Environmental Security and Christianity in the Context of Globalization

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleЭкологическая безопасность и христианство в условиях глобализации
3. Language term Russian
4. lemma author Asliturk, Miriam
5. lemma category Ecology and the environment
6. Publication date 05-07-2018
7. lemma work Круглова, Галина Анатольевна [Author]. Экологическая безопасность и христианство в условиях глобализации
8. lemma manifestations История и современность
9. Keywords environmental protection - ascetism - Russian Orthodoxy - materialism - Russian Orthodox Church - ecological crisis - Protestant Church - Catholic Church - monasticism
10. Url Click Here
11. Citations
    1. <p>Круглова, Г. А. (2015). Экологическая безопасность и христианство в условиях глобализации. <em>История и современность</em>, (1 (21)), 206-218. Retrieved from: <a href="https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ekologicheskaya-bezopasnost-i-hristianstvo-v-usloviyah-globalizatsii">https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ekologicheskaya-bezopasnost-i-hristianstvo-v-usloviyah-globalizatsii</a> </p>
12. Lemma body

    1. The article argues that environmental security can be ensured by the "ecological restructuring" of thinking of the of whole mankind. It implies a change in the social and individual consciousness towards a more humane attitude to nature. State and public institutions of all countries are to coordinate their activities in order to bring about the formation of a “universal environmental consciousness.” Religious organizations thus can play their role in this process.

       Christianity developed its own approach to prevent the current ecological crisis. Orthodox thinkers, without limiting themselves to general calls for the need to improve religious and moral relations, put forward the principle of "Christian asceticism" in relation to nature as one of the basic requirements for overcoming the ecological crisis. This "new asceticism" means above all "asceticism in the world," that is, non-monastic asceticism, and basically implies the limitation of human needs in everyday life. The agricultural practices of Russian monasteries in the Middle Ages are represented as an ideal of asceticism and ecological economic activities. The author is critical of this approach by pointing out that in praising the monastic economy, theologians completely disregard the economic conditions that defined the "economic asceticism" of monastic communities and forget about the low level of development of the productive forces of that time. A return to these principles will require, in her view, a return to the same level of production, which would hinder the progressive development of society.

       At the same time the author praises other of Russian Orthodox Church’s ecological efforts such as the call for adding to the list of human rights "the right to protect the environment," which the Russian Orthodox Church came up with, quite early. The Russian Orthodox Church was also one of the first ones among world religions that assessed the weapons of mass destruction as one of the factors creating an environmental threat.

       Catholic thinkers unambiguously reduce environmental problems – which include numerous meteorological and atmospheric changes detrimental to health, arbitrary genetic manipulations and unacceptable intrusions into the very origins of human life, and link them to moral problems. The solution is believed to be only in the "primacy of ethics” over technology. Catholicism speaks of the development of social responsibility by each individual, which will eventually lead to the formation of an ecological consciousness based on a consistently moral vision of the world.

       Protestant traditions propose similar (to Orthodox and Catholic) solutions of the environmental crisis. As Orthodox thinkers, they develop the concept of a new asceticism which includes restriction and the worship of all living things, which would eventually replace the exploitation of nature by its harmony. They urge moderation in the consumption of natural resources and limiting population growth.

       The article concludes by stating that the above-mentioned positions of Christian churches are shared and supported by many scientists, public personalities and organisations (such as the Club of Rome).