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Historical Roots of Our Economic Crisis (1) In her article The Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, Lynn White suggests that ecological crisis, which we commonly associate with the beginning of Industrial era, has rather a metaphysical essence than technological one, as it is being assumed by majority of people. According to author, Christian religion instilled Europeans with the sense of existential superiority, which in its turn, allowed them to embark on the merciless exploitation of nature. Lynn describes European mentality, before the advent of Christianity, as such that was pantheistic in its essence. People used to think of themselves as being the part of the environment, which is why ancient Creek and Roman philosophical traditions can be referred to as environmentally friendly.
However, once the Semitic religion of Christianity, which originated in the desert and which was spiritually alien to European psyche, became dominant in the West, it began to slowly transform peoples attitude towards nature. Lynn points out to the fact that the environmental situation in the world began to be affected by mens activity as early as 4 th century A. D. During the Middle Ages, the most of virgin forests in Europe were being chopped down, because, even back then, people thought of satisfying their physical needs as the foremost priority, when there could be no place for environmental considerations. Lynn is making a very strong point when she says: By destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects (Lynn). (2) However, we cannot agree with the author when she talks about Christianity as something that defines the essence of Western civilization, as we know it. The reason why Europeans always felt as being superior to others is not because their conversion to Christianity, but because of their racial makeup.
Greek and Roman philosophers thought of men as beings that continuously transform their essence, as evolution goes on. Christianity, on the other hand, suggested that homo sapiens is nothing but the physical reflection of God, therefore, it is wrong trying to rid humans of their physical and mental imperfections, because it would represent the act of transgression against God. Christians do not think of themselves within the context of nature, because according to them, this world is wicked. This is why, for them, it is absolutely natural to be destroying the environment, because they never feel as being part of it.
Lynn does not mention the fact that European intellectuals, such as Galileo or Copernicus, were depriving Christian dogma of its conceptual validity since 15 th century. She actually thinks of European science as such that is being deeply affected by Christian spirituality, but this is not the case. It is Christians who always strived to use science as something that supports their outrageous claims and not the other way around. Also, author suggests that it is wrong to expect the technological progress to be able to effectively address environmental concerns in the future, because science remains anthropomorphic in its essence.
She insists that people need to embrace environmentalism as the foundation for the further development of science; however, one does not need to be a genius to understand that there are no preconditions for this in the modern world. Lynn wrote her article in 1967, when the biggest threat to the environment was not being realized yet. Nowadays, we know that Earth is already being overpopulated and that there is simply no room under the sun for all. The depletion of ozone layer, the pollution of lakes and rivers and the fact that smog constantly hangs over worlds largest cities all these things come as result of fierce exploitation of Earths natural resources, which in its turn, is the logical consequence of overpopulation. The Christian arrogance can hardly be blamed for the fact that in such countries as Ethiopia, for example, the population has tripled, within a matter of 25 years, while being subjected to constant famine. Thus, the solution to our environmental problems needs to be sought in the realm of politics.
It is whether Western countries stop throwing milliards of dollars in the air, while trying to help Third World nations, or whether the ship Earth is going to get overfilled with passengers without the tickets and drown. Outline: Summary Criticism
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Research essay sample on Ecological Crisis Lynn Christianity
