Isn't the Christian belief that Man has "dominion over the land and animals" contrary to preserving our planet

Question

Isn't the Christian belief that Man has "dominion over the land and animals" contrary to preserving our planet

Answer 1

A large number of Christians (maybe most) view taking care of the planet as their religious duty.

See:

http://www.creationcare.org/resources/cl...

Answer 2

Not really.  

You could take it that way if you wanted to be cynical about it.

Answer 3

I'm not sure of your point.

Man is worthy of taking care of all the animals and vegitation on the planet. I'm sure a true Christian would agree that all living things on earth are blessed.

Answer 4

You must not and should not  think humans are superior.Dolphins are superior.They have echolocation capabilities and they dont have any religious c**p.Dogs cats deserve dominion over the land. Are you still living in the dark ages with all this biblical c**p.

Answer 5

Actually the exact reverse is true.

Answer 6

No.  It means that man is the custodian of the Earth.  We must treat the Earth with care.  That awesome responsibility must NOT be abused.

It's like giving George W. Bush the authority to use military force without an act of Congress.  It is an awesome responsibility that MUST not be abused.  Unfortunately, we are seeing what happens when that responsibility IS abused.

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Answer 7

It can be.  As I recall, Ann Coulter once made an argument that because god gave man dominion over the world, we can do whatever we want with it and thus environmentalism is stupid.

Of course, Ann Coulter is a moron.

I think that even if we have dominion over the land and animals we can still protect them, so it doesn't necessarily have to be contrary to preservation.  Only if people abuse that supposed dominion like Coulter wants us to.

Answer 8

Native American have got it right they considder them selves guardians for the land that their children will be guardians of

never owners



The land is there for millions of years ,the ocupants are there for only a short moment

much shorter than the avarage tree.

a so called owner got it for maybe 50 or 80 years

he should not have the right to destroy it and the resident animals ,in that passing moment ,

trees have more right to be called owners

Christians will hate and ridicule that

Humans are so much more superior than anything Nature produces forgetting the we are a product our selves

Ooops i forgot God made the planet especially for the Christians to harvest, tame ,hunt and generally s***w up,nowhere in the bibles teachings are strong guidelines to take care of Nature

their God has miserably failed on that aspect

on the contrary he has alienated humanity from Nature in a ceaseless war against it

Indigenous peoples and animals have been hunted into oblivion,

check what they got up their sleeve now

it makes global warming look like micky mouse

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Animals and plants have no soul or feel pain

Humans were created totally seperate from anything else

still it is remarkable how close our internal organs and skeletons resemble animals

And one only has to visit  religious latin countries to see how far these peoples concerns are from the Environment

how they dump trash in the rivers and destroy and contaminate their Naturel resources

In Guerrero some old local people ,high in the sierra have cut forests because they said the witches lived there

To them Nature is Evil ,the ex kingdom of Pan who is now the Devil ,it has to be civilized.



And many Christians attitudes here in Answers is no better

Answer 9

Put a church on top of every hill. Perhaps you are right.

I quite enjoy the Christian's "paradise on earth" idea though there would have to be some agreement made with the terrorists about which airports they should blow up first. We can't really have paradise with all that aircraft noise pollution now can we?

Actually I think my ancestors were going along alright as far as paradise on Earth is concerned for about 40,000 years.. that is until the British arrived here 200 years ago. But that's progress, I suppose.

Answer 10

man has dominion... man does not have the right to waste and abuse.  i've been just waiting for someone to bring this up, and i guess the little silver ball stopped on you, my friend.

preserving our planet in a state so that future generations can enjoy its bounty is a primary concern today.  if we waste resources and damage the environment knowingly or unknowingly so our grandchildren are not able to  have 'dominion' over land and animals, (what a terrible phrase) can you honestly say that this pleases God?

to me, dominon means not dominating, but rather wise stewardship.  our resources here are limited and fragile.  we will not get another chance.  preserving what we have through recycling, permacuture practices, and alternative energy sources is the 'best' way to hold dominion over earth, and i'm sure it's a way God would approve of.

read claudine and byderule's answers again.  they make good sense.

Answer 11

Can you think of a better suited animal on the planet to rule it, one that would allow and protect all other forms of life, no matter how they interfer with their own species

Answer 12

Actually, it's not.

The first one who contributed is right. With dominion comes responsibility. If I gave someone something, I'd expect them to take good care of it. God has given us "dominion over the land and animals", and I'd think that He'd want us to take care of them...you know, being good stewards of what we're given.

Answer 13

No, it's not. Man's responsibility is to take care of the planet (When you go hiking, pick up your trash, when you start a fire, make sure you put it out, etc.)

However, that does not mean that man can't develop and use the planet, he just has the responsibility to use wisdom.

Answer 14

come on. you just heard that on Evan Almighty!

Answer 15

no way god is control them

Answer 16

I believe that with dominion comes the responsibility of preserving our planet

Answer 17

Actually I think that god put animals , land etc. on earth for mans use but in return man was to take care of gods creatures.

Answer 18

With domination comes responsibility.  See all those posts above mine :o)

Answer 19

Christians have a responsibility to learn ecological responsibility and reply in positive ways.  Here was the Pope's response in 1990.... http://conservation.catholic.org/ecologi...  How come it is taking so long to sink in?