THEOLOGY 4:

LIVING THE CHRISTIAN VISION IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Hello class,

Last week, we saw the negative impacts of Climate Change. But as we go through
various natural calamities throughout the years, it becomes apparent that the poor
are the hardest hit not to mention women i.e. mothers and their children. Pope
Francis said:

“…the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable
people on the planet.”

In August 2018, 15-year old Greta Thunberg started spending her school days
outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on climate change by
holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate). Soon,
other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together, they
organised a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future.

Watch her speech to world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit on Sept 23,
2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJsdgTPJpU

In Laudato Si (2015), expressed hope in humanity to address the problem on the

environment:

“All is not lost. Human beings while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising
above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start… We are
able to take an honest look at ourselves, to acknowledge our deep dissatisfaction,
and to embark on new paths to authentic freedom. No system can completely
suppress our openness to what is good, true and beautiful, or our God-given ability
to respond to his grace at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to everyone throughout
the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from
us.”

Pope urges us to respond to the signs of the times, e.g. the ecological crisis we are
all experiencing especially the global problem: Climate Change.

He emphasizes on the need for ecological conversion, embracing ecological

citizenship thru the cultivation of ecological virtues, leading to selfless ecological
commitment.

But What is the Root Cause of our Ecological Crisis?

1. Concern for Nature

2. The Human Roots of the Present Ecological Crisis
3. Environmental, Social and Human Degradation
4. Technocratic Paradigm. and Modern Anthropocentrism
 5. Problem Tree Analysis

I. Environmental, Social and Human Degradation

The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together;

We cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to

causes related to human and social degradation....

In fact, the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most
vulnerable people on the planet:

Both everyday experience and scientific research show that the gravest
effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest. -
Laudato Si, 48

On the INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ALL THINGS

When we speak of the “environment”, what we really mean is a relationship existing

between nature and the society which lives in it.

Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere

setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant
interaction with it. Recognizing the reasons why a given area is polluted requires a
study of the workings of society, its economy, its behavior patterns, and the ways it
grasps reality. - Laudato Si, 139

It is essential to seek comprehensive solutions which consider the interactions

within natural systems themselves and with social systems.We are faced not with
two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with
one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.

Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty,

restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature. - Laudato
Si, 139

II. Technocratic Paradigm

Many problems of today’s world stem from the tendency: To make the methods and
aims of science and technology an epistemological paradigm, which shapes the
lives of individuals and the workings of society. (LS107)

The paradigm urges us to accept that technological products are not neutral. The
reason is that they create a framework which ends up conditioning lifestyles and
shaping social possibilities along the lines dictated by the interests of certain
powerful groups. Decisions which may seem purely instrumental are in reality
decisions about the kind of society we want to build. (LS 107)
Technocratic Paradigm:

• “when technology disregards the great ethical principles, it ends up

considering any practice whatsoever as licit.” (LS 136)
• a combination of “Technology + Greed = Disaster” (Reese, Thomas )
• The way that humanity has taken up technology and its development
according to an undifferentiated and one-dimensional paradigm.
• This paradigm exalts the concept of a subject who, using logical and rational
procedures, progressively approaches and gains control over an external
object...(LS 106) = a kind of SECULARISM, when one is already playing
God.
• We forget to halt before “the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

An example of a “subject who progressively approaches and gains control over an

external object” is given below. “Halting before the Tree of the Knowledge...” means
there is no due consideration for what is good and bad. >>>

Chinese ships leave broken reefs in West PH Sea after ‘destructive’ clam
harvest — report

By The Manila Times May 21, 2019

Chinese vessels left trails of broken reefs in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)
following a resumption of clam harvesting activities in the last six months, a
Washington-based think-tank reported. Satellite images from Asia Maritime
Transparency Initiative (AMTI) showed the damage brought by the “destructive”
methods used in the harvesting clams.

**
Technocratic Paradigm is the opposite of synthesis or integration; it is the greatest
example of reductionism - (Stollenwerk Daniel J.)

REDUCTIONISM = when knowledge is not integrated; or when in focusing only to a

particular field of knowledge one does not see or fails to see (intentionally turning a
blind eye) the connection with other knowledge/research/ sciences/ disciplines…
Therefore, has a narrow perspective on which dangerous prescriptions or solutions
may be based.

Laudato Si (2015) advocates the environmental science principle that states:

“Everything is connected” or Interrelated. Hence, the need for integration or
synthesis.

The beginning of Ecological Garbage is Moral Garbage. - Venerable Archbishop

Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

How are (1) environmental deterioration, and (2) human and ethical
degradation closely linked?
1. Economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority
tends to be given to … the pursuit of financial gain, which fail to take into account
the effects on human dignity and the natural environment.

2. Economists, financiers and experts in technology believes in this Lie: That there
is an infinite supply of the earth’s goods, and this leads to the planet being
squeezed dry beyond every limit. (LS 106)

Many people will deny doing anything wrong because distractions** constantly dull
our consciousness of just how limited and finite our world really is. As a result,
“whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a
deified market, which become the only rule.” (LS 56)

** Distractions result from the phenomenon called RAPIDIFICATION where

everything is fast and rapid, just like in a “rat race.” We have no time to
contemplate. We become impatient. Everything should be instant, fast, and QUICK.
Even in front of a technology, we look as though we are in a “trance.”

What is a Quick-fix mentality?

1. Because of “rapidification,” the continued acceleration of changes affecting

humanity and the planet is coupled today with a more intensified pace of life
and work. (LS 18)
2. When science and technology are the only solutions to environmental
problems; when concern for practicality and efficiency is the only concern.
(LS 8)
How true is this in our daily routine? Christians are Called to Caring
Stewardship, and Contemplation.

III. Anthropocentric, technocentric-mechanistic environmental worldviews

Man’s attitude towards the environment at the dawn of industrialization is

“anthropocentric” and mechanistic.

Anthropocentric environmental world view sees man as the most important creature
or species and therefore all forms of development that will supply his needs and
wants are deemed justifiable.

This results to a mechanistic regard for all the elements of nature “as merely
objects to which humans attach utilitarian values.”

With this kind of environmental worldview, man continues to believe that the rich
and teeming natural resources are always at his disposal and therefore can be
exploited.

Activity: Watch the video on the following link >>>

“How to Save Our Planet”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Puv0Pss33M

God bless and have a great day!