what motivation would you have to improve this life?
Jesus often taught being a good steward (parable of the vineyard, talents, etc), and his disciples continued that (body is a temple, etc).
Or if we look at it logically, if you believe God created the world for you and you love God, surely you’d want to take care of it, no? That should be true for every religion. So if you don’t take care of the earth, to me that says you’re not grateful for God’s gift of a world, and that could impact your eternal future, no?
As for “God is in control,” most Christians (and many other religions) believe God acts through people (“God moved me to…”), so taking care of the planet means you’re letting God work through you to improve things for others.
You can look at it from a secular perspective. If the planet is a genuine marvel of randomness, we can either take care of it (preservationist perspective), or exploit it for our benefit (selfish, i.e. I’m only here for 90 years, I might as well enjoy it).
Whether the justification is from a secular or religious perspective doesn’t matter, what matters is whether your justifying a selfish or responsible attitude.
Jesus often taught being a good steward (parable of the vineyard, talents, etc), and his disciples continued that (body is a temple, etc).
Or if we look at it logically, if you believe God created the world for you and you love God, surely you’d want to take care of it, no? That should be true for every religion. So if you don’t take care of the earth, to me that says you’re not grateful for God’s gift of a world, and that could impact your eternal future, no?
As for “God is in control,” most Christians (and many other religions) believe God acts through people (“God moved me to…”), so taking care of the planet means you’re letting God work through you to improve things for others.
You can look at it from a secular perspective. If the planet is a genuine marvel of randomness, we can either take care of it (preservationist perspective), or exploit it for our benefit (selfish, i.e. I’m only here for 90 years, I might as well enjoy it).
Whether the justification is from a secular or religious perspective doesn’t matter, what matters is whether your justifying a selfish or responsible attitude.