While not everyone agrees that we need to be much more concerned about our planet, no one can disagree that environmental ecology is a hot topic.
Pope Benedict XVI gave us his perspective on environmental ecology in his third and what was to be his final encyclical in 2009. While the focus of the encyclical was on economics, his teaching on right to life and the environment is profound.
“If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to natural death, if human conception, gestation, and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves. The book of nature is one and indivisible: it takes in not only the environment but also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations: in a word, integral human development. Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 51, par. 3).
A Metaphor for Understanding
A symphony is an apt metaphor for understanding the relationship between the right to life and environmental ecology. In a symphony, each instrument contributes its unique voice to the harmonious whole.
Environmentally, the myriad species on our planet play vital roles in the intricate ecological orchestra. Disturb one instrument, and the entire symphony’s harmony is at risk. Similarly, every life form has the intrinsic right to exist, and disrupting this harmony can result in the collapse of the entire ecological system.
In the book of Genesis, the Bible illustrates this harmonious relationship in the creation story. It emphasizes our shared origins and interconnected destinies. Genesis 1:28 says, ” God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.”
From the very beginning then, humans are given dominion over other species. We should not, however, misconstrue this as a license to exploit. Instead, we should interpret this as a command calling us to be responsible stewards.
Right to Life
The ‘right to life’ is a principle underpinning many human rights discourses. It champions the belief that every human has the inherent right to live.
Analogous to the strings section of the symphony, the right to life is fundamental, setting the tone and rhythm for all other rights.
However, this right extends beyond humans to encompass God’s creations. In the Book of Job, God asks Job, ” Who provides nourishment for the raven when its young cry out to God, wandering about without food?” (Job 38:41). Here, it is clear that all creatures have the right to life and survival.
Environmental Ecology
The concept of environmental ecology is akin to the symphony’s conductor. It orchestrates the interaction of organisms with their environment. If the conductor falters, so too, does the orchestra. The same is true for our environment.
The health of each organism, including human beings, is intrinsically linked to the health of our shared environment. This environmental interdependence is a recurring theme in the Bible. In Psalms 104:14, for instance, it says, “You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants for people’s work to bring forth food from the earth . . . “
Indeed, when we pollute the air, it is not just the birds that suffer; we, too, breathe the same contaminated air. When we poison the rivers, we endanger the fish and put ourselves at risk as we depend on the same water. When we pollute the ocean, the consequences ripple throughout the delicate marine ecosystems, leading to severe ecological imbalances.
Far Reaching Effects
Pollution can harm fish, shellfish, and other marine life, potentially making them unsafe for human consumption. Ultimately, ocean pollution jeopardizes marine ecosystems and species. But it also has far-reaching implications for human well-being, including the economy, food security, and coastal communities that rely on healthy oceans for their livelihoods.
A bountiful and healthy Earth ensures sustenance for all its inhabitants. This highlights the direct link between the right to life and environmental ecology. The symphony relies on each musician’s skills to deliver a mesmerizing performance. Environmental ecology also depends on the diverse skills, roles, and functions of all organisms within the ecosystem.
In the biblical parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), Jesus speaks of how the smallest seed, when nurtured, grows into a large tree, providing shelter for birds. This parable is a powerful metaphor for how caring for our environment can support all life forms. Suppose the tiniest seed can sustain an ecosystem. What more if we, as stewards, maintain the health and vibrancy of the entire planet?
The Relationship
The relationship between the right to life and environmental ecology is a dance of interdependence and harmony. It is very much like the relationship between the strings and conductor in a symphony.
Every life form has the divine right to exist, thrive, and contribute to the ecological masterpiece. Yet, each is also responsible for maintaining the health of the planet that sustains us. As stewards of God’s creation, we must ensure the symphony continues to play. We must do so not just for our sake but for all who share this earthly stage, and for our children, and for our children’s children!
How can a political party be so positively adamant about green energy policies and at the same time be so negatively entrenched on its pro-life positions? This seems to be a disconnect in ideologies. It leaves one to wonder why. Are there other factors that we are not aware of?
Consider again, Pope Benedict’s words in Caritas in Veritate, “Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others.”
The relationship between the right to life and environmental ecology is inextricably interconnected. This relationship is very much like the symphony that depends on both its conductor and its instruments to create a harmonious melody.
Conclusion
The interplay between life and environment is not just confined within religious or philosophical narratives. It should guide our political ideologies, practices, and policies as well.
The intricate connection between the individual and the environment reflects our innate responsibility towards our fellow beings and our shared world. Just as we champion policies that protect the environment, so too, should we advocate for the inherent rights of all life forms.
The dichotomy observed in a political party that calls for green policies and espouses abortion is disconcerting. It illuminates a failure to fully comprehend the breadth and depth of this interdependence. How can a party espouse environmentally conscious ideologies while seemingly neglecting the pro-life perspective?
Indeed, it brings into question the integrity of such green policies if the right to life for all beings is overlooked or disregarded. It is essential to rectify this disconnect in ideologies. We must all recognize that the preservation of our environment is intertwined with the rights of every organism that inhabits it.
As Pope Benedict XVI succinctly noted in Caritas in Veritate, our obligations towards the environment are inseparable from our duties towards the human person. Our collective goal should be to respect and uphold these values for the betterment of all organisms that share this Earth, our future generations, and the planet’s sustainability.
A holistic approach considers the intrinsic value of every life and the health of the environment. It is a crucial pathway to fostering an equitable, sustainable, and vibrant world.
The symphony of harmonious co-existence that will ensure the longevity of our shared Earth. It preserves the divine orchestra of life and nature for generations to come.
7 thoughts on “The Harmonic Interplay: Right to Life and Environmental Ecology”
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Let’s just call your essay the evolution of the seamless garment. Who is going to say that polluted water or polluted air is good or that man cannot cause such pollution by willful or negligent action? So to that extent, we ought to be prudent, charitable, sober, frugal, humble. In other words, the virtues our faith teaches are taught for a reason. It’s unnecessary to look beyond them to some ecological ideology that actually impinges on human rights. Return to humility, for a moment, and compare that to the notion through human agency this earth can be perfected.
To say as you did “all creatures have a right to life and survival” is in error. Your proof text from Job is actually the proof that all is in the agency of God who’s reason is not our reason. Likewise, the parable of the mustard seed does not teach that God has ensured adequate sustenance for all earth’s inhabitants, but rather that the kingdom of heaven in stark contrast has provision for all people. In fact the earth is a place of scarce resources over which creatures compete, some inevitably unsuccessfully. While God does know when a sparrow falls from the sky, sparrows nevertheless fall from the sky as, over the eons, do some entire species. We can, of course, trace all this back to original sin and the radical solution to it God has undertaken, all of which cries out that the earth is not perfectible, or even salvageable by our methods. This is important to understand in the interests of human life, the value and necessity of which has been called into question by ecological ideologies that do not acknowledge the centrality of humanity to the earth and indeed the universe.
This brings me to my final objection to your essay, that these questions are in some way essential to the insistence on the right to HUMAN life. It may be unsavory to kill a dog for dinner, but it is certainly not morally objectionable, and the right to life of that dog is delimited by human, not divine agency. The right to human life is in no way comparable to a dog’s right to life. It stands alone in inherency, and to put the two in the same seamless garment is to confuse and cheapen the arguments that make abortion and infanticide the unique atrocity they surely are. For decades now Catholic Democrats have used the seamless garment logic to promote individuals to office who have no problem killing children but tout their wonderful economic policies. Of course with the emergence of a “faith based” ecological ideology they have no problem continuing to promote such individuals who tout their wonderful ecological policies. Mass, legal abortion and infanticide are unique atrocities that bear no relation ship to the imprudent use of aerosol sprays or the overwatering of lawns or the quality of catalytic converters etc. etc. etc.. Want to end abortion? For starters quit talking about it as if it is an issue like any other.
” … all of which cries out that the earth is not perfectible, …”
of course it is, and humanity will prove it. What is not perfectible is the soul because
only God has dominion over that.
“How can a party espouse environmentally conscious ideologies while seemingly neglecting the pro-life perspective?”
On the other hand, how can one party proclaim itself prolife and actively oppose programs that help mothers and children, deny climate change, actively promote fossil fuels
and oppose programs designed to preserve the environment?
Let’s see, Pennsylvania’s Governor is defunding Crisis Pregnancy Centers. I guess, this is what one means in not helping mothers and children. And no, I hope for the others, we are not content with chasing windmills. Climate always changes. And the COVID vaccine? Another example of science at work?
The parable of the mustard seed is about the growth of the church. It has exactly nothing to do with caring for the environment. And I long for the day when popes will get back to actually proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of offering us their opinions on every subject under the sun.