Adopted by the Sixth Biennial Convention, Dallas, Texas,
June 30-July 6, 1972
Society today is confronted by a profound crisis and challenge
in the world of humans and of nature. God so orders creation that
everything in it is related to everything else. All physical
components and all organisms, including human beings, are
purposefully woven together in ecological systems or ecosystems,
such as forests, grasslands, the oceans, as well as the planet
earth. When any part is tampered with, exploited or destroyed the
effect is felt in other parts and eventually in the whole system.
The ecological crisis consists in the radical violation of the
systems God creates. The challenge to human beings is the way in
which they deal with this crisis; it will have profound
significance for all of life in our time and for generations to
come.
A. FACETS OF THE CRISIS
Growth Running Wild
This is an age of rampaging growth-growth in production and
consumption, sales and profits, population and power. Unchecked
population increases exponentially (for example, 2 4 8 16 32 64
128); technological and economic expansion often takes place even
more rapidly. Because of increasing population, increasing consumer
demands, and increasing technological achievements, the engine of
the economy races on, running wild. But, with all this
growth-scarcely questioned by the popular mind-come also rapidly
increasing pollution, depletion of nonrenewable resources,
population pressures, social injustice, and deterioration in the
quality of life. Since the earth is finite, with a limited supply
of air, water, and places to dump refuse, there is an inevitable
breaking-point beyond which even the most sophisticated technology
cannot rescue us.
Pollution
Pollution of air, water, soil, and sound is a daily
experience for nearly every North American. Individuals,
municipalities, industries often poison their environments with
only a minimum of restraints, hardly considering the impact of
their practices on human beings and the rest of the natural
world.
The serious solid waste problem, for example, results not only
from governmental and industrial neglect but from the public s
desire for the convenience of a throw-away style of life. Pollution
is also a global problem. The currents of the atmosphere and the
oceans carry harmful substances from contaminated areas to the most
remote places of the earth. This is particularly serious with
long-lived pesticides, radioactive fallout, and ecological damage
caused by war.
Depletion of Natural Resources
Breathable air and drinkable water, the resources most critical to
life, are diminishing in quantity and quality. There is an
irreplaceable reduction of minerals, open spaces and forests
because of the insatiable human demand for raw materials and room
for factories and housing. Technology s best efforts to develop new
food sources are frustrated by the pace of population growth, the
diminution of arable land, and the injury done to the productivity
of soil by some chemical applications. These and other forms of
resource depletion cause severe damage to plants, animals, and
human beings as they push hard on the limits of the earth s
ecosystems.
Population Pressures
If there were no more people in the world than in the time of
Christ, estimated to be about 1/4 billion, the destructive effects
of pollution and exhaustion of resources would be minimal. Since
population has grown exponentially, experts project that if this
trend continues in the same manner, the earth s population, about
3.7 billion in 1971, will rise to about 7 billion by the year
2000-a dangerously crowded planet.
Although the population growth rate in Canada and the United
States is less than in many other lands, even in these countries
the anticipated increases will cause severe problems. Most
frightening, however, is the effect of North American growth upon
the rest of the world. The United States alone, with only six per
cent of the world s population, is responsible for at least
one-third of the world s consumption of nonrenewable resources.
Population pressures enormously complicate all other facets of
the ecological crisis. The stark fact is that, if the responsible
decision of people does not result in population limitation, the
ghastly alternatives of famine and disease, crime and violence and
war will do it in their own ways.
Social Injustice
The human crisis in ecology is an enormously complex and urgent
problem. It is understood only when the dimension of social
injustice is taken seriously. When the poisons of pollution and the
explosion of population take their toll, the impact falls most
heavily upon the poor, certain minority groups, and others who are
already oppressed by many of the most crushing problems of today.
The unequal distribution of wealth and resources both within and
among nations results in injustices which cry out for redress. Too
often an overemphasis on the private sector has diminished the
ability of government to work effectively for justice. Too often
the power of technology has been used by some nations and by some
groups within nations to dominate others, thus widening the chasm
between the "haves" and the "have nots." The struggle for the earth
s resources and the tensions of urbanized living will become
increasingly potent causes of domestic violence and international
war. The issues of social injustice are profoundly involved in the
ecological crisis.
B. A HUMAN CRISIS
The Underlying Cause
The underlying cause of the ecological crisis is not
natural forces but human arrogance and rebellion against God, what
the Christian faith calls sin. Because humans alone are responsible
before God, they alone are capable of sinning. By seeking to serve
themselves rather than God and their neighbors, human beings both
individually and corporately forsake their humanity as responsible,
relational beings. Likewise, they choose to perceive the nonhuman
world not as possessing God-given integrity of its own, but as
existing primarily for their use and benefit, or merely as the
stage upon which they live their lives. Some of their disruptive
influence, to be sure, results from their ignorance or from
changing circumstances, from their inability to foresee the
eventual consequences of well-intentioned actions. Nevertheless,
whether through sin or ignorance, human beings violate their
selves, their neighbors, and the whole of creation.
Toward New Values
There is little hope of arresting the mad rush toward ecological
disaster unless a very large number of persons and institutions
renounce certain values which have long dominated civilization.
Defining "the good life" in terms of creature comforts and material
"progress," many people in all strata of society cherish such
assumptions as the following: that the earth s resources belong to
humanity and are inexhaustible; that prosperity is a reward for
diligence and character, and poverty is caused by the indolence of
the poor; that maximization of profit, economic growth and
technological expansion is inevitably good; that the threat of
intolerable population pressures is exaggerated; and that human
ingenuity, working through science, technology, and present social
structures, can resolve the ecological crisis without decisive
changes in values and institutions. These old values, reflections
of sin and ignorance, flout ecological facts and tear the fabric of
interrelatedness which is of the essence of God s creation. They
must be renounced in favor of new values which give priority to
quality of life rather than to quantity of things, characterized by
responsibility in human community and enlightened care of the earth
and its resources.
In the task of discovering new values and nurturing commitment
to them, the church has a crucial role to play. Moved by faith in
its Lord, love for neighbor, and concern for justice, the church
joins with others in facing the baffling problems of the ecological
crisis and searching for solutions which are true to these new
values. It is grateful for constructive changes which have been
taking place in society and in its own life, and for persons and
groups whose labors have brought them about. The church sees itself
called to work as an instrument of God for a maximum of justice and
reconciliation in a sinful world. Recognizing the ambiguity of all
decision-making, it speaks and acts trusting in God s grace. In
obedience to God and in response to the urgency of the human crisis
in ecology, this church sets forth the following imperatives for
action:
1. Reaffirmation of the biblical doctrine of creation. Scripture
portrays creation as a continuing manifestation of God s love and
sovereignty. God acts to establish and preserve a just and ordered
life, to enable every part of his world, in proper relation with
all other parts, to perform the function for which it is made.
Human beings are part of the vast ecosystem of the planet earth.
They cannot live their lives against that system; they must live
within it. They must respect the integrity of the nonhuman world,
including its inorganic components.
Only when this is remembered dare we speak of whatever
uniqueness human beings may have: uniqueness in their capacity to
respond to God in faith and to their neighbors in love, and in
their corresponding capacity to rebel against God, alienate
themselves from their neighbors, and deal selfishly with the rest
of creation. God s commission to humanity to have "dominion" over
the earth and "to till it and keep it," calls for responsible
stewardship of the earth and all living things, to work for the
fulfillment of all creation and for justice in the human community.
But human beings too often have distorted this commission into a
license to exploit the world and other human beings.
This means that we live ecologically among our fellow neighbors
as well as within nature. Humankind is a relational unity; every
person lives both in history and in nature. Degradation of any
person degrades all persons. The individual cannot find personal
integration and peace apart from struggling for the integration and
peace of all humankind. For this reason, radical changes are called
for in our attitudes and actions as we meet the distinctively human
dimensions of the ecological crisis.
In its preaching and sacraments, worship and evangelism,
education and social ministry, the church is called to teach this
biblical understanding of human beings and nature as God s
interrelated creation.
2. Development of ecological life styles which are sensitive to
the needs of human beings and the nonhuman world. This calls for
personal, family, and societal behavior patterns which reduce
pollution and the wasting of resources, for example, using recycled
products when ecologically feasible, practicing selective buying,
and regulating habits of consumption according to ecological
criteria. It also calls for this church, in its structure,
policies, and actions, to demonstrate concern for the
interrelatedness of people within its own life and in the
world.
3. Serious questioning of the philosophy of material growth
which has been virtually unchallenged in modern society. Some
economic growth seems necessary if a more equitable distribution of
wealth is to become possible. Such distribution will not be
achieved automatically by economic growth; it will be accomplished
only by basic economic reforms, such as changing tax structures,
providing incentives, optimizing energy use, and reordering
priorities, both public and private. Technology is essential to the
solution of some ecological problems, but it must be controlled.
The task of encouraging growth in quality of life by securing a
dynamic equilibrium between consumption and available resources is
complex and controversial. This church should guide its members to
examine their own "growth" attitudes, and should stimulate and
participate in critical interdisciplinary examination of society s
dedication to material growth.
4. Challenge to popular beliefs. Many erroneously believe that
science and technology will resolve the ecological crisis without
decisive changes in social structures. On the contrary, many
technological advances, despite their benefits, have multiplied
problems-pollution, depletion of resources, and unforeseen damage.
Therefore, among other strategies, political action is needed to
bring technology fully into the service of genuine quality of life.
To assist existing governmental agencies, advocacy groups might be
formed. Consisting of competent people from appropriate fields,
such advocacy groups-independent of both industry and
government-would evaluate new technological developments in terms
of their direct and indirect environmental impact.
5. Concern for the social costs of actions of industry and
government. What effect, for example, do decisions regarding the
disposal of industrial effluents or municipal sewage have upon
lakes, rivers, and oceans- ultimately upon human beings, wildlife,
and vegetation? This church supports efforts to monitor the
performance of regulatory agencies at all levels of government; tax
reforms which discourage polluting and encourage safe environmental
practices; and legislation which requires greater accountability of
private and public enterprises to their appropriate communities.
Financial costs of improved ecological procedures should be
allocated in such ways as not to overburden those least able to
afford them.
6. Earnest attention to population control. Population control
differs from family planning in that it bases family-size decisions
on the capacity of the world to support children rather than the
desire of parents to have them. It is imperative that every effort
be made to achieve control by voluntary incentives. If voluntary
appeals prove ineffective, however, the danger from population
growth is so ominous that there will be societal pressures for
compulsory control. The possibility of coercion by law involves
complex questions of social ethics and personal conscience which
the church and society must study with great care.
7. This church s economic policies and practices. This church
shall witness to the affirmations of this statement in its own
economic policies and practices in such areas as employment,
purchasing of goods and services, investments, and responsible use
of its human and financial resources. Especially in carrying out
its investment policies the church should, within the criterion of
fiduciary responsibility, exercise priority for considerations of
ecological and social justice.
8. Public Action. This church and its members should take public
action which protects, restores, and enhances the natural and the
specifically human environments. They should express their
convictions to officials of government in behalf of constructive
environmental policies and practices, and should cooperate with
other churches and organizations which have similar objectives.
This church and its members should pursue the same goals in
business and industry through personal contact with corporate
leaders, scrutiny of investment and employment practices,
participation in stockholders meetings, selective purchasing of
goods and services, and making public statements of criticism or
commendation. This church should involve decision-makers in
government and industry in faith-and-life dialogues to enable them
to share insights into the crucial ecological issues which they
face.
9. Application of all these imperatives to the relationships
among the nations of the world. This church should cooperate with
other churches and with governmental and nongovernmental
organizations in dealing with international ecological problems.
New global dimensions are lifted up by the LCA Statement on World
Community (1970):
It is no longer possible for one nation to consider its use, or
abuse, of resources within its own borders-for instance, air and
water-as its exclusive concern. The time has come for all nations
to cooperate in the coordination of conservation efforts within
their respective territories, as well as to establish the rule of
law governing resources of oceans, polar regions, and outer
space-"the international public domain." The latter task, a
beginning of which has already been made, includes the
establishment of agreements which protect international resources
from uncontrolled private or national exploitation, the guarantee
that such resources shall not be used for warlike purposes, and the
development of genuinely international agencies empowered to
enforce the agreements.
The issues of international social justice are an integral part
of the human crisis in ecology. Fair distribution of resources and
power, equitable standards of living, reduction of global
pollution, just resolution of the tensions that make for war, the
building of peace on earth-all the problems of world community are
inescapably the problems of every nation and every citizen. Their
solution, however, will require special considerations and
sacrifices by the people of Canada and the United States.
D. A CALL
In light of the above imperatives for action the Lutheran Church
in America calls upon its members and all elements of its corporate
life to develop and pursue courses of action, appropriate to their
respective responsibilities and capacities, which will promote
environmental protection and social justice.