“…Facing the Ecological Crisis”
Excerpt from: Fr. Dr. J. Buciora, “Theology of Nature: Ecclesiological Paradigms for Ecology”, in The Valley of Hope, 2016.
Man must understand the material nature in order to behave accordingly. Nature is a mystery that we have been called to discover. Man must be not only an explorer in the discovery of nature/logoi but also a creator in order to respect it. The call for man to enter the realm of discovery of nature is a dynamic movement which leads us towards the discovery of God. It is a mystery that brings us in front of the potentiality of natural resources and energy so needed to maintain the level of contemporary consumption. Even the contemporary theologians insist, although they are not scientists, that the tiniest particle of matter of nature contains within itself tremendous energy and power.
We have to learn how to read our nature in order to bring her closer to ourselves and discover the potential resources. If we are facing the ecological problem it is because we have lost a reverence for matter and ability to understand the logoi that are inherent in it. At this point we, as humanity, have learned how to manage and discover natural resources already existing in nature: natural gas, oil, the treasury of oceans, water, etc. At this point we have to ask ourselves how to sustain our consumption in a world where the natural resources are shrinking rapidly. If nature is a second revelation of God and in itself it is a mystery, then we have to direct our resources to discover the potential contained in nature.
We have learned to apply the economic element of our life to everything that we manufacture. It will be right to say that economy has to be a religious activity that penetrates the life of humanity and creation. In the context of growing market economy and shrinking natural resources we have to ask ourselves: what kind of economy do we see in the future if we want to be responsible to nature and to the consumerism of tomorrow. It is time for us to spend more financial resources on research to study nature in order to maintain it and to sustain the consumerism of today.
The discovery of new natural resources, pollution control, and a reversal of the destruction of nature with the entire spectrum of related challenges and problems depends on the technological knowledge and a greater wisdom and skill of human kind. This in return asks us to rethink and reshape our approach to nature and the entire world. The mystery of nature offers us a potential to satisfy the needs of contemporary consumption and the future for the generations to come…
On a daily basis are we responsible for the pollution of rivers, seas, and the atmosphere, the destruction of trees, the forests turned into lunar landscapes, the accumulation of radioactive residues in living creatures, etc.? The recovery of nature to its original state follows the acknowledged recognition of our action. The world has to act together in order to bring those responsible for destruction of nature to justice.
The Kyoto agreement on the emission of greenhouse gases might be the best opportunity for humanity to act and to press our governments to act. The lobbying of environmental agencies and resources of the world would be the right step towards this path. The only difficulty we can perceive here is the fact that all of us should be responsible for the world. The fact that we have to lobby for the strength against our governments and companies indicates the weakness of humanity and interest of man. The environmental crisis affects not only the chosen ones, but the entire humanity all together. The other question which has to be addressed here is the question of this conference on consumerism. Is consumerism responsible for the contemporary crisis in ecology? Based on the said above it has to be emphasized that an aggressive consumerism secured by technology is a form of abuse of the world that has to be rejected and reinterpreted by all of us.