Ecotheology and the Practice of Hope

Chapter 5. SCIENCE AND ECOLOGY

5 SCIENCE AND ECOLOGY This chapter examines the use of science by ecotheologians. We have described the ecotheological texts as engaged. These texts take into account aspects of the world that relate to the ecological crisis and seek to promote meaningful Christian practice in response. Since their concern is with the natural world, physical science is one of the more consistent conversation partners. We contend that the force of the texts does not lie primarily in how accurately scientific theories and other content is reported. Rather it lies in a critique of the scientific process itself. The focus is on the agendas and ideologies that Western science like theology have carried and how science too has been complicit in the ecological crisis. Recent works by theologians who are also expert in some field of science give convincing critiques of some uses of science in ecotheology and indicate how a more accurate use of science can enable improved moral practice. These works are generally relatively recent. They respond in part to the increasing public awareness of climate change and the need for action. As the authors of Ecospirit so clearly ask: What has to happen to convert ecological awareness to ecological action on a large scale?1 Biological science in particular (but not exclusively) gives insight into the behavior of humans as products of evolution. This is helpful in understanding and motivating ethical practice on behalf of the natural world. In terms of the social imaginary, these texts make available a set of tools that can enable a change of practice and a new ecological turn in the social imaginary. In Taylor’s words, the social imaginary is “not a set of ideas; rather it is what enables, through making sense of, the practices of a society.”2 Predominantly, the ecotheological texts we are examining aim to initiate new ecologically responsible practices and to make sense of these within a religious tradition. 71 When these texts engage the best scientific understanding of humans and their evolution they support responsible ecological practices. Not all ecotheologians use science in the same manner or with exactly the same intent. We have identified a number of strands of the interplay of theology and science. These strands represent differences in emphasis and are best understood as positions on a continuum. On one end of the continuum are those texts that see science (in some sense) as providing a cosmology that promotes the radical change of consciousness required to meet the ecological crisis. On the other end are those texts for which science fulfills more pragmatic functions. They educate and ground ecotheology so that it is not simply dismissible by physical and human sciences. They describe human behavior in a way that grounds a concrete and effective moral ethic. They provide scientific data that help make a case for ecological action, most often on issues of ecojustice. Between those two poles (science for a change of consciousness and science as a basis for more direct just action) lie various permutations and mixtures. There are those who emphasize ecosystems to support an organic sense of community and kinship among living species. There are also those for whom science provides a right understanding of the natural world or of human behavior on which to base a more sophisticated stewardship and moral ethic. Outside the continuum are those whose theology responds to the ecological crisis without any analytic use of science—these simply accept scientific descriptions of ecological ills and their prescriptions for remedies. SCIENCE AS COSMOLOGY The most prominent use of science in the construction of a cosmology to ground an ecological ethic is Thomas Berry’s and Brian Swimme’s Universe Story. While this text is not ecotheology in itself, it calls for a grounding of all religious renewal within a proposed new cosmology. The new cosmology is a construction of contemporary understandings of the evolution of the universe and the earth, from the Big Bang to the emergence of human cultures. It employs traditional religious symbols and myths to create a meaningful account. The evolutionary process becomes a history of the universe as well as the spiritual journey of the universe. This construction takes seriously the evolutionary findings and theories of the physical sciences and the history of cultures, but it also rests on a critique of Western science as overly materialistic. Such a use of science typically views science as a cultural artifact, not as the allencompassing explanation of reality. Following critiques such as those 72...