The goal of this lecture will be to identify points of convergence between the great religious traditions in addressing human-nature relations, as well as presenting a critical evaluation of whether those approaches have in fact affect environmental conservation in representative countries. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism have been considered.
The main traditions considered are: (1) dominion: humans are at the top of Creation and use the natural resources as needed; (2) stewardship: humans have a delegate dominion over Creation and are responsible and accountable for their use of natural resources; (3) empathy: nature follows moral behavior of humans; (4) analogy: nature is an image of God; (5) God worshipper, nature gives glory to God (6) natural mysticism, union with God is accomplished through contemplation of the created world; (7) worship: nature is sacred. These approaches are not necessary conflicting, but rather they can be considered in some cases as complementary. Their actual impact of water and environmental conservation should be further researched.
