On April 22nd, much of the world will celebrate international Earth Day. Like many fads, the popularity of this event has waned throughout much of the West. This may owe something to the fact that the dire consequences predicted by many ecologists have not eventuated. Despite this, many people of faith continue to preach a type of “Green Gospel,” claiming that an ecological apocalypse will be upon us unless various policies – usually involving various forms of government regulation – are … [Read more...]
Dominion and Stewardship: Believers and the Environment
“Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created. Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end.” St. Ignatius of Loyola A welcome development of the past thirty years has been the emergence of less-utilitarian attitudes towards the environment by believers and non-believers alike. No … [Read more...]
Early and Notable Signers of the Cornwall Declaration
Sixty-six people from the Roman Catholic, Jewish and Protestant communities, as well as other layman, pastors, scholars, and religious leaders, endorsed the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship when it was first released in March of 2000. By June 22, 2000, more than 921 others had joined them. Those first 987 signers are listed below. (Organizational affiliations are for identification only and do not imply organizational endorsement.) Since then thousands of others have joined … [Read more...]
