Argument Essay: Ecological Conversion And Religion

results in a new ending. Rather than reading and re-reading the Genesis story, she would prefer a new story be written inspired by human action. The Pope, of course, cannot give up Genesis but he is advocating for a new ending to the story. For the Pope, reconciliation can only be achieved through an “ecological conversion” experienced by all citizens of the planet. For Christians this involves “examining our lives and acknowledging the ways in which we have harmed God’s creation through our actions and our failure to act...44” For non-Christians this conversion is presented as “a change of heart and a change of direction where we take on the beauty and responsibility of caring for our common home.”45 This reconciliation through “ecological conversion” will best manifest in an “integral ecology” which is defined as inseparable from the notion of the common good as well as a unifying aspect of social ethics. This integral ecology is a call for “openness to categories which transcend the language of mathematics and biology, and take us to the heart of what it is to be human.46” For the Church this integral ecology will …show more content…
This is seemingly as revolutionary as economists challenging principles of micro and macroeconomics in mainstream economics. Wendell Berry states that though he senses bringing religion into the conversation is a risky approach, “our present problems demand that we have recourse to our cultural heritage including a concern with religion which at the minimum shatters the selfish context of the individual life, and thus forces a consideration of what human beings are and ought to be.47” Taylor and Grinlinton posit that we cannot avoid philosophical and theological inquiry into the ultimate end just because it is difficult and they invoke a “new politics of obligation” which will depend upon human society consciously choosing a new social goal, and if it chooses the