Ponderings on Environmentalism and Women in the Church
I continue to be confused by why people (particularly of the environmentalist persuasion) always get so angry with the Christian worldview. I would say I have a very environmental outlook on life, but I still hold onto an anthropocentric view, because I see it as the only way we can live.
No matter how you cut it, humanity is different from the rest of the Universe, we have language, rationality, compassion and oodles of other things that say my house cat doesn't have, let alone the trees.
Given that position, I think it's completely asinine to expect us to be equal with nature.
Scripture says that we are to have dominion over the earth. I don't see this as a negative thing, in fact I see it as quite a demand that is completely against those who argue that since we have this dominion and control over nature we can do whatever we want.
That is completely not the point! God is the creater and ruler of the universe, and we have been given authority to rule over the earth... That means we should be taking pretty darn good care of it. Think of the parable of the talents, where two of the servants used their money and multiplied it, while another hid it because he was afraid, and got reprimanded. We didn't have a servant that was given money and screwed up with it, but I'm quite sure he would have been punished quite severely.
As much as I can admire the call to greater union with nature, to be holistic, I can't see our lives working like that. I completely believe we need to work towards greater sustainable industry and not the distructive profit focused industry we currently have, but I reject the idea that advancement is totally evil, yes some horrible things have come out of it, and some things should never have been discovered (like, oh the atomic bomb) but other advancements have been more than beneficial to live as a whole.
I think our main problem is that we have such bad examples of rulers who completely abuse their subjects that we cannot see God as being a good ruler, and because so many humans cannot deal with the earth in a beneficial way that we cannot see ourselves as being "good stewards" even though I believe it is entirely possible.
On another note, I'm reading an article on the role of women in the church... check it out if you have time: http://www.kingdomrain.net/content/view/64/33/1/0/
One quote that struck me as quite thought provoking is this: Man is created first, not for governance or priority in function, but to establish his loneliness.
That certainly flips some ideas doesn't it? Reconciling the creation of man first (whether you take it as symbolic or literal) with the equality of men and women has been one that I have struggled through before and I think that statement was exactly what I needed.
The idea of man coming first has nothing to do with the authoritarian patriarchical ideas that we've held onto for the last few millenia but instead it has to do with our dependance, first to God and secondly to each other.
On that same note, the article did mention something else which I'm going to think about for awhile, that being the necessity of men and women being together. Often we focus on that meaning in a marriage sense, but I think it goes beyond that. I think to function well a community needs both men and women, because we are different in many ways and men accell in some areas, whereas women accell in others (not that there aren't exceptions, don't read too much into what I'm saying).
This does however bring up an interesting question that is more aplicable to the more liturgical churches... that being the idea of monastic orders, either men or women. There are many things that I see beneficial and many things that I see troubling about monastic life, so by no means is this a complete condemnation. I can understand how our sexuality can get in the way sometimes, and it can be difficult to focus completely on God, but I've never been quite comfortable with the idea of completely "marrying God" and cutting out other relationships.
That is a discussion for another time though, I will need more time to work through that idea so I'm just going to stop there. The idea is incomplete so don't see what I wrote above as my final opinion on the matter.
The issue of sexuality and human relationships (romantic and non) is another big issue... perhaps next time I feel like putting my fingers down on the keyboard I can go more into my opinions on that.
For now, throw any thoughts or comments at me. My views are always growing and changing, so I welcome any criticism. Just don't yell at me :) That's not very nice and it isn't really productive either!
-Daniel
No matter how you cut it, humanity is different from the rest of the Universe, we have language, rationality, compassion and oodles of other things that say my house cat doesn't have, let alone the trees.
Given that position, I think it's completely asinine to expect us to be equal with nature.
Scripture says that we are to have dominion over the earth. I don't see this as a negative thing, in fact I see it as quite a demand that is completely against those who argue that since we have this dominion and control over nature we can do whatever we want.
That is completely not the point! God is the creater and ruler of the universe, and we have been given authority to rule over the earth... That means we should be taking pretty darn good care of it. Think of the parable of the talents, where two of the servants used their money and multiplied it, while another hid it because he was afraid, and got reprimanded. We didn't have a servant that was given money and screwed up with it, but I'm quite sure he would have been punished quite severely.
As much as I can admire the call to greater union with nature, to be holistic, I can't see our lives working like that. I completely believe we need to work towards greater sustainable industry and not the distructive profit focused industry we currently have, but I reject the idea that advancement is totally evil, yes some horrible things have come out of it, and some things should never have been discovered (like, oh the atomic bomb) but other advancements have been more than beneficial to live as a whole.
I think our main problem is that we have such bad examples of rulers who completely abuse their subjects that we cannot see God as being a good ruler, and because so many humans cannot deal with the earth in a beneficial way that we cannot see ourselves as being "good stewards" even though I believe it is entirely possible.
On another note, I'm reading an article on the role of women in the church... check it out if you have time: http://www.kingdomrain.net/content/view/64/33/1/0/
One quote that struck me as quite thought provoking is this: Man is created first, not for governance or priority in function, but to establish his loneliness.
That certainly flips some ideas doesn't it? Reconciling the creation of man first (whether you take it as symbolic or literal) with the equality of men and women has been one that I have struggled through before and I think that statement was exactly what I needed.
The idea of man coming first has nothing to do with the authoritarian patriarchical ideas that we've held onto for the last few millenia but instead it has to do with our dependance, first to God and secondly to each other.
On that same note, the article did mention something else which I'm going to think about for awhile, that being the necessity of men and women being together. Often we focus on that meaning in a marriage sense, but I think it goes beyond that. I think to function well a community needs both men and women, because we are different in many ways and men accell in some areas, whereas women accell in others (not that there aren't exceptions, don't read too much into what I'm saying).
This does however bring up an interesting question that is more aplicable to the more liturgical churches... that being the idea of monastic orders, either men or women. There are many things that I see beneficial and many things that I see troubling about monastic life, so by no means is this a complete condemnation. I can understand how our sexuality can get in the way sometimes, and it can be difficult to focus completely on God, but I've never been quite comfortable with the idea of completely "marrying God" and cutting out other relationships.
That is a discussion for another time though, I will need more time to work through that idea so I'm just going to stop there. The idea is incomplete so don't see what I wrote above as my final opinion on the matter.
The issue of sexuality and human relationships (romantic and non) is another big issue... perhaps next time I feel like putting my fingers down on the keyboard I can go more into my opinions on that.
For now, throw any thoughts or comments at me. My views are always growing and changing, so I welcome any criticism. Just don't yell at me :) That's not very nice and it isn't really productive either!
-Daniel
Labels: Rants, Social Issues, Theology and Philosophy
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