Research Article - (2024) Volume 17, Issue 110
Received: Mar 01, 2024, Manuscript No. jisr-24-129982; Editor assigned: Mar 04, 2024, Pre QC No. jisr-24-129982; Reviewed: Mar 18, 2024, QC No. jisr-24-129982; Revised: Mar 23, 2024, Manuscript No. jisr-24-129982; , DOI: 10.17719/jisr.2024.129982
Through unravelling the historical domination to reveal the original dominion of nature, different influences will be looked at that has impacted the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. The historical factors of the domination of nature and the responsibility give n to the first human ancestors regarding the dominion of nature are important in this analysis.
Reference to dominion of nature, dates back to the book of Genesis in the Bible, where dominion of the creation was given as a responsibility to human beings. T ragically, the original plan was not realized, leading to the establishment of the two worldviews which are a non religious worldview and the God centred worldview. These two divergent paths have prevailed throughout history and developed in their own uniq ue ways.
Following the Renaissance, a division occurred between science and religion. Humanism became more dominant eventually leading to the Enlightenment where intellectuals such as Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, confronted with dramatic changes in s ociety which impacted the environment, addressed this and other issues.
Development occurred in the religious worldview. God had guided humanity, for those who could hear his voice, in a direction to represent his views in society and throughout the worl d. Significant individuals were Francis of Assisi, Francis Bacon and Rudolph Steiner.
The division between science and religion has been problematic in the development of science and technology and has influenced the current dilemmas impacting the earth a nd humanity. In this research paper proposals are looked at regarding a deeper understanding that can shed light on the current situation and help resolve so many of the issues confronting humanity and the environment currently.
The current ecological environment has been adversely impacted, and through this research paper I want to look at why and what can be done to positively influence future development. Through unravelling the historical domination, which refers to the domination of huma n being over each other and the environment through force, throughout history, to reveal the original dominion of nature, different influences will be looked at that have impacted the relationship between human beings and the natural environment through th e historical factors of the domination of nature and also the responsibility given to the first human ancestors regarding the dominion of nature.
The first part of this paper reviews literature, that brings together information from numerous, documented so urces, which contribute to the foundation for the argument in this paper.
Reference to the dominion of nature goes back thousands of years to the book of Genesis in the Bible. Chapter 1: 26; Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our li keness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the eart h.” 1 God created the harmonious and beautiful universe, and then created human beings as his children, to mature and become cocreators. As cocreators God gave them great responsibility. However, the first human ancestors, failed to fulfil their responsibil ity. In Chapter 3:11: And He said, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 2 This unfortunate mistake of the first human ancestors impacted the original direction of having dominion. When we look at the two paths of thought throughout history, it does not include the path that would have developed, had this mistake of the first ancestors had never occurred. This mistake gave rise to the religious path of redemption and human beings have lived with faith in the monoth eistic God, including spiritual and religious views of the World’s religions, which became the God centred worldview in history. The other path is the non religious world view, currently known as secularism, the humanistic world view. These two divergent p aths have prevailed throughout history and developed in their own unique ways.
Regarding the secular, humanistic world view; prior to the modern era, feudal society had been in existence over the centuries, until major changes occurred around the 14 th century, leading to the Renaissance. At that time, science and technology developed quickly, without an understanding from the Church, which led to the division between science and religion. Secularism and humanism became more dominant as people became di sillusioned with the Church, eventually leading to the Enlightenment.
The intellectuals of the Enlightenment were confronted with dramatic changes in society due to the escalating development in science and technology, and at the same time human beings wa nted to experience better living conditions and individual rights. Science and technological development impacted directly the environment and the Enlightenment thinkers wanted to address this and other issues. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, of the Fra nkfort School expressed that reason alone, was inadequate to have dominion over nature when they said; “Reason’s disease lies in its own origin, in the effort of man to have dominion over nature.” 3 They saw the destructive possibilities of enlightenment ra tionality and its application to science and technology. They also foresaw the problem when they wrote: “What human beings seek to learn from nature is how to use it to dominate wholly both it and human beings.” 4 Horkheimer and Adorno, sensed a dilemma in human beings’ ability to use the newly developed science and technology for the benefit of both nature and human beings. The motivation of human beings, whether selfish or unselfish, whether seeing the whole picture or not, would influence the direction of science and what could be accomplished through it. Horkheimer and Adorno may not have considered the outcome in that way, but they did see that the decisions human beings made were what influenced the final outcome, when they said; “Science itself has no awareness of itself: it is merely a tool.” 5
The Enlightenment prevailed against the centuries long, understanding of a relationship with nature through religion and philosophy. This led to, in the words of William Leiss: “Nature, for example, appears to scientific thought only as a collection of bodies in eternally lawful motion.” 6 The loss of the religious and philosophical connection to nature, left a vacuum which manifested in self preservation. Just as development had occurred in the non
religious or the secular and humanistic world view, development occurred in the religious worldview. God had guided humanity, for those who could hear his voice, in a direction to represent his views in society and throughout the world. The Bible played a key role in guiding humanity throughout the Old and New Testament. There have been significant individuals who have represented the religious view who were great role models in taking care of nature. In the late 11 th century, Giovanni di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, was born from a wealthy family who took the vow of poverty. He was deeply religious, believed in the brotherhood of all people, and respected nature. Brother Thomas of Celano, Francis’ first biographer,wrote: “St. Francis praised the Artist in every one of his works; whatever he found in things made, he referred to their Maker. He rejoiced in all the works of the Lord’s hands, and with joyful vision saw into the reason and cause that gave them life. In beautiful things he came to know Beauty its elf. To him all things were good.” 7 In the book, Saint Francis: A Life of Joy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says; “Francis understood that we need to love nature and spend time in it, because it is through His creation that the Creator communicates to us his gr ace and joy.” 8
Thomas Aquinas was another significant figure with strong influences furthering the development of the religious world view with an understanding of the value of nature. “ Aquinas blended Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine by suggesting that rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, were valid ways to understand God. According to Aquinas, God reveals himself through nature, so to study nature is to study God. The ultimate goals of theology, in Aquinas’ mind, are to use reason to grasp the truth about God and to experience salvation through that truth.” 9
Following the Renaissance and problems within the Catholic Church, the Protestant Reformation was born as people were seeking individual rights and a personal relations hip with God. This also coincided with increased scientific and technological development and religious scholars were trying to make sense of the relationship between human beings, nature and the new scientific developments. One such person was Francis Bac on. Bacon brought to the forefront the idea of domination over nature. He did so from the perspective of; “For man by the fall fell at the same time from his state of innocency and from his dominion over creation. Both of these losses however can even in t his life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by arts and sciences.” 10 He perceived the domination of nature as a way to gain back what was lost when human beings fell and lost their innocence and dominion. Bacon was influ ential in his expression of the domination of nature and as people fell away from their Christian values the domination of nature was without boundaries.
Another significant voice regarding scientific development and the environment was Rudolph Steiner. He said; “In the age when there was not yet a technical industry independent of true Nature, man found the Spirit within his view of Nature. But the technical processes, emancipating themselves from Nature, caused him to stare more and more fixedly at the mechanical material, which now became for him the really scientific realm. In this mechanical material domain, all the Divine Spiritual Being connected with the origin of human evolution, is completely absent.” 11 Steiner was accomplished in so many fields.Through his biodynamic farming technique, he showed a model, which if had been followed and implemented by society; agriculture would not be currently polluting the food supply and the environment.Albert Einstein spoke of his experience with the creation: “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehe nd is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.” 12 Einstein could understand and deeply appreciate that there was some incredible force and mind behind the creation.
Francis Bacon was a significant historical figure of the religious world view, however; “Bacon did not reflect the conventional pessimism of medieval Christian thinkers who regarded human beings and society as incapable of much improvement due to the corruption of the Human Fall. Instead, he was optimistic about the possibil ities of truth combined with human freedom and sovereignty. Enlarging human knowledge was a precondition for relieving the hardships of human existence and forming a flourishing new society. He saw science, a collective project for improving social structu res, as the means to achieve this. The modern idea of technological “progress” (in the sense of a steady, cumulative, historical advance in applied scientific knowledge) began with Bacon and is an idea that has shaped the past four hundred years.” 13 Baco n was instrumental in changing the view of the time and inspiring research in development of science and technology. Bacon kept religion and science separated as he associated religion with God and science with natural philosophy and technology. He did not want to merge the two.
The development of thought regarding nature and the interaction of human beings with nature have been looked at through two different perspectives, one a religious view and the other, a non religious view, both very influential. Re velation has created great leap s forward in the religious view as through St. Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas and Rudolph Steiner. The development of reason has also been very significant such as through Max Horkheimer and Theodore Adorno. John Locke spoke of the significance of both and the relationship between them: “Reason is natural revelation, whereby the eternal father of light, and fountain of all knowledge, communicates to mankind that portion of truth which he has laid within the reach of thei r natural faculties: revelation is natural reason enlarged by a new set of discoveries communicated by God.” 14
Two hundred years later, the Industrial Revolution was the result of the increase in the development of science and technology which went “full s team ahead,” almost literally as the smoke billowed into the sky as the “means of production” developed, and spread throughout England and Europe. There was a focus on development, on the manufacturing of goods and development of transportation but there was little concern for the impact on the environment. It is possible that if Bacon had seen a way to harmonize religion and science then more thought of God could have been incorporated into scientific development and therefore more in harmony with the n atural law. In this way, Bacon would have been more in line with his desire as a Christian to serve God. It is interesting that Francis Bacon and Galileo lived at the same time, born 3 years apart in the 15 th century. Both were devout Christians. Bacon was instrumental in discovering scientific technique. He kept it separate from his religious belief, while Galileo’s discovery was contrary to the understanding of the Church and consequently, he suffered trials and house arrest. The inability of the Church t o be open to scientific discovery in the light of all the evidence, caused intellectuals with scientific minds to question the role of the Church. This was further exacerbated by the corruption of the Church. Many Catholics had become disturbed by the worl dliness and corruption, where people could be forgiven of their sin through the selling of indulgences. Church officials became wealthy and did not keep their vows or live up to the standards of the Church.
This separation of religion and science has had significant impact. Science developed without the support of religion and as Bacon understood, even though he didn’t show it outwardly, science and religion were two aspects of God, the creator.
Along with the division in science and religion came another division, that of power and knowledge.Bacon expressed it in this way: “Upon a given body to generate and superinduce a new Nature or new Natures is the work and aim of Human Power. To discover the Form of a given Nature, or its true Difference, or its ca usal Nature, or fount of its emanation (for these are the Terms in use which most nearly indicate the thing we mean) this is the work and aim of Human Knowledge.” 15
Power and Knowledge are two very different motivations with hugely different outcomes. In using science and technology for power has seen the result of the domination of nature very differently than the domination of nature for knowledge. Bacon had opened the door for development through scientific and technological discovery and those who did for power had no regard for nature or for humanity whom they dominated. Following the industrial revolution, with the advance of manufacturing and transportation, colonialization of nations by the industrialised nations led to development and advancement b ut also the mistreatment of populations and impacted the natural environment.
Along with Max Horkheimer and Theodore Adorno of the Frankfort School, another significant writer at this time, who could only see the struggles of society, was Karl Marx. Just as the thinkers of the enlightenment were against religion so was Karl Marx, who considered religion to be the “opium of the people.” With the advancement of Colonization by the Christian Colonial powers, and what they perceived as the suffering of the workers in industrialized and colonized nations, Marx sought for solutions. He believed through the dialectic change would occur, to the point where Communism was reached. Marx considered communism to have the answers when he said; “Commu nism… is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the conflict between existence and essence, objectification and self affirmation, freedom and necessity, individual and species. It is the riddle of history solved and knows itself as the solution.” 16 It was significant that Marx had concern for the natural environment and believed that through Communism human beings would be able to achieve what had not been achieved through history .
Marx rejected Christianity and capitalistic society was mostly in Christian nations. He felt the workers were exploited in the economic system of capitalism and together with colonization was something that had to be destroyed. Marx felt he had the an swers in communism, which was based on to dialectic. However, the dialectic is based on struggle and for Marx it is the law of history, so it is not possible that the dialectic will disappear when the ideal state of communism is reached. The vision of Marx , where Communism is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between individual and species cannot be reached in Communism. In the Unification Worldview, it says; “that historical materialism is not a valid analysis or descript ion of history. It cannot be, because it is based on the tenets of dialectical materialism which is not a valid metaphysical outlook and does not explain the nature of relationship and the nature of development.” 17 The idea of revolution and conflict cannot bring constructive change. This can only occur through the process of giving and receiving.
The fruit of Communism occurred in the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union disbanded reports surfaced, regarding the degradation of the environment. What Marx spok e of in theory did not manifest in reality. That shows more clearly that the society as it has developed, in both the capitalist and communist societies have not succeeded in establishing a society, where human beings live in harmony with the environment.
An influential person, who researched extensively the natural world and developed the theory of evolution, was Charles Darwin. His book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, was a whole new development in scientific study regarding the natu ral world. “ It established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific theory of diversification in nature, and it established natural selection as a contender for explaining the diversity of life.” 18
Darwin wrote from a materialistic viewpoint and for materialists, it justified their denial of God as the creator, and was not well received by religious people who believed the evolutionary aspect of the creation, was the work of the Creator, God. As with Karl Marx, Darwin had experienced a Christian upbringing but due to varying circumstances, and possibly such as the misunderstanding of the true nature of God and the contradiction within the lives of some who professed themselves to be religious, turned away fr om religion and were very influential in leading people in that direction.
William Leiss feels that “Western religion has lost its hold over the domain of practical activity, and the increasingly secularized character of social behaviour renders unlikely the prospect that it may someday restore its hegemony.” 19 He feels that the concept of the domination over nature is still based on a theological interpretation. From a secular perspective he is saying that mastery of nature is an “advanced stage in human c onsciousness wherein intelligence is able to regulate its relationship to nature (internal and external) in such a way as to minimize the self destructive aspects of human desires. Unlike the static religious image, this conception presupposes an interplay between intelligence and nature in which both change fundamentally and continuously. The subject object (man) can overcome the irrational prompting of its own nature: and nature considered as an object of human desire, when it ceases to be regarded primar ily as a source of power (and is thus condemned to feed the fires of human conflict), can become instead the wellspring of happiness. The secular foundations of the mastery of nature in this new sense would be a set of social institutions in which responsi bility and authority are distributed widely among the citizenry and in which all individuals are encouraged to develop their critical faculties.” 20
William Leiss as with Marx had deep insights. Leiss understood the essence of human beings changing themsel ves by overcoming irrational thoughts within to overcome human conflict and live in harmony with each other and the environment. However, without understanding the cause of conflict, it is really difficult to change. It helps to know what human beings coul d have attained, prior to the event leading to the cause of conflict, then we can understand how to overcome the irrational thoughts which cause conflict. The Unification Worldview presents the idea that human beings need a “new and clear expression of tru th. This expression of truth is able to improve our understanding of God, and the relation of God to mankind.” “Certainly, with the advances which humanity has made in all realms of knowledge and understanding, it is appropriate at this time that God would inspire us to formulate clearly our God affirming principles into a coherent, inspiring and convincing world view. This is the purpose of Godism. The new understanding of God engendered by this new expression of truth is able to quickly elevate the indivi dual's perspective or point of view. We call this a spiritual awakening. This process takes the age old blindfold from our eyes and allows us to see the whole reality. A quiet yet intense revolution from selfishness to unselfishness must take place within the human heart. This is the revolution of man.” 21
There has been a huge leap to the present time, since the industrial revolution beginning in the 17 th century. With improved transportation the world became easily traversed and interconnected. The United States became significant on the world stage and led the world on multiple fronts. Regarding the environment, the United States started in the right direction at the beginning of the century when President Theodore Roosevelt doubled the number of National Parks during his presidency and designated 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game reserves and 18 national monuments. He created the National Wildlife Refuge System for wildlife restoration. In 1907, Roosevelt declared: “The conser vation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others.” 22
Following the Second World War there was a more developed global mindset. Economies were thriving and the geo political sit uation developed into various alliances between nations. There was more awareness of the strength and influence of each nation state and some nations such as the United States became more aware of its power and continued to build on that. Even in that ther e were two perspectives, the Christian ethics of service to the nations of the world, to share blessings and promote freedom and democracy. This contrasted with the development of power through wealth and the rise of the Military Industrial Complex. Nation s such as the United States were expanding their economies. Corporations were becoming multinational, gaining more power, working more with government, with possible collusion. Manufacturers were creating many new products for all sorts of purposes. Due to the unbridled lack of connection to and understanding of the laws of nature, many new products being manufactured were harmful to the environment. Some examples would be in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Society almost became like guinea pigs as experimentations were done, many unethically and results were not always forthcoming in a way to understand the full effect of all the new products.
Another development that has become increasingly prevalent was geoengineering. Geoengin eering began as “weather modification in 1946 following the Second World War. Within five years private cloud seeding ventures had total annual receipts of $3 5 million, and in 1951 had targeted an area equal to 14% of the landmass of the lower 48 states” 23
Vice President Lyndon Baynes Johnson said in 1962; “It lays the predicate and foundation for the development of a weather satellite that will permit man to determine the world’s cloud layer and ultimately to control the weather; and he who controls the w eather will control the world.” 24
During the 1960s federal support for weather and climate modification grew rapidly, reaching $10 million by the decade’s end. There were other practises such as ocean fertilization with phosphate as well as iron, intensive forestry to capture carbon in forested trees. 25
At a 1968 UNESCO conference, a gathering of two hundred scientists concluded that the impact of modern technologies on the natural environment, “if allowed to continue may produce an extremely critical situa tion that could seriously harm the present and future welfare of mankind, and become irreversible unless appropriate actions be taken in due time.” 26
There was an awareness of the many problems in 1968 yet there was no change in direction. In the following quote, Dane Wigington describes only one facet of all environmental issues: “For over 7 decades covert climate engineering / solar radiation management (SRM) programs have been insidiously expanding and accelerating in skies around the world. The catastro phic consequences of global geoengineering operations are now manifesting at an unimaginably exponential rate. The ongoing climate intervention SRM aerosol spraying assault is blatantly visible in the skies above us; yet, the majority of global populations have so far, unfortunately, chosen to blindly accept the official denial of these programs.” 27
Just this week, on December 16, from Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News; "It is time to consider giving the planet some sunblock", "It is time to consider tweaking the clouds to cool the planet", both statements are headlines from economist.com. Now let’s add this science report title from Science Daily, "Superglue for the atmosphere: How sulfuric acid increases cloud formation". Exactly how many forms of to xic elements are being dispersed into our skies with virtually no environmental impact reviews or public disclosure?” 28
There are many heavy metals, chemicals and microplastics, being sprayed into our atmosphere such as barium, strontium, and aluminum. They are all dangerous to the environment. For example, aluminum degrades soil structure; it destroys beneficial soil life forms, such as good bacteria, bugs and fungi, the foundation for all life. “Such operations are already under way in more than 50 cou ntries, according to the World Meteorological Organization.” 29
The misunderstanding of the domination of nature and the lack of understanding of true dominion has seen actions through scientific and technological development in the natural world unaligned with the original laws of nature leading to many problems. Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon addressed this: “However, the byproducts of modern science endanger human survival and furthermore endanger the survival of all living things. Science is moving in a direction that cannot guarantee the future of human life. We cannot ignore this and focus only on researching things that are needed today. Creation is sick due to people with selfish thoughts. If we follow the principle of circulation, which is the direction God to ok at the time of the Creation, there can be no pollution. Our scientific civilization has caused many types of pollution. This is the reason I am reviving ICUS. We have to stop the threats to human life and to the survival of the planet” 30
Harmony exists through the natural world through the interdependence of all things of the creation. Just as in the words of Dr. Moon regarding the principle of circulation, God expected that we would learn from the natural environment and in our creativity regarding the natural environment, we would follow the same principle. That did not happen. Now we are getting close to a state of environmental collapse, scientists and scholars need to change course. We hope that the International Conference on the Unity of the Scien ces can help to do that.
Rev. and Mrs Moon established the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS) to address these problems and strive for solutions. Through an integrated worldview, order to human knowledge and resolution of confli cting values can be achieved. Through the unity of knowledge and science and values, research and creativity can be guided in the right direction. Rev. and Mrs. Moon brought together experts aligned with both world views, from various fields to share their expertise and work together through this integrated worldview. They also worked with leaders of Government and leaders in all realms of society to address problems and find solutions.
Max Horkheimer, Theodore Adorno and William Leiss could understand the problems regarding the degradation of nature, however, an awareness of the spiritual aspect of human beings and understanding the purpose of creation as envisaged by the creator, is necessary to bring solutions. In the words of Rev. Moon; “While ignoring spirituality and being satisfied with reason and intellectual accomplishment, people have not been concerned about solving the urgent problems connected with their own ultimate purpose.” 31 He also said; “Truth is one and is a principle ruling both nature a nd the human world. This principle in nature is the root and source of all things of the universe. This principle in the human being is the absolute values of love which guides us to complete our personalities through the harmony of our spirituality and ph ysicality and to realize truth, goodness and beauty.” 32
As it was expressed in the New Essentials of Unification Thought; “Since God endowed human beings with the right to have dominion over all things with love, all human beings were to jointly possess th e sky, the sea, and the land, as well as all living beings, including birds, fish and beasts, with a heart of gratitude, based on God’s true love.” 33
Einstein could see we were not fulfilling our original potential when he said “A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, rest ricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” 34
Change in the society and world will occur as the heart and mind of every individual changes. It will come when the secular and the religious sides work together with a deeper understanding of our original purpose and the original purpose of the creation. The U nification World View is presenting an idea to bring the change that so many are waiting for. “God intended the first human ancestors to reach perfection and multiply this perfection by having children. The human family should have started with one couple achieving perfection, and that perfection would have been passed down through the human lineage to those who are alive today. Clearly, had this occurred, we would all be living in a perfect society. It is quite reasonable to think that this is the way in w hich God inten ded to create the ideal society, or in religious terms, th e Kingdom of Heaven on Earth." 35
The United Nations as an overarching body with the responsibility for maintaining peace and security, humanitarian aid, support development and environm ental protection and uphold international law. It has a huge responsibility in protecting the environment and leading the way for a correct understanding in how to prevent damage and to find solutions for what is damaged. The United Nations is well organiz ed and is global. It can be significant in making a difference in the world. The Sustainable development goals are important and they are very relevant to the wellbeing of humanity and the environment.
It is unfortunate that the United Nations has fallen more in line with dictates from multinational corporations which have agendas, which create an unbiased approach to some of its decisions. There is a global push for ideologies which are against religious values and the God centred family, pushed on nations at the expense of losing international aid, if they don’t want to go against their religious values. This is happening even though it says in the United Nations Charter; “to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self determination of peoples.”
Regarding Sovereignty, Gordan Anderson says: “The United Nations created global governance institutions, but these bodies did not remain referees. The became players in the international economy and culture. … …. The United Nations, despite its intentions, undermined the stability of its member states by ignoring the sovereignty of individuals. People are not happy as servants of their governments or a world order that prevents the natural pursuit of life, family , property, and happiness. People resist slavery to other people and social institutions. They will voluntarily join and serve social institutions that enable their pursuit of life, liberty and property. …. The ability of individuals to pursue happiness de pends on whether social institutions enable that pursuit or exploit those they should serve.” 36
The United Nations have Sustainable Goals regarding the environment and all aspects of life. The question is how do those goals relate to the real environmenta l situation and are they the best solution to go forward. The 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28) has recently occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates where many decisions are made by a few, impacting people in all nations. Did they address t he geoengineering, which has been polluting our skies for over 70 years and escalated in the last few years, killing off all forms of life leading to a dying biodiversity? The climate change emergency is generating billions of dollars while leaving the biggest environmental organizations with financial problems. “Organizations are facing critical shortfalls in programs on toxic chemicals, radioactive contamination and wildlife protection.” “Instead of spending money on ensuring that the world’s poor have s afe drinking water, we are spending billions of dollars pushing windmills and solar panels.” These “green energies” use ten times as much land as a natural gas powered plant. The landscape of America is being paved over and industrialized in our pursuit of zero carbon policies.” 37
Positive ideas the United Nations could be looking at, for example, are Rudoph Steiner’s biodynamic farming technique where everything which is needed for the production of plants and animals is integrated and leaves no pollution. Also Rev. Moon said: “However, when hydrogen power is developed, we will have an unlimited supply of energy. …We don't know when that time will come, but I am saying we should start preparing now. We need to create those circumstances so that ou r descendants will be able to live comfortably.” 38
Throughout human history there have been individuals and cultures that have lived with a religious belief and there have been those who haven’t. Both have developed to the best of their ability.Unfortunately, as progress has occurred so has conflict. Struggle has been inherent within human beings and it has impacted the environment. The conclusion is that human beings have had a fundamental aspect of their character, not in line with our original purpose of creation. Through a new worldview, that has appeared at this time in history, we have the opportunity to understand how we can overcome the problem of conflict within and between us, including those of differing worldviews and retore what has b een lost. We are living at a time of the revolution from selfishness to unselfishness, a time of realizing the importance of living for the sake of others, a time to establish beautiful families, societies and a world centred upon God, our creator, where w e can heal the environment and move forward as cocreators. We are living at a time when we no longer have domination of the environment with a self centred perspective but love the creation in the way that God, the creator of both human beings and the envi ronment, envisaged from the very beginning. We are living at a time when the domination of nature is being unravelled and human beings, as they change their character can care for the creation with love and through understanding, and live in accordance wit h the laws of nature, realizing the responsibility of true dominion. The most significant thing is to have the heart to give, serve and love and give joy to God through being his beloved children.
To conclude, here is a quote from Dr.Hak Ja Han Moon whic h encapsulates our hope for the relationship between human beings and the environment: “God gave the natural world to us so that it can serve as our home, an environment within which we can flourish. We should love nature and treat all things of creation w ith care. Nature, in turn, will give us what we need. We should remember that humankind and nature are part of one ecosystem created by God. Let us live together in harmony with nature! 39
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