soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM

earth. W i l l the Australian Church answer the call or pass by
on the other side?
How does this challenqe fit our western tradition?
At the risk of repeating some of the concepts touched on by
White and Stott, recent Australian contributions to the
subject of environmental ethics deserve attention here. Few
have grappled more sincerely with the environmental ethic of
our western democracies, than Robin Attfield (1984). He
draws heavily on Passmore's interesting book "Mans
Responsibility for Nature" (1974) and on the writings of the
two Routleys in their "The Fight for the Forests" (1975). We
would do well to take note of what these Australian writers
have to say about the Christian view of nature and how the
Hebrews, Aquinas and Calvin interpreted the relationship
between man and other creatures. Attfield refers to the
"Christian humanitarians" and explains their sensitivity to
the earth's creatures (if not to the earth itself) in terms
of Christian charity. Perhaps the time is ripe in Australia
to examine the way in which a caring secular society and the
Church can focus on those values common to both groups. This
may reduce some of the unnecessary polarization and
misunderstanding which leads to alienation. A checklist of
the ingredients of a sustainable society could act as a
useful basis for such a seekjng of consensus.
In conclusion, I return to my own homespun philosophy,
published in the South African Journal of Agricultural
Extension (Roberts, 1974): "The real conservationist is a
special kind of person, with sound motivations, patient
confidence and above all a compassionate understanding of,
and a humble unselfish approach to, his God-given
environment. I cannot avoid the compelling similarity
between the practicing environmentalist and the personality
traits held up for us by the great religions of the world.
Indeed the similarity deserves our closest attention ... it
is my belief that our only salvation lies at the very deepest
levels of our national character. " melve years later and on
the other side of the earth I still believe this.