Ethics for Environment: Three Religious Strategies. Proceedings of a National Conference (University of Wisconsin--Green Bay, June 11-13, 1973)

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 093 646 SE 017 363 AUTHOR Steffenson, Dave, Ed.; And Others TITLE Ethics for Environment: Three Religious Strategies. Proceedings of a National Conference (University of Wisconsin--Green Bay, June 11-13, 1973). INSTITUTION Wisconsin Univ., Green Bay. PUB DATE 73 VOTE 137p.; A conference sponsored by: Faith-Man-Nature Group, Office of Environmental Education (HEW), University of Wisconsin--Green Bay, UWGB Ecumenical Center, and Wisconsin EnviroLmental Education Council AVAILABLE FROM University of Wisconsin--Green Bay, UWGB Ecumenical Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54302 ($2.00 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$6.60 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Conference Reports; *Ecology; *Environment; Environmental Influences; *Ethical Values; *Ethics; Land Use; Religious Factors ABSTRACT In an effort to promote and stimulate further dialogue and thought about the role of ethics and religion in the environmental movement, a conference entitled ',Ethics for Environment: Three Religious Strategies', was held at the University of Wisconsin--Green Bay in June 1973. Conference participants explored the elements of the Christian tradition--as well as of the Eastern religious and the Native American outlooks--which could be applicable to contemporary environmental problems.. In addition they sought to grapple with such questions as: Does the environment have rights? Should the church concern itself with environmental issues? What does a land ethic consist of? How can abstract ethical positions be applied to specific land use questions? The discussion of these questions is contained in the section, Reports of Value Task Groups. In addition, the five papers presented at this conference are included in the document. The titles of these papers are: The Role of Values and Ethics in Epvironmental Concerns; Reflections on the Alleged Ecological Bankruptcy of Western Theology; Eastern-Mystical Perspectives on Environment; Ethics for Environment: Native American Insights; and A Paradigm Case in Land Use Ethics: Door County, Wisconsin. (JP) -FER MISS/ON FO REPRODUCE SIGHTED MATERIAL THIS COPY. HAS BEEN GRANTED BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALQL1) EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO TO EPIC AND ORGANIZATIONS 1..HDER AGREFMEN OPERATING OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM TS WITH THE NATIONAL THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN :JrrurEOF EDUCATION IN. ATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS :AJCFION OUTSIDE FURTHER REPRO. THE ERIC sYsTEPA STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE S,PErl!..isslop; or se. SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF eVOIEGI THE COPYRIGHT EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. Ethics for Environment: Three Religious Strategies Edited by Dave Steffenson, Walter J. Herrscher, and Robert S. Cook The Proceedings of a National Conference Held at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay June 11-13, 1973 Published by: UWGB Ecumenical Center Green Bay, Wisconsin 1973 Library of Congress Catalog Number:73-620170 c 1973, Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Copies of this book may be ordered at $2.00 each, from the UWGB Ecumenical Center, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, Wisconsin54302. Editorial and production supervision for this book were handled by Eleanor J. Crandall and Virginia C. Dell, with the assistance of Bonnie J. Britzke, all of the UWGB Publications Office. Cover design by Greg Graf and Dennis Thu lin. Portions of this book may be reprinted and used in environmental education workshops, seminars, and conferences with permission of the editors. Foreword As our awareness of environmental damage grows, the need for a wide range of solutions also grows. The difficult and complex questions raised by environmental issues require a variety of approaches. Some of us have turned to technology, on the assumption that technology can cure what technology has caused. Others look to education to produce the knowledgeable and environmentally sensitive and active citizen. A growing number turn to the law to redress environmental grievances, and work for governmental regulation of competing claims on the environment. One of the approaches that has been largely ignored is our ethical and religious tradition.Western tradition has not usually emphasized man's relationship to the natural world. Our ethical concern has usually led us to ask, "How should I behave toward a river or a forest or an ocean?" We have too often stressed the practical and economic uses of our natural resources, and have largely failed to seize upon and develop the concept of the "land ethic" so brilliantly set forth by Aldo Leopold, the great Wisconsin ecologist.Nevertheless, it is also true that ethical and religious considerations may provide in the long run, the basis for the most fundamental changes in our attitudes toward the environment. Most human activities and institutions, after all, are based upon some largely unspoken but extremely important assump- tions about values and on notions of right and wrong. In an effort to promote and stimulate further dialogue and thought about the role of ethics and religion in the environmental movement, a conference entitled "Ethics for Environment: Three Religious Strategies" was held at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in June, 1973.Conference participants explored the elements of the Christian tradition--as well as of the Eastern religions and the Native American outlooks--which could be applicable to contemporary environmental problems.In addition they sought to grapple with such basic questions as: Does the environment have rights? Should the Church concern itself with environmental issues? What does a land ethic consist of ? How can abstract ethical positions be applied to specific land use questions? I hope that these questions- -andothers in the same vein- -form the basis for a continuing dialoguewhich will increase sensitivity tothe religious and ethical implications ofour environmental attitudes. The Hon. Gaylord Nelson United States Senator from Wisconsin Acknowledgements Many individuals and groups contributed to the success of this conference.Special thanks should go to: Planning Committee Jay Alexander Richard Mauthe Robert S. Cook Mark Schommer Chris Evenson Richard Sherrell Walter J. Herrscher Dave Steffenson William Lynch Phil Thompson Secretaries Mary Ecker Dorothea Erickson Julie Graf The work group chairmen and recorders identified in the proceedings. UWGB Media Services Office UWGB Publications Office UWGB Shorewood Club Sponsors Faith-Man-Nature Group, Phil Joranson, Director Office of Environmental Education, George Lowe, Director Wisconsin Environmental Education Council, David Walker, Director University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Office of Community Outreach, Robert S. Cook, Director UWGB Ecumenical Center, Tom Allen, Richard Mauthe, and Dave Steffenson, Chaplains. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Welcome 3 The Role of Values and Ethics in Environmental Concerns by George A. Maloney, S. J. 5 Reflections on the Alleged Ecological Bankruptcy of Western Theology by H. Paul Santmire 23 Eastern-Mystical Perspectives on Environment by Rajagopal Rya li 47 Ethics for Environment: Native American Insights by J. W. E. Newbery 57 A Paradigm Case in Land Use Ethics: Door County, Wisconsin by Robert Florence 69 Reports of Value Task Groups 85 Closing Session 103 Recommended Resources 121 Conference Participants 129 Introduction More science and more technology are not going to get us out of the present ecologic crisis until we find a new religion, or rethink our old one." Ever since Lynn H. White Jr. summarized the crisis in these terms, the religious community, particularly within its academic circles, has been seeking to respond to this challenge. Increasingly, scientific and educational literature in ecology has come to agree with this conclusion. In March, 1973, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the Ecumenical Center at UWGB accepted an invitation from the Faith- Man-Nature Group* to plan and host in June 1973 the third in a series of national conferences on ethics and the environment. Working under a.small grant from the U.S. Office of Environmental Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Faith- Man-Nature Group had planned three meetings. The first, "Religious Reconstruction for the Environmental Future, " was held in November, 1972, at Storrs, Connecticut. The second, "Earth Ethics for Today and Tomorrow: Responsible Environmental Trade-Offs, " took place in April, 1973, at Bowling Green, Ohio.This volume represents the third and final workshop in Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 1973.For this third conference, the Wisconsin Environmental Education Council joined in the sponsorship and provided funds. The hard-working planning committee decided to focus on three religious traditions and to attempt to apply religious insights to a practical land-use problem. The flow of the conference was designed as follows: *The Faith-Man-Nature Group is a coalition of theologians, philosophers environmentalists, and other interested persons 'working in this area through conferences, publications, related activities, and a newsletter. Membership is $10 annually, $5 for students.Contact Phil Joranson, Executive Director. Faith-Man-Nature Group, Box 397, South Coventry, Conn.06238. 2 1. Major input from the three traditions: Judeo-Christian, Eastern- Mystical, and Native American; 2.Integrating these insights with a paradigm case in land-use ethics, i.e., Door County, Wisconsin; 3.Seeking some synthesis and direction for developing a religiously based approach to

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