I'm sure every environmentalist asks him or herself why so many otherwise good people care so little about the health of the earth and its creatures. I suppose there are many reasons, from greed and selfishness, to 'doan kyah' and carelessness; but I want to explore one possibility with you - many people disregard the natural environment for religious reasons.

It is well known that religious belief is an important source of values which guide behaviour, coming either directly from doctrine, or indirectly from its implications, and, of course, no two Christian denominations share the same understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ, hence its many (often clashing) flavours.

Two positions that Christians hold, which are diametrically opposed, concern this world and the next. One set of believers hold that this world is evil (hence to be 'world-lian' is to be opposed to God's ways); this world is a veil of tears in which our physical bodies are trapped; the sickness, suffering and death we humans experience is a direct result of the sin and evil in the world.

Passing through

The fervent hope of this part of humanity is to be done with this world as quickly as possible so as to move on to the next world (i.e. heaven) where there is no evil, no pain, no suffering, but everything that is good. The hymn which perhaps best encapsulates this position has the words, "This world is not my home/ I am only passing through".

The opposite position, held by many other Christians, is that this world is fundamentally good. True, sin entered the world and humanity fell, and all nature with their creatures along with humanity, but "God so loved the world" that he sent a redeemer to undo the fall and to elevate humanity and all of creation to an even higher state than before The Fall, "because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8: 21-23).

The theology of the first position has no use for the natural environment. There is no imperative to care for the Earth. the imperative is to care for one's own soul. The theology of the second position gives great value to creation, which itself is redeemed by the saving actions of Jesus. Creation is 'groaning', as in the pangs of childbirth, as the "new heaven and the new earth" emerges.

The first position, characteristic of many Christian fundamentalists, is only concerned with humanity. It is anti-social and individualistic. The second position considers the task of caring for the earth to be a solemn Christian duty. In fact, the Christian obligation to work for the building of the Kingdom includes working for environmental justice and social justice.

Why waste time

In my opinion, one of the reasons otherwise well-intentioned people may care less about the natural environment is that they believe that it is part of the evil world which will pass away anyway, so why waste time and effort at sustainable development and environmental conservation.

A negative view of humanity itself goes along with this negative view of creation. Fundamentalism views humanity itself as fundamentally evil, conceived in sin and born in iniquity. Left to himself man will do wicked things, because his nature is evil. Other Christians of an older tradition consider humanity to be fundamentally good - blinded by original sin and therefore not always able to fully see what is good - but fundamentally good. The Good News (Gospel) is that God's son became human, to teach us how to be like God.

If God truly became human, humanity can't be so bad after all. If the creator really became part of creation, the natural world can't be so bad after all. So, looking after the health of God's creation - our home for the time being - is part of what it means to be Christian.

Peter Espeut is an environmentalist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com