368
J. M. Luetz and R. G. Leo
Calvin DeWitt (1998) has alluded to the perceived vulnerability of spirituality as a
cultural resource for adaptation: “Human and cultural degradation are threatening and
eliminating long-standing knowledge held by native and some Christian communities
on living sustainably and cooperatively with creation … Among the most serious
degradation is the extinguishing of longstanding cultures that have learned to live
sustainably on earth” (p. 19). In addition, dialogue between scientific and theological
perspectives can be a productive process that creates common ground (Kasak and
Kull 2018). In line with Knight (2006), who argues that most people choose one
knowledge source as primary or basic, knowing that there are diverse environmental
theo-political concepts can encourage individuals and faith communities to shift their
environmental readings of the bible towards more ecocentric positions.
While faith communities continue to wrestle with the metaphysical challenges of
our era, it is obvious that appropriate language and conceptual constructs constitute
an important part of the required adaptation portfolio. In the era of the Anthropocene
and climate change, we need to learn to wrestle with and seek spiritual explanations
for concepts such as ‘ecocide’ (the killing of the planet’s life systems) or ‘geocide’
(the killing of the planet). Thomas Berry challenges us by querying why we have difficulty using these two terms when we are very accustomed to speaking about suicide,
homicide and genocide (Collins 2009). Whereas the term “Genocide” was coined
by Raphael Lemkin (1944/2008) towards the end of World War II to create “a new
term and new conception for destruction of nations … or of an ethnic group” (p. 79),
the Anthropocene is now ushering in conditions that put the health of our planet
in serious jeopardy and therefore require new conceptual language yet again (MEA
2005; IPBES 2019; UN 2019). Importantly, the new world of the Anthropocene
creates opportunities for religions to mobilise and leverage theo-cultural capital as
part of the required mix of solutions to today’s growing climate crisis. Communities on the frontlines of climate change, like those in the Pacific Islands (Nunn and
Kumar 2018), which are already experiencing its impacts have spiritual capital that
can assist them in directly facing these challenges (Havea et al. 2018). ‘Thin’ anthropocentric evocations that are grounded in merely ‘stewarding’ our seriously injured
ecosystems will not suffice. More holistic and ‘thicker’ ecocentric perspectives are
urgently required at the table of climate change policy discourse.
Acknowledgements The authors thank Clive Ayre, Ben Myers and Patrick Nunn for their excellent
comments on draft versions of this manuscript.
References
Ashbolt NJ (2019) Flood and infectious disease risk assessment: health in ecological perspectives
in the anthropocene. In: Watanabe T, Watanabe C (eds) Health in ecological perspectives in the
anthropocene, pp. 145–159, Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2526-7_12
Ayre C (2014) Earth, faith and mission: the theology and practice of earthcare. Morning Star
Publishing, Northcote, Vic
J. M. Luetz and R. G. Leo
Calvin DeWitt (1998) has alluded to the perceived vulnerability of spirituality as a
cultural resource for adaptation: “Human and cultural degradation are threatening and
eliminating long-standing knowledge held by native and some Christian communities
on living sustainably and cooperatively with creation … Among the most serious
degradation is the extinguishing of longstanding cultures that have learned to live
sustainably on earth” (p. 19). In addition, dialogue between scientific and theological
perspectives can be a productive process that creates common ground (Kasak and
Kull 2018). In line with Knight (2006), who argues that most people choose one
knowledge source as primary or basic, knowing that there are diverse environmental
theo-political concepts can encourage individuals and faith communities to shift their
environmental readings of the bible towards more ecocentric positions.
While faith communities continue to wrestle with the metaphysical challenges of
our era, it is obvious that appropriate language and conceptual constructs constitute
an important part of the required adaptation portfolio. In the era of the Anthropocene
and climate change, we need to learn to wrestle with and seek spiritual explanations
for concepts such as ‘ecocide’ (the killing of the planet’s life systems) or ‘geocide’
(the killing of the planet). Thomas Berry challenges us by querying why we have difficulty using these two terms when we are very accustomed to speaking about suicide,
homicide and genocide (Collins 2009). Whereas the term “Genocide” was coined
by Raphael Lemkin (1944/2008) towards the end of World War II to create “a new
term and new conception for destruction of nations … or of an ethnic group” (p. 79),
the Anthropocene is now ushering in conditions that put the health of our planet
in serious jeopardy and therefore require new conceptual language yet again (MEA
2005; IPBES 2019; UN 2019). Importantly, the new world of the Anthropocene
creates opportunities for religions to mobilise and leverage theo-cultural capital as
part of the required mix of solutions to today’s growing climate crisis. Communities on the frontlines of climate change, like those in the Pacific Islands (Nunn and
Kumar 2018), which are already experiencing its impacts have spiritual capital that
can assist them in directly facing these challenges (Havea et al. 2018). ‘Thin’ anthropocentric evocations that are grounded in merely ‘stewarding’ our seriously injured
ecosystems will not suffice. More holistic and ‘thicker’ ecocentric perspectives are
urgently required at the table of climate change policy discourse.
Acknowledgements The authors thank Clive Ayre, Ben Myers and Patrick Nunn for their excellent
comments on draft versions of this manuscript.
References
Ashbolt NJ (2019) Flood and infectious disease risk assessment: health in ecological perspectives
in the anthropocene. In: Watanabe T, Watanabe C (eds) Health in ecological perspectives in the
anthropocene, pp. 145–159, Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2526-7_12
Ayre C (2014) Earth, faith and mission: the theology and practice of earthcare. Morning Star
Publishing, Northcote, Vic