CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTORY ISSUES
Background of the study
In recent decades, there has been a global awareness of the ecological challenges facing the earth. The earth’s “natural resources are diminishing; global warming is causing species loss, increased flooding and hurricanes; energy sources are diminishing and earth’s capacity for a sustainable future looks bleak.” 1
Indeed, while the discourse about the environment was at the marginal side of political discussions some decades ago,2 it has now become a constant presence at political debates since the 1980s, especially after the discovery of the depletion of the ozone layer. For instance, discussions about industrial pollutions and waste disposals have been some of the insistent deliberations globally.3
According to Devadass, the quality of the air we breathe, the water we use, the climate conditions, wildlife among others have changed drastically over the decades. He con- curs that humans pursue of short-term gains have led to the manipulation and destruc- tion of the eco system.4 This will have great consequences for the future generation because natural resources such as forests, water bodies, among others are being ex- ploited at an alarming rate.
1 Clarence Devadass, ed., Towards Responsible Stewardship of Creation : An Asian Christian Approach
(Kuala Lumpur:: Federation of Asian Bishops Conference, 2015), 1.
2 Horrell concurs that much attention has been given to the rapidly most discussed subject global warm- ing. David G. Horrell, The Bible and the Environment: Towards a Critical Ecological Biblical Theology (Oakville: Equinox, 2010),3.
3 Ibid., 3-4.
4 Devadass, Towards Responsible Stewardship, 1.
The bone of contention to tackle the environmental problems have been a blame game over the years. Several groups have been imputed as the source of environmental dis- asters.
Scholars such as Zhang5, Shepherd6 and Awuah-Nyamekye7 hold the view that humans through their activities are the cause of ecological crisis.8 Zhang asserts that the disap- pearing rate of forest land is due to the greed and ignorance of people.9 The forest forms the main component of the telluric ecosystem consisting of all the plants, the animals and micro-organisms which play a decisive role “for maintaining the ecological balance of the land.”10 He further observes that the world’s forests are vanishing at a faster “annual rate of 16 million hectares.”11 Hence, the world will lose its amount of forest reserves every year if nothing is done to the increasingly waning rate of the world’s forest reserves. The consequence is the earth becoming ‘bald’ in the future.12
Coming to Ghana, there is no doubt that environmental pollution is a major problem. Twumasi Amoah and Akwasi Kose coincide that solid and liquid waste management is one of the daunting problems in Ghana.13 Inappropriate dumping of refuse, open
5 Yonghong Zhang, “Capitalism and Ecological Crisis,” Journal of Sustaianable Society 2, no. 3 (2013): 69–73.
6 Andrew Shepherd, “Creation & Christology : The Ecological Crisis and Eschatological Ethics,”
Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practic 18, no. 4 (2010): 51.
7 Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye, Managing the Environmental Crisis in Ghana : The Role of African Traditional Religion and Culture with Special Reference to the Berekum Traditional Area (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2014).
8 Church leaders recognized human’s responsibility. See, Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological crisis as ‘a tragic consequence’ of unrestrained human actions. Pope Paul VI further states that as a result of human’s exploitation of nature, “humanity runs the risk of destroying nature and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation”. He asserts that humans are more concern only about what creation offers immediately for consumption than to see other meaning in our natural environment. Pope Benedict XVI also coincides that various unchecked human actions have led to the exploitation of nature. Cf. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: Encyclical Letter on Care for our Common Home (Rome:Vatican Press), 4.
9 Zhang, “Capitalism,” 2013.
10 Ibid.,70.
11 Ibid.,70-72.
12 Ibid.,70.
13 Samuel Twumasi Amoah and Enoch Akwasi Kosoe, “Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas of Ghana : Issues and Experiences from Wa,” Journal of Environmental Pollution and Human Health 2, no. 5 (2014): 1–5.
defecation, indiscriminate logging, annual bush fires, illegal surface mining, poor farm- ing practices, dumping of human and industrial waste into water bodies, floods caused by choked gutters, woods for firewood among others are some of the unsmiling eco- logical disquietedness of the country.14
The sanitation situation of Ghana has, therefore, caused some prominent world organi- zations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Chil- dren’s Fund (UNICEF) to name Ghana as one of the ‘least sanitary’ countries of the world: “This means Ghana has a severe shortage of what the WHO defines as “im- proved sanitation, i.e. waste disposal systems that separate human excrement from hu- man contact.”15
Nevertheless, there are other environmental problems facing the country. For example, in the last months media reports have centred on the fight against illegal mining activ- ities, which is locally termed ‘galamsey’.16
The mining sector is considered as one of the economic backbones of the country. The state benefits greatly from the exportation of the minerals such as gold, diamond, baux- ite among others which generates income and foreign exchange. Yet despite the eco- nomic benefits derived from the various minerals, they pose a threat to the environment in terms of land degradation and water pollution17. The fight against ‘galamsey’ has been intensified by the current government and stakeholders to safeguard the water bodies and the forest reserves of the country.
14 Awuah-Nyamekye, Managing the Environmental, 1-16.
15 Frankie Freeman, “Ghana : The Waste Land,” World Policy Journal 27, no. 2 (2010): 48.
16 Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah and Kwasi Dartey-Baah, “The Mining Industry in Ghana : A Blessing or a Curse,” International Journal of Busisness and Social Science 2, no. 12 (2011): 62–69.
17 Amponsah-Tawiah and Dartey-Baah, “The Mining Industry in Ghana,” 63-64.
Looking for the root-cause of the problem, many scholars point a finger at capitalism and the capitalistic mentality. Zhang proclaims that “before the birth of the capitalist mode of production, environmental problem was but a regional one, which, in most cases, had only a minor and partial negative impact on the human society.”18 But in the past 100 years due to capitalism mode of production, environmental problems have been on the increase. Toffler argues that no civilization in human history has caused the greatest environmental problems than the capitalist civilization.19
Zhang contends that since capitalism, the world has experience serious environmental problems such as deforestation, decrease in fresh water, the falling of the marine eco- system, rain forest reduction leading to floods and climate change, emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere causing greenhouse effects, which poses a threat such as global warming to both planet earth and its inhabitants among others.20
Horrell perceives that technological development, despite its positive benefits, has also a negative impact on planet earth.21 Thus, technological development powers industri- alization and commercial activities which intends maximizes the consumption rate of the world’s population. Additionally, high demands on consumption and the conse- quence need to increase production placed massive pressure on the few available natu- ral resources.22
In the same fashion Bryant contends that industrialization or capitalism has contributed to the over exploitation of the earth’s resources.23 He posits that the use of fishing ships
18 Zhang, “Capitalism,” 71.
19 Ibid., 69-73.
20 Ibid., 69-73.
21 Horrell, The Bible and the Environment, 5-7.
22 Zhang, “Capitalism,” 70-72.
23 Darrol M. Bryant, “The Modern Myth of Mastery and the Christian Doctrine of Creation: A Journey in Ecology and Creation Theology,” Dialogue & Alliance 9, no. 2 (1995): 57–59.
is causing over harvesting. Again, toxic chemicals such as mercury are dumped into the water bodies, and these activities over a period of time will have long term irreversible consequences for other species in the water. The top soils are also destroyed through mining activities.24
Some scholars, however, consider Christianity as greatly responsible for ecological cri- sis. Rogerson claims that modern debate on the relationship between Christian message and ecological crisis started from an article published in 1967 by Lynn White25. Ac- cording to White, the anthropocentric and dualistic reading of the creation account (Genesis 1―2) had created the dominion-mentality that is affecting the environment26. Scholars such as Horrell and Habel proclaim that the controversy focuses on whether humans are ‘stewards of creation’ or ‘possessors’ able to exploit nature, because it is ‘freely given’ to them.27
Overall, the ecological crisis facing the world and the ecological blame on the Chris- tian’s reading of the bible have led to a new branch of hermeneutics called Ecological Hermeneutics. The Ecological Hermeneutics aims at re-reading the bible, asking the following questions: “Does the biblical narrative offer an alternative account of how humanity should live in relation with the Earth? Or rather, is it the biblical narrative itself which is the cause of our current ecological predicament?”28
24 Bryant,“The Modern Myth,” 57-59.
25 John W. Rogerson, “The Creation Stories: Their Ecological Potential,” in Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical and Theological Perspectives, ed. David G Horrell et al. (London: T&T Clark International, 2010), 21–30.
26 Lynn White, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” Science 155, no. 3767 (1967): 1203–
27 David G Horrell, “Introduction,” in Ecological Hermeneutics, 1-13; Norman Habel, “Geophany: The Earth Story in Genesis,” in Earth Story in Genesis, ed. Norman Habel and Shirley Wurst (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 2: 34–48.
28 Shepherd, “Creation & Christology,” 2.
Among the different approaches proposed, the ‘recovery’ reading of the text aimed at rescuing the “biblical text from accusations that they promote an anthropocentricism which legitimize aggressive domination of the earth.”29 According to Horrell, ‘recov- ery’ strategy “seeks the recovery or the retrieval of the bible’s ecological wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and obscured by interpreters who failed to see or attend to such dimensions of the text.”30
