Let’s mind the environment

What you need to know:

‘Every part of the universe is connected with every other by ties that are very powerful and admit no imbalance’.

While our world is totally submerged in crisis, we must not forget that Mother Nature is still suffering from the harm we have inflicted upon its resources.

Unfortunately, not much will change if we don’t truly understand the relationship between us and nature. If you make any kind of research about how fast deteriorating our environment is, you will know the causes and hear about proposed solutions, but when it is time for action, everyone turns their head away following what suits their interests.

I will look at this issue from another angle, one that is often ignored because we sometimes forget that we have a Creator. My approach is stemming from the writings of the Baha’i that has a very remarkable view on this matter. I read this interesting quotation from Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith:

“We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.”

Science vs faith
It is also important to note that one of the principal teachings of the Baha’is is the fact that science and religion should work hand in hand. This means that science should serve a divine purpose, without which the world would be only materialistic, serving whoever lives today and oblivious of the future generations.

If the same divine purpose is applied to our relationship with the environment, we will understand that in creating nature, God has given it his own attributes and in turn we will respect this creation and keep it out of harm’s way.

Baha’i take on environment
The Baha’i International Community, that represents the Baha’is of the world, issued a statement called, “The Earth Charter”, and I have picked the paragraph below to illustrate some of the solutions proposed to help us deal with these catastrophic developments:

“It is our conviction that any call to global action for environment and development must be rooted in universally accepted values and principles. Similarly, the search for solutions to the world’s grave environmental and developmental problems must go beyond technical-utilitarian proposals and address the underlying causes of the crisis.

Genuine solutions, in the Bahá’í view, will require a globally accepted vision for the future, based on unity and cooperation among the nations, races, creeds, and classes of the human family. Commitment to a higher moral standard, equality between the sexes, and the development of consultative skills for the effective functioning of groups at all levels of society will be essential.”
With the worsening state of affairs in the world today, the above statement brings a glimmer of hope to a humanity that is in so much need for it.