How do religions affect our enviroment?? Find out here Covers: Chirstianity, Hinduism and Islam

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Introduction
Whether we are actively religious or not, religious belief permeates the very fabric of
our existence because of society or because of personal conscience. Namely, it
influences -- if not directly shapes -- our legal systems; and therefore our
constitutions; and therefore our nations' policy choices, both at home and abroad. It
is then only logical to surmise that religion also influences how we -- individually and
collectively -- view our role with regards to
protecting the environment Even if we aren’t really
religious.
There are two anti-thesistical opposite views in
religion that influences our environment. And they
are : Are humans an equal part of a greater
organism which they should therefore respect, serve
and nourish? Or is the very purpose of that
organism to serve and nourish the human race?
Thinker Lynn White wrote essay on the same, in
which he writes : “What people do about their
ecology depends on what they think about
themselves in relation to things around them. Human ecology is deeply conditioned
by beliefs about our nature and destiny -- that is, by religion”
Why is this Important?
Because there is the recognition that the Earth is in danger from human activity and use and
changes need to be made in order to sustain life on the Earth (Taylor 998).
Why is it important to use religion as a means for environmental action? Berry states that it
is “human carelessness and greed” that caused the environmental problems that we are
faced with today// With this in mind, we look to religion as this is what some individuals
believe holds a large degree of responsibility for the start of our environmental problems.
So now, in this essay I’ll discuss about Religion and Environment. Let’s go into it one
by one-
• There is the worldwide recognition of
the present environmental/ecological
crisis.
• There is a central belief amongst the
religions that nature was created by
god and should be protected.
• As environmental degradation has
occurred, we begin to ask ourselves
about the relationship between
human beings and nature.
Religion and The Environment

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Allah (God) is the source of all life Tawhid is the belief in the Oneness of God.
The Islamic Assisi Declaration stated that the unity, oneness of Allah is
reflected in the unity of Allah’s creation.
Khalifa means steward or guardian. Allah has given humans this role to be
guardians and stewards of the Earth. They are expected to use the Earth’s
resources responsibly to ensure that future generations can enjoy it as Allah
intended.
The whole universe was created by and reveals
Brahman, (God who is in everything). It is part
of every Hindu’s dharma (duty) to care for and
protect the environment. The well-being of the
human species depend on right attitudes to the
Earth and its resources.
Certain plants are sacred because of their
medicinal qualities or their links with the gods.
Nature is god. Hindusim is Panthestic in nature.

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Christian Belief
Christianity is a belief system which is based on the teachings of a person claimed to
be son of god called Jesus Christ. They mainly talk about the broken relationship
between the creator and the humans. Claims that Humans are sinner by nature and
by choice.
It is not uncommon to hear Christians who follow “Dominion Theology” claiming not
only a right, but a God given right to do anything they want with anything non-
human on the planet. Whether it’s polluting or otherwise destroying the land, air or
water, or using and abusing animals in any way they see fit, they have no remorse
and no hesitation because they “know” that God himself said that it was okay.
Since they take their book ‘Holy Bible’ for granted. They refer to it :
Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Another time is when some of them think that the material world is
unimportant. Another challenge from within is a dualistic view that teaches the
separation between matter and spirit, while arguing that the material world is evil.
Christian apologists counter this notion with New Testament texts that affirm matter
in the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of the body, and the
reconciliation of all things to God.19 God loves the cosmos(John 3:16), pouring out
divine love to all creation. Mirroring God’s knowledge and love, we work to know and
care for God’s world. As it is inconceivable to honor Rembrandt and yet despise his
paintings, so also is it inconceivable to honor the Creator and yet despise His works
and workings. To the Creator of matter, matter matters.
But mainly the Christians follow the Church-based religion which maybe ‘Apathetic’
to the original scriptures because in the original scriptures the following words can
be seen, many of which are often mistranslated.: God has entrusted His creation to us
(Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15; Deuteronomy 11:12; Psalm 115:16). “The Earth belongs to God
by creation and to us by delegation. This does not mean that God has handed it over
to us in such a way as to relinquish his own right over it, but rather that he has given
us the responsibility to preserve and develop the Earth on his behalf”
.
Fortunately, some of the more reasonable Christians have seen the problems with
these other views and have started calling for proper stewardship of our planet. This
still seems to be a small minority view among Christian leaders, or one that most

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don’t care to stress, but as environmental awareness continues to spread throughout
the population as a whole, more and more of these church leaders may be forced to
lend their support to the environment
The care for environment in Christianity is recent, i.e. The Roman Catholic
church made a statement about it in 1988:
The earth and all life on it is a gift from God given us to share and develop, not to
dominate and exploit. Our actions have consequences for the rights of others and for
the resources of the earth. The goods of the earth and the beauties of nature are to
be enjoyed and celebrated as well as consumed. We have the responsibility to create
a balanced policy between consumption and conservation. We must consider the
welfare of future generations in our planning for and utilisation of the earth’s
resources.
So, conclusion is that, it’s complex knowing what the scriptures actually say, however,
it’s good to know that the church atleast in recent past have done some efforts
towards environmentalism. There recently has been an increased awareness of the
environment in the United States as churches are initiating responsibility towards
environmental protection. As well as Anglican Church

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Islam
"If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person
or an animal eats from it, it is regarded as a charitable gift (sadaqah)
for him." - Imam Bukhari.
The importance of nature is clearly shared in the above teaching. Since the individual
would gain the benefit of feeding the animals, they not only would understand the
importance of planting a tree (to feed the animals and themselves), but gain a full
understanding of the importance of nature.
he central concept of Islam is Tawhid or the Unity of God. Allah is Unity; and His
Unity is also reflected in the unity
of mankind, and the unity of man
and nature. His trustees are
responsible for maintaining the
unity of His creation, the integrity
of the Earth, its flora and fauna, its
wildlife and natural environment.
Unity cannot be had by discord,
by setting one need against
another or letting one end
predominate over another; it is
maintained by balance and
harmony. There Muslims say that Islam is the middle path and we will be answerable
for how we have walked this path, how we have maintained balance and harmony in
the whole of creation around us.
So unity, trusteeship and accountability, that is Tawhid, Khalifah and Akhirah, the
three central concepts of Islam, are also the pillars of the environmental ethics of
Islam. They constitute the basic values taught by the Qur’an. It is these values which
led Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, to say: ‘Whoever plants a tree and diligently
looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded.'
The Islamic attitude towards environment and natural resource conservation is not
only based on prohibition of over-exploitation but also on sustainable development.
The Holy Quran says:
"It is He who has appointed you viceroys in the earth … that He may try you in what
He has given you." (Surah 6:165)

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"O children of Adam! … eat and drink: but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not the
wasters." (Surah 7:31)
The Qur’an also says that Allah (God) is the Creator of the world. Human beings are
on the world as trustees or ‘viceregents’ - they are told to look after the world for
Allah and for the future:
The Earth is green and beautiful, and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it.
The whole earth has been created a place of worship, pure and clean. Whoever
plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded. If
a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and humans and beasts and birds eat from it,
all of it is love on his part.
Hadith
We can see that the islam is a strong supporter of Stewardship theory. Which
advocates man-nature relation as Man is a trustee of God and is suppose to look
after the creation.
Islam is against the cutting or destruction of plants and trees unnecessarily as is
evident in the following Hadith: Abdullah ibn Habashi reported that Prophet
Muhammad said: "He who cuts a lote-tree [without justification], Allah will send him
to Hellfire."

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Hinduism
Hinduism is an immensely complex and diverse religion and shares certain beliefs
with Buddhism, but essentially it is governed by three concepts: Brahman (a divine
force which manifests itself in everything); Karma (the law of cause and effect) and
the goal of moksha (enlightenment). At its core is living a simple life and shunning
the myth of happiness through material gain.
Hinduism is very concerned with the relationship between humanity and the
environment. Karma teaches that resources in the world become scarce because
people use them for their own ends. People should use the world unselfishly in order
to maintain the natural balance and to repay God for the gifts he has given:
For, so sustained by sacrifice, the gods will give you the food of your desire.
Whoso enjoys their gift, yet gives nothing, is a thief, no more nor less.
Bhagavad Gita 3:12
Trees are treated with great respect because it is the most important type of plant
life and, like all living things, has an atman (soul).
If there is but one tree of
flowers and fruit within a village,
that place is worthy of your respect.
Mahabharata
Protecting the environment is part
of Dharma. Dharma, one of the
most important Hindu concepts,
has been translated into English as
duty, virtue, cosmic order and
religion. In Hinduism, protecting the
environment is an important
expression of dharma.
In past centuries, Indian
communities — like other
traditional communities — did not have an
understanding of “the environment” as separate from the other spheres of activity in
their lives.
Hindus and Enviroment.
The human role is not separate from nature. All
objects in the universe, beings and non-beings, are
pervaded by the same spiritual power.
The human race, though at the top of the
evolutionary pyramid at present, is not seen as
something apart from earth and its many forms.
People did not spring fully formed to dominate
lesser life, but evolved out of these forms and are
integrally linked with them.
Nature is sacred and the divine is expressed
through all its forms. Reverence for life is an
essential principle, as is ahimsa (non-violence).
Nature cannot be destroyed without humanity
destroying itself.
The divine is not exterior to creation, but expresses
itself through natural phenomena.

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A number of rural Hindu communities such as the Bishnois, Bhils and Swadhyaya
have
maintained strong communal practices to protect local ecosystems such as forests
and water.
Our environmental actions affect our karma. Karma, a central Hindu teaching, holds
that each of our actions creates consequences — good and bad — which constitute
our karma and determine our future fate, including the place we will assume when
we are reincarnated in our next life. Moral behavior creates good karma, and our
behavior toward the environment has karmic consequences. Because we have free
choice, even though we may have harmed the environment in the past, we can
choose to protect the environment in the future, replacing environmentally
destructive karmic patterns with good ones.
Ayurveda, the science of life, which is a complete health and medicine system based
on nature and its regenerating forces. Then we have Vastu Shastra, upon which the
now well-known Feng Shui is based. Vastu, teaches us how to place and build
dwellings, according to the environment it is situated in. It is done in such a way that
the surroundings are not damaged by the building's presence, and so that all the
natural energies are flowing uninterrupted and freely, providing comfort, peace and
prosperity for the dwellers.
Hinduism has always been an environmentally sensitive philosophy. No religion,
perhaps, lays as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. The
Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti
contain the earliest messages for preservation of environment and ecological
balance. Nature, or Earth, has never been considered a hostile element to be
conquered or dominated. In fact, man is forbidden from exploiting nature. He is
taught to live in harmony with nature and recognize that divinity prevails in all
elements, including plants and animals. The rishis of the past have always had a great
respect for nature. Theirs was not a superstitious primitive theology. They perceived
that all material manifestations are a shadow of the spiritual. The Bhagavad Gita
advises us not to try to change the environment, improve it, or wrestle with it. If it
seems hostile at times tolerate it. Ecology is an inherent part of a spiritual world view
in Hinduism.

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Some final notes,
Since, Religion and science are the two most powerful forces in the world today…if
religion and science could be united on the common ground of biological
conservation, the problem [of biological catastrophe] would soon be solved The
environmental crisis now encompasses the entire Earth There is a crisis of values and
that as humans, we have participated in creating the destruction of the environment.
A need exists to develop a path across religious frontiers without destroying the
significance of religion itself and to carry out a comparative study of the "Earths" of
various religions as has been carried out for their "Heavens," if these terms are
understood in their traditional metaphysical and cosmological sense. We need to
regain the loss of a moral and social awareness as ecology becomes more
individualistic and systems based. This is critical because the attitudes and values
that shape people’s concepts of nature come primarily from religious worldviews and
ethical practices. The moral imperative and value systems of religions are
indispensable in mobilizing the sensibilities of people toward preserving the
environment for future generations

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