Adam naming the animals of the world, Peterborough Bestiary ( 14th Century)
Tomorrow's publication by the Vatican of Pope Francis's encyclical, Laudato Si , is already caused a spinfest in the media. Apparently it is in part a faith based call to action on matters "environmental", including the current period of anthroprogenic rapid climate change. Those who may be loosely lumped under the category environmentalist are hoping it sways the political conversation about climate change in the United States their way, while those in the opposing camp are girding their loins for the coming battle.
On the mundane level, i look forward to seeing the "right-wing" folks who for years have hurled the epithet Cafeteria Catholic at the "left-Wing", being hoisted by their own petard.
Also, i welcome anything that helps my fellow surviving members of the genus Homo come to terms with the necessity of mitigating, or at least, planning adaptation to, rapid climate change. Any port in a storm, as the saying goes.
Granted, this looming philosophical dust up could (probably will?) subsume into the spin cycles of American public "discourse". But a subsidiary point i would like to make in this post is, Could this result in schism in the Catholic Church in the United States?
The other friction points between American Catholics and the Vatican are pretty much questions akin to how many angels can dance on the head of a pin (homosexuality, abortion yada, yada) and can be either ignored by individuals or used to stir up the folks in Short Attention Span Theatre for one's own funding and electoral ends. But damn! This new thing from the Vatican is important. I mean it has to do with making money!
We should not forget the contingent rise of Protestantism and the European concept of middle class, and the beginnings of the market economics. Protestantism was a bargain for business folks (sol fide, no more indulgences, The Calvinist linking of wealth and grace, etc.). But i digress. To the main topic of this post.
Cafeteria Abrahamics?
As Hannah Arendt among other pointed out, there is a near universal tendency in humans to found the legitimacy, and resultant authority of an idea or belief on it being old in origin, or being founded in the time of perceived origin. This trope, along with the logical fallacy of appeal to authority, are the primary buttresses of all arguments founded on a "scripture". But such is not limited to the religious realm. I remember the humorous assertions in the 1970's of vegans (we, a specie with the dental structure of an omnivore were originally vegetarian) and some feminists (we, a specie that is gender dimorphic with the males larger were originally in cultures that were female dominate or gender neutral) that illustrate that this tendency is not limited only to the religious.
This is often a necessary recourse for modern devotees of one of the Abrahamic faiths. The Age of Reason, The Enlightenment and the rise of scientific thought created a modern morality the decreased the barbarous behaviors in history of those professing belief in one of the Abrahamic faiths.
The majority of these modern believers would no longer condone the vast majority of the recommended behavior found in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus etc. A child or adult who tended towards those beliefs now would be considered by a majority of Abrahamics in need of rapid intervention and some serious counseling. The ones that do not feel that way, tend to populate the various "Talibans" (politically right wing fundamentalist Christians, Jews, Muslims etc.) around the world.
The various Talibans do not exhibit much concern over environmental matters generally or rapid climate change in particular, being wrapped up in their respective struggle with the satanic _________ (insert appropriate group(s)/people) and often seem be in some sort of rapturous anticipation of the "end times"* at which the satanic _________(insert appropriate group(s)/people) will get what coming to them.
But for those of the Abrahamic Faithful who are comparatively housebroken, that learned the principles of The Enlightenment with their mother's milk, you have "Stewardship Theology".
But i wager that Stewardship Theology is (though again, I say thanks the god(s) it exists!) another attempt to not have to credit correctness or authority to a newish idea or concept. In essence, it is a another beneficial example of Abrahamic Cafeteriaism.
The source for the following excerpts, unless otherwise noted, is the JPS Hebrew - English Tanakh, edition, Jewish Publication Society (2nd Edition 1999)
Genesis 1:24-30:
" ...And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the seas, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all creeping the things that creep on earth. [after one of the descriptions of the creation of man & woman]...And God said to them, be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all things that creep on earth. And God said, see, I give you every seed bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit, they shall be your food. And to all animals on the land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, in which there is the breath of life , I give all the green plants for food."
Genesis 3:19-20
And the Lord formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature that would be its name. And man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky, and to all wild beasts."
"A common concept in history is that knowing the name of something or someone gives one power over that thing or person. This concept occurs in many different forms, in numerous cultures—in ancient and primitive tribes, as well as in Islamic, Jewish, Egyptian, Vedic, Hindu, and Christian traditions. The strength of this belief varies, and there are certainly exceptions to it. Nonetheless, the persistence and historical continuity of the linking of naming and power are unmistakable. Some scholars find it embedded in the first verses of Genesis, probably written over three thousand years ago; others believe it to be an intrinsic characteristic of classical Greek religion; still others find it a central feature in magic and folklore; and modern feminists often see it as the reason that a woman in marriage is traditionally asked to take the name of her new husband. In all these cases, naming something or someone is seen as the exertion of dominion over that thing or person."
Some fans of the Film Noah may interpose at this point, but hey, the rules changed after the flood, didn't they? Please turn to Genesis 9 1-3:
"God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, be fertile and increase and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall be upon all the beasts of the earth and upon all the birds of the sky, everything with which the earth is astir, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given to your hand."
So where in the "good book" can one hang their stewardship hat? Nowhere.
Well, apart from the later, post-biblical teaching in the middle ages of Francis of Assisi (most fun ways to learn about this are here and here , the later having much better acting etc.) and various mystical tradition such as Sufism.
Perhaps the "steward" from this, given that word "steward" in the archaic, could be the manger of farm or vineyard labor.
Genesis 2: 15:
"The Lord God took man and placed him the garden of Eden to til it and tend it."
*My favorite End Times
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