dc.description.abstract | As the awareness of the environmental crisis has increased, numerous
scholars, environmentalists and other vocal groups have stood to defend the
environment. In the meantime, much of the onus of responsibility for the
ecological crisis is placed by many upon the Judeo-Christian religion. This is
evident from the writings of a well known figure as American Historian Lynn
White.
White's borne of contention is that modern science and technology rose
and grew during the Middle Ages. Christianity with its doctrine of creation it
inherited from Judaism, was spreading during the same period. That being the
case, science and technology were tinctured with this Christian teachings of
arrogance and dominion over nature. Therefore, Christianity bears the blame for
the current ecological crisis. This study thus critically examines White's views on the Judeo-Christian
religion. This is with a view to establish, whether or not the Judeo-Christian
religion is responsible for the current ecological crisis. This constitutes the
objective of the study.
It was concluded that the Judeo-Christian religion is not the root cause of
the current ecological crisis. This conclusion was contingent upon the
understanding that, the current ecological crisis is a global problem and not
restricted to areas dominated by Christianity. Next, the Judeo-Christian religion
never created an atmosphere conducive for the development of science and
technology among other reasons. It was established that, ignorance, greed, egoism and shortsightedness are
the major causes of the current ecological crisis. All the aforementioned are social
behaviors. So to curb the problem of environmental degradation, it was
recommended that we need to change our behaviour towards the environment. It
was hoped that, with the implementation of this recommendation, the rate at which
the environment is being degraded will be brought to minimum. | en |