Can there be a spiritual alternative to the consumerist mentality?

  1. Lemma
  2. Возможна ли духовная альтернатива потребительскому менталитету?
  3. Russian
  4. Asliturk, Miriam
  5. Ecology and the environment
  6. 09-07-2018
  7. Котов, Владимир [Author]. Возможна ли духовная альтернатива потребительскому менталитету?
  8. Церковь и экология
  9. Russian Orthodox Church - Climate change - ethics - morality
  10. Click Here
    1. <p>Котов, Владимир (2000). Возможна ли духовная альтернатива потребительскому менталитету? Церковь и экология. Retrieved from: <a href="http://kotov.narod.ru/ecologia.htm">http://kotov.narod.ru/ecologia.htm</a> </p>

    1. In August 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a document on the social concepts of the church. The author criticizes the document for the lack of detailed commentary on the ecology from the Russian Orthodox Church compared to other Churches. The author cites the views of the priest Andrei Kurayev. According to Kurayev, the Russian Orthodox Church should not position itself on questions it has no control over, such as climate change. The only suggestion the Russian Orthodox Church can offer is preaching an ascetic anti-consumerist lifestyle.

      Kurayev, however, believes that such a discourse is useless in Russia because the majority of the population is poor. Rather, G7 countries should be concerned by over-consumption, as their populations use more resources than they need. For Kurayev, it makes more sense to teach Christ’s covenants without the scare of natural disasters triggered by climate change.

      The author agrees that consumerism is a problem because it implies buying not the products that one needs but the ones offered and advertised. According to him, we live in a system that promotes values of constant consumption of goods and this is harmful for the environment. Therefore, ecological problems stem from ethical problems, and these must be solved.