be habitable by humans. I would like to think that God knows better than we do about when a species has served its purpose and can become extinct. When it happens naturally…no problem, yet still a little sad…I mean, don’t you wish you could see a real dodo or dinosaur? Still, they came and went before we could see them. And yet, when we screw things up to a place where an animal can’t survive anymore, I have a bigger problem with that because it is not the same thing as the unfeeling, unchoosing forces of nature on a creature. And I guess ultimately…I think if we don’t take care of ourselves, each other, and our planet, we are going to choke ourselves out as well. Which may not be as intended by our creator, and thereby not the natural order of things at all.
i don’t see any link between the two, living green means you’re willing to pay carbon tax out of nothing and you are prepared to go hungry surrender freedom and accept the depopulation program etc..etc..
Caring for the planet surely involves at least to some extent a refusal to be defined by material "success" and having enough confidence in ones own worth as a human being not to be sucked into an endless, exploitative and exhausting round of having to have the latest material possessions, perhaps to fill a spiritual void. My guess is that those who believe global warming to be a conspiracy want an excuse for their laziness, materialism, and/or lack of spirituality. (Global warming is only part of the environmentalist picture though, and it’s important, I think, not to confuse spirituality with religious dogma.)