DRAFT OF A CHAPTER
Charles
P. Poole, Jr.
Original version 1985; rewritten
CONTENTS
1. Creation is for Man’s Use
2. Debts that We Owe
3. Resources and the Future
4. Justice and Energy
5. Conserving Resources and the
Environment
6. Christians Setting an Example
1. CREATION IS FOR
We
read in the first chapter of Genesis1 that God commanded man to
multiply, to take possession of the earth, and to have dominion over it. This is clearly not just a command to Adam
and Eve but to their descendants; it applies to all mankind as long as people
continue to live on Earth. For justice
to prevail in the use of the Earth and its fruits we would expect their
distribution in both space and time to be an equitable one. This general principle of Spatio-Temporal
Morality (or Spatio-Temporal Equity) requires that 1)
during any particular era of time (i.e.;
time localized) the
inhabitants of every place in the world, that is, the citizens of every country,
have a right to the possession of, or the fair access to, the resources that
they need, and 2) at every place in the world (i.e., space localized) the people of all the successive
generations that will live there have a right to their share of the intrinsic
natural resources at that location in space.
This latter space-localized aspect of Spatio-Temporal
Morality has not been treated theologically as much as the former
time-localized aspect because it is only during recent generations that the
world has evolved to the point where some resources are beginning to
dwindle. At the dawn of history land for
hunting, farming, cattle raising, building homes,
etc., seemed in unlimited supply, and all could take what they wanted.
Then with the growth of population the necessity of applying the first
principle became evident. The available
land and resources gradually become possessions of particular nations or
empires, but at that time the resources still remained abundant. Things changed
during the 20th century as the world population continued to grow, and the limitations
of some natural resources started to become evident. More recently the urgency
for conserving natural resources makes it imperative for us to begin applying the space-localized aspect of Spatio-Temporal
Morality.
2. DEBTS THAT WE OWE
From
another point of view, time-localized Spatio-Temporal
Morality prompts us to pose the question: what debt do we, living in our home
town in the year 2006, owe to those less fortunate than we who live in other
cities and other countries at the present time?
In like manner space-localized Spatio-Temporal
Morality prompts us to pose the analogous question: what debt do we, living in
our home town in the year 2006 owe to the future generations who will inhabit
our home town and populate our country?
The
population of the world is presently doubling every forty or fifty years in
most parts of the world. This means that
well over half of the people who have ever lived were alive during the
twentieth century. Since every human
being is of equal worth, we may conclude that the present and the future are of
especial importance because so many people are around now to worship God, and
so many are crying for help in their poverty and suffering.
3. RESOURCES
The
pre-industrial society of our ancestors was characterized by agriculture and
mining, the use of natural power, a skill base of artisans and farmers, and an
orientation toward the past. The industrial society of the twentieth century
emphasizes engineering skills, continual economic growth, and the exploitation
of resources with consequent undesirable effects such as pollution. In the
post-industrial society2 that we are now entering the emphasis will
be on trade,
transportation, health, education, and welfare3. The important resources will be information,
computers, and fundamental science.
There will be an emphasis on the future, on forecasting and planning,
and on recycling. Our present energy
crisis is calling public attention to the forthcoming end of fossil fuels such
as coal and petroleum as major sources of energy. Instead we are proceeding inexorably toward
energy conversion devices using continuously and widely available fuel sources
such as sunlight4,5 and perhaps nuclear
fusion. This change in energy
perspective is both symptomatic of, and an integral part of, the dawn of the
post-industrial society. Our theology
must take these developments into account.
4. JUSTICE
One
salient characteristic of fossil fuel energy sources is their uneven
distribution over the surface of the Earth.
Because of the increasing interdependence of countries for both energy
and other factors, it might be worthwhile to consider the general principle:
Countries with a surplus or the possibility of producing a surplus of resources
or products have the moral obligation of making appreciable amounts of their
surpluses available to countries in need, without discrimination. This principle includes countries rich in raw
materials, countries rich in energy, those advanced in technological
development, etc. Not only should
availability be assured, but reasonable price levels should also be preserved.
So
far as energy is concerned there is a long range trend away from
interdependence. Resources for long
range energy development such as solar energy and fusion are or can be
available to all countries locally, so in the future many countries may become
energy independent.
5. CONSERVING RESOURCES
During
the next few years energy will be less plentiful and more expensive,
hence conservation is the order of the day. There is, moreover, a more
fundamental problem that concerns the intrinsic morality of wastefulness in
general. There are two criteria of
waste; one is whether or not the individual can afford it, and the other is
whether or not society can afford it. We
are now at the point in history when society can no longer tolerate the
squandering of resources. To continue
this squandering would be a collective sin of all responsible parties. Moral guidelines should be formulated for
acceptable and proscribed uses of energy.
Since the shortage is real, the exigency for the guidelines is
real.
An
issue related to conservation is pollution.
We should use energy in a manner that does not appreciably pollute the
environment, and perhaps the worst case is automobile exhaust pollution. It is a sin of global proportions not to be
sensitive to, and not to help with, eliminating this blight of contemporary
society.
6. CHRISTIANS SETTING AN
EXAMPLE
The
Church and individual Christians should show the country and the world by their
example that they are determined to be in the forefront of efforts to conserve
energy and eliminate unnecessary pollution. For example, all priests,
ministers, nuns, lay leaders, etc., should be encouraged, or more appropriately
urged, to drive small cars equipped with efficient anti-pollution devices. In times of tragedy and disaster the clergy
are traditionally in the front lines administering to the afflicted and the
needy. The advent of scarcity
constitutes a type of creeping general disaster which provides opportunities
for the faithful of the Church to serve in leadership and support roles. In the last generation many Church
organizations lost a great deal of prestige by not being at the forefront of
the fight for civil rights. We must now
outdo others in the fight for conservation.
REFERENCES
1. Genesis,
Chap. 1, verse 28.
2. D.
3. E. Ginsberg, The Pluralistic Economy of the
United States, Scientific American, Vol. 235, p. 25,
Dec. 1976
4. W. D. Loveland, B. Spinrad,
and C. H. Wang, Proc. Conf. Magnitude and Development Schedule of Energy
Resources,, July 21-23, 1975; Publ. Oregon State
Univ., 1975.
5. A. L. Hammond, W. D. Metz, and T. H. Maugh, Energy and the Future, Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Washington DC, 1963.