bharatreddy199@gmail.com
Thanks for posting this. It would be a good exercise to study them. I am not expert in the church or dharma, but i will try to give my evaluations. I will go according to their numbering
1. Even while calling the earth as mother, they still stick to word 'sister' as well.
2. 'The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air'.
- Original sin is the reason for ecological harm by humans.
- Original sin is the reason for ecological harm by humans.
5. 'The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement.'
- Protect environment because (1) we are trustees of god's property, (2) it is god's gift
'Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and “take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”'
- Protect environment because (1) we are trustees of god's property, (2) it is god's gift
'Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and “take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”'
- Talks of humans not only respecting other humans, also knowing your place and the place of environment in an ordered system created by god
6. 'the world cannot be analyzed by isolating only one of its aspects, since “the book of nature is one and indivisible”, and includes the environment, life, sexuality, the family, social relations, and so forth'
- Paragraph suggesting to not to study economy in isolation. May be digestion of ayurvedic idea you cannot isolate one cause to treat the whole. However it sticks to the whole of ideas is only one book
'With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves”'
- Harming environment is harming god's creation. This is due to not recognizing higher instance (i.e. god)
8. '“For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; ……….. – these are sins”'
'“to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God”'
- Humans are destroying god's property
Chapter 2
63. 'The Catholic Church is open to dialogue with philosophical thought; this has enabled her to produce various syntheses between faith and reason.'
- so far no. hope it will change
66. 'The creation accounts in the book of Genesis contain, …….. that human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been broken, both outwardly and within us. This rupture is sin. '
'The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. This in turn distorted our mandate to “have dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), to “till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). As a result, the originally harmonious relationship between human beings and nature became conflictual (cf. Gen 3:17-19).'
- Human relationships with god, neighbour and earth are broken. Human trying to take the place of god is the reason for conflict between human and environment. If he is obedient he would have continued to have 'dominion' over earth.
- In this caste system god owns the land, human rents it, land is a slave. Human tried to break contract with god and tried to own the land, which lead to conflict with the slave land.
67. 'on the basis of the Genesis account which grants man “dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), has encouraged the unbridled exploitation of nature by painting him as domineering and destructive by nature. This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church. Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.'
- Reinterpretation of scriptures. Acceptance of exploitation be christians through scriptures, but claims it is misinterpretation. Finally leading to current interpretation 'Thus God rejects every claim to absolute ownership' (to humans)
68. 'The laws found in the Bible dwell on relationships, not only among individuals but also with other living beings……………Clearly, the Bible has no place for a tyrannical anthropocentrism unconcerned for other creatures.'
- Moving away from earlier human centric interpretations
71. 'On the seventh day, God rested from all his work. He commanded Israel to set aside each seventh day as a day of rest, a Sabbath, (cf. Gen 2:2-3; Ex 16:23; 20:10). Similarly, every seven years, a sabbatical year was set aside for Israel, a complete rest for the land (cf. Lev 25:1-4), when sowing was forbidden and one reaped only what was necessary to live on and to feed one’s household (cf. Lev 25:4-6).'
- Now I know why sunday is holiday. Examples from Bible to show god is pro environment. I can interpret it differently, If I use the caste system I mentioned before, the land is given rest so that it will be productive from then onwards (Just like you can have a slave at home and feed him twice a day and ask him to be grateful for the food given generously)
72. 'They also invite other creatures to join us in this praise: “Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!........'
- Christianity 2.0, non believer stars will be civilized
75. 'A spirituality which forgets God as all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable. That is how we end up worshipping earthly powers, or ourselves usurping the place of God, even to the point of claiming an unlimited right to trample his creation underfoot.'
- Ishta devata and identifying oneself with god is still blasphemy. They think exploitation of nature is because human thinks of himself as god and does not follow laws of god.
Okay this document is huge and I am tired so I am stopping here for now.
