Beliefs and Actions Towards an Environmental Ethical Life: The Christianity-Environment Nexus Reflected in a Cross-National Analysis

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 33 (3):421-446 (2020)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The present study seeks to introduce the European Christian community to the debate on environmental degradation while displaying its important role and theological perspectives in the resolution of the environmental crisis. The fundamental question authors have asked here is if Christianity supports pro-environmental attitudes compared to other religions, in a context where religion, in general, represents the ethical foundation of our civilization and, thus, an important behavior guide. The discussion becomes all the more interesting as many voices have identified the Christian theological tradition as ecologically bankrupt, while others as a source for environmental ethics. In seeking to refute or to confirm the Lynne White’s thesis, firstly, we aimed to rediscover the biblical ecological consciousness and the theology of care. Secondly, following the literature evidence on relevant differences between countries and the influence that religion has on approaching environmental issues, we considered the religion-environmental correlation within a particular country context. For this, data from the European Values Study survey were used, by including 20 European countries. One novelty of this contribution is to highlight the influence of the legacy of the former political regime on pro-environmental attitude and religious practices. The study testifies that the search for a common language for environmental stewardship is a difficult task and fundamental to how we behave. Despite this, within this frame of discussion, we argue that Christianity, as a major social actor, co-exists with and can enhance the interest in and respect for nature.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The Environment and Christian Ethics.Michael S. Northcott - 1996 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Blameworthy Environmental Beliefs.Daniel C. Fouke - 2012 - Environmental Ethics 34 (2):115-134.
Ethical Implication of Environmental Crises on African Societies: A Challenge to Future Humanity.Joseph Nkang Ogar - 2019 - International Journal of Environmental Pollution and Environmental Modelling 2 (3):109-115.
Ecological and ethical duty.Dionisiy Lyahovych - 1996 - Ukrainian Religious Studies 3:16-26.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-10-28

Downloads
7 (#1,201,127)

6 months
2 (#668,348)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature.William James - 1929 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Matthew Bradley.
The varieties of religious experience. A Study in human Nature.William James - 1902 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 54:516-527.
The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis. White, Jr & Lynn - 1967 - Science 155 (3767):1203-1207.
Environmental ethics and weak anthropocentrism.Bryan G. Norton - 1984 - Environmental Ethics 6 (2):131-148.
Environmental ethics.Andrew Brennan - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

View all 41 references / Add more references