Advanced Technologies and Responsible Stewardship

I've run into quite a few goofy ideas about natural resources, environmental concerns, and human beings. Some of them may have fallen out of fashion: I'm quite sure that others haven't. The crazier ones include:

• Natural resources
  • Are infinite
  • May be plundered
    • The Bible says so
  • Won't last long
    • We're doomed
• Environmental concerns
  • Have priority over everything else
  • Are for crazy people
  • Involve abandoning technology
    • Invented after about 1850
  • Mean culling human populations to 'sustainable' levels
• Human beings
  • Own the natural world
  • Are destroying the natural world

I'd say that I'm oversimplifying: but I've run into 'all of the above' at one time or another.

Sane Environmentalism

At the risk of seeming churlish: I don't think that we have "too many" human beings; and I do think that it's not 1970 any more:

• "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
  (May 6, 2010)
• "Earth Day, 2010 - or - We Won: Deal With It"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (April 22, 2010)

On the other hand, I think it's important that we be smart about using natural resources.

Genesis, Stewardship, and Getting a Grip

The first chapter of Genesis doesn't say 'do thou go forth and plunder the earth, make foul the seas, and blacken the skies with soot.' Granted, some folks may think that's what Genesis 1:28 means:

"God blessed them, saying: '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 move on the earth.' "
(Genesis 1:28)

I'm a Catholic, so I'm not allowed to misuse natural resources:

• Creation is
  • Orderly
  • Good
  • Made with humanity in mind
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 299)
• Humans
  • Must
    • Respect the particular goodness of every creature
    • Avoid any disordered use of creation
      • Doing so would
        • Show contempt of the Creator
        • Hurt people
    (Catechism, 339)
  • Are supposed to "subdue the earth"
    • As stewards, to
      • Not destroy
      • Act responsibly
    (Catechism, 373)

We're part of this creation, too: and basically good, too. Genesis 1:31 and all that. Since I'm Catholic, my view of "original sin" isn't that humanity is a botched job. And that's another topic. (July 11, 2012)

Technology's Okay: Irresponsibility Isn't

Like I said, we have "dominion" over nature, the same way a steward had "dominion" over an estate. We're responsible for managing the natural world:

"...Human beings legitimately exercise a responsible stewardship over nature, in order to protect it, to enjoy its fruits and to cultivate it in new ways, with the assistance of advanced technologies, so that it can worthily accommodate and feed the world's population...."
("Caritas in Veritate," 50)

Long-range planning comes with the job:

"...At the same time we must recognize our grave duty to hand the earth on to future generations in such a condition that they too can worthily inhabit it and continue to cultivate it...."
("Caritas in Veritate," 50)

I don't think that science and technology will solve all our problems. But I'm quite sure that they aren't to blame for all our problems, either. I've quoted Job 5:7 before.

I'm also quite sure that this famous quote is wrong: "Everything that can be invented has been invented." As it turns out, that's not what Charles Holland Duell said, and that's yet another topic.

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More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

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Related posts:

• Energy
  • "Living in Minnesota: Or, Why We Need a Furnace"
    (January 7, 2013)
  • "Energy Resources, Change, and Assumptions"
    (December 31, 2012)
  • "Common Sense and New Light 'Bulbs' "
    (December 3, 2012)
  • "Power Stations in Space: No Panacea; But No Kidding, Either"
    Apathetic Lemming of the North (December 2, 2009)
  • "Beach House is Energy-Efficient. Also Looks Cool"
    Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 4, 2009)
• Technology
  • "Influenza, Nostalgia, Science, Ethics, and Me"
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    Particularly
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  • " 'Inevitable Progress;' 'We're All Gonna Die;' and Getting a Grip"
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  • "7,000,000,000 People, More or Less: Why I'm Not Alarmed"
    (October 31, 2011)
  • "Horses, Gothic Cathedrals, and a Faith That Matters"
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    Particularly
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  • "Mirrors, Television, and MP3 Players"
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• Stewardship
  • "Nature: and the Responsible Use of Freedom"
    (November 19, 2012)
  • "Nature: 'Wise Use,' Yes;
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    (November 12, 2012)
  • " 'The Natural Environment ... God's Gift to Everyone' "
    (October 29, 2012)
  • "Earth Day, 2012: This Catholic's View "
    (April 22, 2012)
  • "Environmental Awareness, Enlightened Self-Interest, and My Catholic Faith"
    (April 15, 2011)