A Christian Perspective
Introduction

What a beautiful world we’ve been given! It’s ours to live in and to care for. Yet we’ve made the devastating choice to take our own course—to go our own way. Dissatisfied with the fruits of creation, we have chosen to press creation to our own ends. We arrogantly and greedily defy its God-ordained boundaries, trampling and polluting it. We seem to have chosen the path to death. Yet the Bible invites us to the path of life.

One response to these growing problems is the emerging social movement confronting toxic technologies. It is a youthful movement, but in the past decade it has had phenomenal successes. The movement now acknowledges that the most important issues are justice, power and control. There is no more important question than: Who gets to decide? And it’s becoming quite clear that women, along with other minorities, have had little chance to respond.

The ultimate health challenge confronting us today is to reverse the Earth’s continuing ecological deterioration. Environmental health specialists report that we are all immersed in what is becoming a deadly toxic stew. The ecocrisis is potentially the most disastrous health crisis of all human history and prehistory. In order to save our planet we must move to ecologically sustainable lifestyles and a just global economy.

While the nuclear threats to health are ever-present, in the sixties the possibility of a nuclear war threatened human health and survival. Planet Earth now faces a similar threat from changes to the global environment—stratospheric ozone depletion, habitat destruction, species extinction, global warming, and the poisoning of air, water, and soil by toxic substances. We’ve clearly failed to recognize the serious consequences of these environmental dangers. We’ve paid little attention to their effects on human health. And unfortunately, tackling environmental degradation is, in many ways, a more difficult task than avoiding nuclear war. The problem is more complex, and its solution will demand much greater changes in the way we all lead our lives. Will we take up the challenge?

Perhaps we’ll be motivated to do so, once we have grasped the full dimensions of the environmental crisis—namely that our health and lives are at stake. Yet the subject is wide in scope. And it is difficult to present all of the aspects in a comprehensive and manageable form within the limited space of this booklet. So we’ve selected our topics carefully, realizing that no arguments for the environment are more persuasive than those made from the perspective of health and healing.

The topics and issues presented in this study resource are weighty and at times overwhelming. We are dealing with complex issues that are interconnected and offer no easy solutions. Yet these issues touch all living beings and concern the future of planet Earth. You’ll discover some overlap and duplication, especially in action suggestions, but that is to be expected in a holistic approach to the issue under study. We hope these materials will help you become more informed about environmentally induced illnesses. That knowledge, in turn, should move you to a more effective advocacy for a healthier environment.
Humankind has the power and the intelligence to save the Earth, but we need the will to do it. Unless our species rises to the challenge and devises innovative ways to heal and protect our planet, the future of all living beings may be short. Therefore, nothing is more important for health than our learning to live with more love for this planet and all of God’s creation. Only thus can we save it as a healthful place for all of us.

Despair is a healthy response to human caused degradation and poisoning when it leads us to turn to God for help. Jesus Christ, therefore, by precept and example teaches us to have faith. To trust in God and to ask, seek, knock. Ernest prayer is the beginning of any constructive response to the crises outlined in this resource.

How To Use This Resource

Begin and end each session with prayer. Feel free to decide how you’ll use the resources in Your Health and the Environment, depending on your group’s size and particular needs. Here are some general guidelines to help you get started:

As soon as possible, familiarize yourself with all the components in the study guide. For example, look through the Resources section and be ready to share the information there with your group members as it becomes appropriate. Some of these resources could be used in portions of your congregational worship, as well.

Plan for consecutive weekly sessions over 13 weeks. If your group needs to spread its work over a longer period of time, consider four sessions in the fall, four in the spring and four the next fall (or six and six). If you can meet for more than 13 sessions, fine. Here are other possible ways to divide the sessions—

If your congregation plans on offering 8 sessions in which to complete the study, choose the following study titles:

I.	Biblical and Theological Perspectives (Session 1)
II.	Health and the Environment: An Overview (Session 2)
III.	Air (#4) or Water (#5) or Food (#6)
IV.	The Environment and Cancer (Session 8)
V.	Children’s Health (Session 10)
VI.	Women’s Health and the Environment (Session 11)
VII.	Environmental Justice and Health (Session 12)
VIII.	Healing Ourselves and the Earth (Session 13)