Religion and the Environment

I believe that regardless of your position on religion, you should do your best to make decisions that will not harm the environment. It is very easy to see the relationship between religion and protecting an environment. Following a religion could have both a positive or a negative effect on a person's approach to protecting the environment. In general a religion provides a set of instructions to help followers live the way their creator intended them to. Most of the time these instructions are peaceful and pursue the protection of life. The article I read described ways different religions took the initiative to help their environment. For example, a baptist church in Malaysia collects recylcable goods and are then sold to consumers who will reuse them. The article also explains that religous groups are very effective in helping the environment beacuse of their strong motivation and belief system. This provides both a service to consumers and it helps keep the environment waste free. However on the opposite side of that you have religions that are very destructive in nature. Followers of these more extreme religions might have the exact oppostite reaction and act accordingly. I also think making such a strong connection between religion and environment would have a negative impact on people who do not follow a religion. This might cause people who choose to not follow a religion to rebel against the environmental movement entirely.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X11002789