The Lynn White Thesis

Religion and ecological justice in Africa: Engaging ‘value for community’ as praxis for ecological and socio-economic justice

“…Contrary to White's view that Judeo-Christian beliefs and teachings bore 'a great burden of guilt' (White 1967, cited in Whitney 2005:1736 for the current environmental crisis, biblical scholars and eco-theologians such as James Barr, Carl Braaten, John Cobb, and Joseph Sittler argue that JudeoChristian tradition could more accurately be described as mandating a care-taking or stewardship relationship to the natural world (Whitney 2005(Whitney :1736. As such, Christianity was not part of the problem, but rather part of the solution to environmental issues.…”

“…Foremost with regard to the indictment of religion, in particular the Christian faith, for being responsible for ecological and (to a considerable extent) economic injustice is the argument put forward by Lynn White Jr. (Whitney 2005(Whitney :1736 and economic activities. Whereas White's thesis has enormously contributed to the development of the debate around religion and ecology and the discipline, it has also attracted strenuous rebuttals from eco-theologians (Riley 2012:1).…”

“…Both movements (environmental ethics and religion and ecology) question the connection between cosmology and environmental issues (Jenkins 2009:284). Also, a detailed study of the medieval exegesis of Genesis 1:28 by historians and philosophers of technology revealed that medieval commentators characteristically dealt with questions of God's covenant and human sexuality, bypassing the issue of the technological dominion of nature altogether (Whitney 2005(Whitney :1736. In fact, there is considerable evidence to show that non-Western and pre-Christian cultures were implicated in environmental damage (Whitney 2005(Whitney :1736.…”

“…Also, a detailed study of the medieval exegesis of Genesis 1:28 by historians and philosophers of technology revealed that medieval commentators characteristically dealt with questions of God's covenant and human sexuality, bypassing the issue of the technological dominion of nature altogether (Whitney 2005(Whitney :1736. In fact, there is considerable evidence to show that non-Western and pre-Christian cultures were implicated in environmental damage (Whitney 2005(Whitney :1736. Drawing from the responses of biblical scholars, eco-theologians, historians and philosophers of technology, it is apparent that the links between religion, technology, environmental decline and economic injustice are hardly as direct or straightforward as White suggests.…”

Constructing Worlds: Reflections on Science, Technology and Democracy (and a Plea for Bold Modesty)

“…From the Long Island bridges in race-segregating New York, to the stirrup in feudal Europe, from the scientific method in puritan England, to gunpowder in Chinatechnologies and scientific knowledge are shaped by the societies in which they are being developed (Winner 1980;Joerges 1999;White Jr. 1962;Whitney 2013;Merton 1938Merton (1970; Needham and Wang 1954). This is, however, a quite general and unspecific claim.…”