Integrity of creation
¨Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced...Global temperature has increased over the past 50 years. This observed increase is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases.¨
That sums up the Fifth US Climate Action Report in a draft to be sent to the United Nations shortly. Provocative, indeed! In spite of contrary evidence and the fact that the issue is still hotly contested by scientists...
Looks like some people are freaking out and are ready to square off no matter what it takes. For sure, the whole affair has stepped out of bounds, from the proper context of science to the explosive world of politics, ideology and finance.
I won´t go further into the controversy. What I can say is that while it´s good there is widespread interest in climate matters and other environmental issues, I also feel that the whole question is not given its proper frame, its proper moorings.
We all need to realize that all this matter of climate change and ecological issues springs from the basic truth of the integrity of creation. This reality is first of all a truth of faith before it is a truth of the sciences and the arts, and more so before an object of politics and ideology.
Without this fundamental premise that gives us the guiding principles, the debate, discussion and dialogue will just go nowhere. They will be gravely distorted. They will just occasion a reprise of the law of force, instead of the force of law.
The main block is that many of us still find it hard, awkward if not impossible to unite faith and reason, doctrine and science, religion and politics. While each has its distinctive place, all of them actually are meant to be integrated to enable us to deal with issues adequately.
We need to outgrow that horrible bias that says if we want to be scientific, not only should we set aside faith, we also have to go against it. Both are incompatible with, as they say, irreconcilable differences. This is the unspoken epidemic afflicting many of our educated people.
But it´s faith that gives us the over-all picture of the world. It´s a divine gift that lets us share in the knowledge the Creator has of his creation. Many environmentalists today talk a lot about integrity of creation, about recovering and maintaining its balance, etc. But what is their understanding of integrity of creation?
Only through faith will we have an idea of the totality and integrity, unity and diversity, order and hierarchy in the whole of creation. Without that faith, we will just be left with our brilliant theories and hypotheses, obviously possessing correct things but also containing uncertainties if not errors.
For example, I hear a lot about ecological concerns that seem to be twisted and distorted, inconsistent and pretentious. There´s a lot of noise generated about caring for the environment, the mountains and the seas, the plants and animals, and yet they promote abortion, contraception, same-sex unions, etc.
It would seem that ecology now can be everything except human and moral ecology that is the promotion and defense of those conditions proper of authentic human development. It´s the ecology that does not limit itself to the physical, biological, social aspects, but also factors in the spiritual and moral requirements for us to develop properly.
These latter elements are sadly missing. Worse, there are attempts to replace them with another kind of morality, completely man-made that has nothing to do with God´s will, law and commandments.
We need to go back to the basics of our faith. The very first words of the Bible, for example, already give us a clear picture about the whole of creation. ¨In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.¨ (Gen 1,1)
From these words, endless corollaries can be derived. Like, God, whose essence is to exist, who has no beginning and no end, is the sole creator of everything. Everything therefore has a beginning, and its existence completely depends on God.
God, by giving existence to creatures, is always with us. Creation is not a one-act affair, involving the very beginning of a creature´s existence. It covers the whole existence of the creatures. Creation includes the on-going providence of God over his creation.
Our faith also tells us that we, created in God´s image and likeness and made children of his through grace, is the link between God and the world in the sense that we are supposed to be the stewards of the world, acting in God´s name.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@gmail.com)
