We didn't delve into this that much
but I particularly like it because it is a continuation of the preferential
option for the poor concept. Poor though doesn't just mean people but also the
environment. It is now literally poor in nutrients and nowadays, we see more
brown than green. That's nature calling out an S.O.S. Until now, not a lot of
people can hear or choose to listen to that cry. It is frustrating because we
are killing ourselves and blaming society for everything tat's gone wrong, as
if we had nothing to do with it. Becker puts it as man's self-destructive
choices that are predetermined by the sociological contexts we are in. The problem is we have been so enamored by
the idea of growth and prosperity, and development of the human race that all
things come second to that. Man's history is one of selfish destructiveness.
For starters, we domesticated animals meant to run free so that we can have
something to eat. We then enslave them to make our daily tasks easier (um hello
horse power ring a bell?)We use precious plant material for our petty wants
like cosmetics. We have treated nature as servants to man and what's even worse
is the fact that people rationalize this by saying this is a reaffirmation of
man's being "number one" in the eyes of God.
This all goes
back to the creation stories in Genesis. The second story recounts how God saw
that it was not good for man to be alone, and sought out a companion for him.
This reiterates the point Becker made by saying that the natural world is not
merely intended for subjugation by human beings but for companionship.
Subjugation entails a claim to power that is always at risk of being exploited
that is why it must be offset by the call to responsibility. This call is best
manifested in stewardship. "The nonhuman world has been given to human
beings for our good, to be used responsibly for our self-development, to answer
to our purposes and thus to fulfill God's purpose in creating it."
The call to
companionship implies mutuality. The risk here though is the reduction of the
thou to an it. "The reduction of 'thou' to 'it' results from making the
other into an extension of oneself. The other becomes mine … 'It' can be
manipulated in order to fulfill the task which I set, for 'it' belongs to me.
'it' has no intrinsic value, only the instrumental value that I assign
it." The nonhuman world has been treat as an it for so long. Sure, the
world was provided so that man can live off it, subdue it, but that doesn't
give man the right to use it all up. I saw a video recently and it was entitled
"Everything Wrong With Man." It shows how man keeps using nature for
our own personal gains and how nature is having a hard time keeping up until
there is nothing left in nature but man in his big chair.
In the Himes
& Himes reading, they talk about how all of creation is united in the sense
that we are all creatures. Everything exists because God loves it and wills it
to existence. This means that everything is a sacrament of God's goodness.
Himes & Himes say that to be a sacrament is to reveal the grace of God to
others. They talk about how the realization that all creation is a sacrament of
the love of God provides the deepest foundation for reverencing creation. This
goes back to the fundamental idea that nonhuman creation is thou and not it and
can never be it. Hence we have here a reframing of the meaning of subjugation
and companionship as a relationship of trust and mutual respect. You allow
yourself to trust another person that he or she will not take advantage of you
and on the other hand, you have to respect a person as not to take advantage of
another.
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