If you owe $50, you're a delinquent account. If you owe $50,000, you're a small businessmen. If you owe $50 million, you're a corporation. If you owe $50 billion, you're the government.
Lynn Townsend White, Jr.Read
Both our present science and our present technology are so tinctured with orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature that no solution for our ecologic crisis can be expected from them alone. Since the roots of our trouble are so largely religious, the remedy must also be essentially religious, whether we call it that or not. We must rethink and refeel our nature and destiny.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that both science and technology are insufficient for resolving ecological issues because they are influenced by religious attitudes toward nature.
Lynn Townsend White, Jr. argues that our current scientific and technological approaches to addressing the ecological crisis are deeply influenced by orthodox Christian values, which dominate our understanding of nature. He asserts that since the origins of our environmental problems are largely rooted in these religious beliefs, any viable solutions must also address and fundamentally rethink our spiritual relationship with nature and our place within it, emphasizing the need for a profound shift in perception and feeling towards the natural world.
Themes
EcologyCrisisReligionNatureScienceTechnology
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on environmental ethics, this quote emphasizes the need to reassess our values related to nature.
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