Islam and Franciscanism: A Dialogue

THE ARROGANCE OF OWNERSHIP: Environment and Economy in Religious Focus

101 THE ARROGANCE OF OWNERSHIP Environment and Economy in Religious Focus Anselm Moons, O.F.M., DD. Introduction Corrosive Self-interest The extreme disregard for the environment, displayed by economists on the eve of the 21 st century, justifies the fear that the Third Millennium will witness an armageddon with an uncertain outcome for both humanity and the entire universe. In a recent article 1 Lukas Vischer 2 , addressing these issues of environment and economy, takes his starting point from the climatic change caused by human activities. Global mean surface temperature has increased by between about 0.3° and 0.6° C in the last hundred years. During the same period the global sea level rose between 10 and 25 cm. Climatic changes have highlighted concomitant dangers such as unnecessary oil consumption, deforestation, clean water shortages, floods, health hazards, damage to the earth’s surface, air pollution. Touching, amongst other issues, on the two sections of our article, economy and environment, the Swiss theologian asks whether humans in dealing with these two factors have a duty to recognize the rights of creation, i.e. animals, flowers, the elements of nature? What are the limits of human responsibility? Vischer quotes H.E. Daly and J.B. Cobb who 1 L.Vischer, “Climate Change, Sustainability and Christian Witness,” The Ecumenical Review 49 (1997):142-161. 2 Emeritus professor of Ecumenism at the University of Bern, Switserland. 102 ANSELM MOONS, O.F.M. have spoken of “the corrosive effect of the individualistic self-interest.” 3 They warn against the priority of the physical capital over the moral capital, because, in that situation the humans will fall victim to an unbridled and destructive self-interest 4 . Light from religion A brief overview on how human owners have treated, in past and present, their fellow humans and the environment, the elements of creation, water — earth — air, will, hopefully, motivate Christian and Muslim alike to study and look closer at the disastrous consequences of this despicable and fatal behavior and compare it with words and deeds recorded in the two religions, viz. the Christian vision of Bible and Church tradition, and the Islamic teaching in Qur `a -n and Hadith. The dissenting voice of Francis of Assisi in matters of property and ownership opens up the way to a Franciscan Ecology, the cornerstone of which will be Francis’ conviction that humans are not the real owners of creation; they should pride themselves and shine in a conscientious stewardship, of that which really belongs to God alone. I. PROPERTY: THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL 1. Magnitude of the issue Humans have been notorious for their desire to own both people and things. They wanted in their company a partner in life, children, relatives, and friends. But company alone proved insufficient. Humans, mostly men, wanted also to own them. In certain cultures, at certain times and places, men bought their wife and wives, bought women as concubines, bought slaves and catamites, sold them again at will and disposed of them in whatever way they liked. Humans often became spoils of war and property 3 H.E. Daly and J. Cobb, For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy towards the Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future (Boston,1989) 50f. 4 Ruby Wax expressed the same tendency in this way: “The selfish luxury of pursing moral principles!” THE ARROGANCE OF OWNERSHIP 103 of the conqueror. Killing dependents was not unusual because, after all, they were only valued as property and not more than that! Inhuman methods Methods used to spend the minimum on and get the maximum out of their property led to very cruel and inhumane situations, neglect of property rented by third parties, forced labor for many hours a day 5 , beating, torture, starvation and, on occasions, even killing. Slavery became common and wide-spread for many centuries. Age requirements were, for the sake of quick profit, mostly ignored. Child labor is practiced up to the present day in many countries throughout the world. The exploitation of children in the sex industry has taken on a global dimension and, even in the present time, keeps growing rapidly 6 . Besides fellow humans, men and women attach their sense of ownership also to things. Landowners are an early phenomenon of human history, although many primitive tribes detest the very thought 7 . Reverence and love of their native soil — as if it were their own mother — make selling...