Rastafarians and the Environment

I thought I had picked a lighter topic when I settled on Rastafarians this week. It didn't take me very long to see how wrong I was. I'm sure I'm not alone with thinking all they do is smoke weed and sing reggae music. I figured I would find out a lot more about the basis of why they smoke weed, or ganga. What I found was a deeper religious belief taken from pieces of the very Bible I live my life by. The main differnce is that I believe the Bible is 100% the Word of God while Rastafarians believe the parts that pertain to their religion.
(Photo from Wikipedia.)

Rastafarianism was founded in the 1930s with Haile Selassie I as the leader. Rastas believe former Emperor Selassie was the personification of the second coming of the messiah. As far as ganga goes, it is used as a means to get closer to God. According to the "Religion & Ethics - Rastafari" article on BBC Website.

Doing research on the Internet got me into a bit of a tight spot; most of the information was about the beginings of the Rasta religion and not modern beliefs. Here's a comparison:

(Initial beliefs info from Religious Movements.), (Current beliefs info from the BBC Web site.)

Rasta Environmentalism:

Devoted Rastafarians are vegetarians. They follow the laws given in Leviticus chapter 11, in the Bible. Some examples include eating fish that's less than a foot long and no shell fish. I-Tal food has never touched chemicals and is all-natural.

I didn't find a whole lot on how Rastas are helping to save the environment, *(I had some information here on Derek Wall, but he actually put a comment here telling me I had wrong info so I changed it).

So, what I was trying to talk about was Nandor Tanczos.

Humanist Ecology

I jumped ahead to a close relative of atheism, humanism, for this weeks blog entry. I didn't find enough on atheist ecology so I did research on humanist ecology. See my segway blog entry on the difference between atheism and humanism.

"Life on Earth is both beautiful and valuable, and we should do more to preserve habitats, species and ways of life that are being destroyed by the over exploitation of natural resources and wilderness areas." - from A humanist discussion of... ENIVRONMENTAL ISSUES, 2006 (www.humanism.org.uk)

From a science perspective, humanitsts say one reason to protect the environment is because so many medicines come from plants. The British Humanist Association Web site has an article stating there are many more medicines yet to be found from natural resources.
(Photo by username OBMonkey on the stock.xchng Web site)

The same article on this Web site says that humanists use reason to make decisions on moral issues, such as how to protect the evnvironment, instead of "dogmatic rules."
(Photo by Rodolfo Galindo on the stock.xchng Web site)

Atheism - Humanism

I didn't find enough on how atheists and the environment are connected so I am going to talk about humanism and the environment. This is a segway blog entry to tell you about the similarities and differences between atheism and humanism.

Here are the definitions straight out of the American Heritage Dictionary:

Atheism:
* Disbelief or denial of the exsistence of God or gods.
* The doctrine that there is no God or gods.

Humanism:
* A system of thought that rejects religious beliefs and centers on humans and their values, capacities and worth.
* Concern with the interests, needs, and welfare of humans.
* In medicine: The concept that concern for human interests, values, and dignity is of the utmost importance to the care of the sick.
* The study of the humanities; learning in the liberal arts.
* A cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance and study of the literature, art, and that emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and study of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome.civilization of ancient Greece and Rome.

HOW THEY ARE ALIKE:
*Neither atheism nor humanism focus on the existence of God or gods. (Eventhough some humanists do believe in God).
*Both believe in the capability of humans to choose how to live their lives. (As opposed to religions such as Christianity and Islam, which believe in surrendering and obeying God or Allah).

HOW THEY ARE DIFFERENT:
I found a paraphrase in Elaine Friedman's "Debate: Atheist vs. Humanist" article that puts it simply. On The Institute For Humanist Studies Web site Friedman sums up humanist Edd Doerr's thoughts:

HUMANISTS believe in science, reason and compassion.
ATHEISTS do not believe in a diety.

Atheism Intro

(From The American Heritage Dictionary.)

I decided to focus on Atheism this week. I must admit this was a tough one for me. First of all, atheism is hard to define. Web sites differ on whether atheism is free-thinking, humanism or basic lack of belief in God. One Web site is focused on keeping church and state separate. The Atheist Alliance Inc. Web site is an example of a free-thinking based group.
(Logo Courtesy of atheistalliance.org.)

Atheism has been around for a very long time but didn't gain popularity until the Enlightenment Era in the nineteenth century. According to the University of Virginia Web site Religious Movement Project there are many factors going into the beginning of atheism, but there are a few notable people who helped it become part of mainstream society.

(Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Woody Allen is a well-know atheist. I didn't find anything current so I don't know if he still is, but he is quoted on most Web sites that refer to celebrity atheists. His most famous quote on his beliefs comes from his autobiographical film "Stardust Memories."

"To you I am an atheist, to God I'm the loyal opposition." -from Celeb Atheists Woody Allen Info.

Celebatheists.com lists Katherine Hepburn, Lance Armstrong and Rodney Dangerfield as other Celebrity atheists.

Secondly, it was hard to find information on what atheists believe about taking care of the environment. My assumption is that since atheists don't believe in God, they don't see themselves as appointed caretakers. I used to be an atheist and I believed then that people were carelessly using up the earth's resources and if we didn't fix it the earth wouldn't survive.

I will do my research this week and hopefully be able to give you more information on the connection between atheism and environmentalism.

Islam Ecology

Muslims believe Allah intended humans to be the caretakers of the earth.

There are five general areas taught in Islam about how Allah expects His creation to interact with the environment. The Alliance of Religions and Conservation Web site lists these as Khalifa, Tawheed, Akrah, Avoiding Waste, and Shariah. Khalifa is the concept that Allah trusts people to take care of the environment. Tawheed represents the interdependence between the environment and people. Akrah is Allah's future judgement based on how well people protect the environment. Avoiding waste means although the environment is there for people to use, they are to use it wisely and not overuse it. Shariah is the law created based on the principal of protecting the environment.

The main organization created for serving environmental needs based on Islam beliefs is the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, based in London. The foundation does research, outreach, creates journals and teaching materials, provides training and has projects in several countries.

Several worldwide projects teach environmentalism from an Islamic viewpoint in a modern way. These projects are in Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Yemen and Mexico. One example is in Yemen where the foundation is helping to set up water conservation techniques.

ECO-ISLAM is a journal put out by the foundation that covers all kinds of environmental issues from an Islamic point of view. The August 2007 issue has an article about Iraq's marshes being destroyed by the war.

Future Plans include building a College for Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Right now they're raising funds to build the college.