Does the beauty and majesty of the natural world need to be tied to a higher or more spiritual force to be truly understood Why or why not Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Does the Beauty and Majesty of the Natural World Need to Be Tied to a Higher or More Spiritual Force to Be Truly Understood? An Assignment Submitted by Name of Student Name of Establishment Class XXXX, Section XXXX, Winter 2013 Abstract The question of nature’s spirituality reaches far beyond theoretical ethical debates. Decision making in various industries and individual lives is profoundly influenced by the role of nature in human worldview. As religious doctrines are diverse and assign different roles to the elements of environment, it is argued here that the value of nature should be separated from divine forces. Even in the cases when nature itself is considered divine, more conscious attitude to one’s own religious beliefs is psychologically beneficial. Some objections to this view are examined and followed by counterarguments related to current environmental ethics and politics. Does the Beauty and Majesty of the Natural World Need to Be Tied to a Higher or More Spiritual Force to Be Truly Understood? People need to have values in life. The need for spirituality is proven by psychological studies (Schroeder, 1992) and numerous moments of our daily experience. We will write a custom essay sample on Does the beauty and majesty of the natural world need to be tied to a higher or more spiritual force to be truly understood Why or why not or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now We want to transcend the limits of our own personalities by experiencing Other, be it in God, nature, or other entities (Schroeder, 1992, p. 25). Protection of environment is another acute need of humanity. There are numerous ways of satisfying these two necessities. The difference between them lies in the question where is the Other. Or, to put it playfully, who is the Significant Other? Once a person has decided, it becomes clear what God and nature mean to him or her. For pantheists and deep ecologists, nature is valuable by definition (Naess, 1973). For most of the believers of world religions, nature is beautiful and majestic as long as its phenomena are sanctioned by some deity. Even pagans worship the deities of streams, trees, and rocks, not nature itself. But regardless from the forces considered divine in any one of these cases, the value of nature should not be mediated and limited by any other values. Firstly, the mediation of the value of nature with God or other deities results in unethical treatment of some elements of natural environment. In religion, a certain order is usually imposed upon the world. It often establishes some hierarchy: many animals are believed to be ‘unclean’ or ‘sacred’ in various religions, and the believers treat those animals accordingly. Usually, this inequality does not result in animal massacres or maltreatment, but it has subtler implications for the entire ecosystems.