Guest Speaker: Jane Haproff

Today in class, our guest speaker Jane Haproff discussed with us the ties between religion and our environment. She highlighted several of the main religions roots and views of the environment. Some religions, such as Hinduism, revere life in any form. In these religions, they feel that all life is ensouled with the "gods". Thus, people who practice this religion have a very sacred view of nature, and live more as equals with nature than trying to dominate it. Christianity on the other hand views the material world as a place of suffering to be escaped from, Heaven being our true home. In this religion, humans are greater in hierarchy than other organisms in nature. These differing roots of religion help us define how we look at and treat the environment. Different religions view our roles as humans in the world differently. Some religions view our role to be dominate over the environment. Whereas others view our purpose to be stewards of the land, needing to cultivate and care for it. Although all of the religions differ in one way or another, the way we treat our environment and view its meaning can be found in a society's religious roots.