Green - 11/15/22

    A topic that we brought up in class is one that I have personally heard in my circles as a Christian, infrequently, but it does happen. This extreme view held by a few boils down to: “Why bother saving the planet if the rapture will happen and we’ll all be taken away?”. This view, to be frank, makes me sick. In a religious perspective, we were given the planet to care for. We were placed in Eden, tasked with naming and caring for the plants and animals, and once kicked out, this job was then for the entire planet. It should be an innate, unspoken rule in the entirety of the Christian faith that we are to care for this gift. We are to show God, either repentance for our sins in the garden and after, or our devotion to Him, that we love His creation.

    This selfish, anthropocentric view is what I have seen in many people regarding the planet and its resources, along with a nihilistic narrative that has persisted, crying “Why should we try and save the planet, we’re all going to die anyway?” at anyone clinging to hope. Not getting too into why this belief is held, I do believe that it takes us further back as a society. Our progress in informing the public and sharing ways to be active in their communities can implode with a touch of pessimism.

    Professor Redick said a quote by Gary Snyder that regarded the situation and resonated with me enough for me to write it down, that this belief represents a “protestant work ethic”, seeing resources as things for us to use. Things only have value if they can be exchanged for money or turned into something that can be exchanged for money. This work ethic has sent the country and globe into a future of indulgence and denial, one that has benefitted each and every one of us. Our species as we know it, will eventually cease to be, but this timeline can be shortened, allowing for more efforts to, in the theme of the discussion, possibly ensure us more time. 

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