"We came first as exiles, later as predators; love came late, if ever, and by the time we began to understand a little of the land, we already set a pattern of destruction." (Thomas Berry, 1987).
The religious context effecting the environmental crisis was the literal interpretation of the Genesis creation stories. "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Gen 1:28).
This has been misused to legitimate the exploitation of nature. The origional meaning of the tezt was not to license global pollution and the use of all natural resources. Nature no longer has value because we can benefit from its goodness, but the new interpretation according to Theologian Matthew Fox is that nature has value merely because it is beautiful.
Response in CCT:.
In 1987, Theologian Thomas Berry stated that to assault the earth, while being assured that this was the way to a better, more humane, more reasonable world. On the 1st of May, 1991, in an Encyclical letter "Animals are Gods creatures, God surrounds them with providential care. By their mere existence they bless God and give God glory. Thus humans owe them kindness" (CCC p2416).
FACTORS AFFECTING THE RESPONSE:.
In Pope John Paul II's Solicitudo Rei socialis no.34, he stated that a true concept of developments could not ignore the use of elements of nature, the renewablilty of resources and the consequences of the "Industrial Revolution" which were only three considerations which alter our conscienc, to the moral dimension of development/ .
Science is also a factor affectin the CCT's response to the EC. In the 1990's, science was able to identify specific cause and effect relationships in terms of the EC. Reactions of CFC's in aerosol cans, better land managements, investigation of alternate fuels.
EFFECTS WITHIN TRADITION.
