Negative Impact of Religion on Environmental Health
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The negative impact of religion or spiritual values on environmental health
Spiritual and religious values and traditions have a negative effect on environmental health. For example, in some religion, it is believed that hunting elephants for their tusk, also known as ivory poaching, along with other animals that have tusks (rhinos), will bring health benefits and it is also used as items for human entertainment such as making piano keys (National Geographic Organization, 2015). In Asian countries especially China, it is believed that wearing the ivory (tusk) around their neck wards off evil and bad luck and because of this spiritual belief, the value of a tusk is considered to worth more than gold (World Wildlife, 2017). These acts have brought many species to the brink of extinction and on the endangered list.
The role of spiritual or faith-based institutions in environmental stewards
The role of the spiritual or faith-based institution in environmental stewardship can be seen in many religions like Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism that teaches about spiritual connection or relationship for nature along with caring and showing respect for the environment (UN Environment Programme, 2020). For example, India worships and cares for elephants to the point where these elephants reside in the cities and residential areas with humans. These animals are protected and cared for, according to data, India contains about 60% of Asia’s elephant population. There are many elephant reserves and policies enacted to protect them from poaching and being illegally killed. However, there are negative consequences of having elephants reside in the human habitat. For instance, because India is the 2nd largest population in the world, they are experiencing deforestation at an alarming rate, which means elephants are losing their habitats. This means loss of food resources to feed such large and destructive animals, where situations occur where a farmer’s entire farm is lost due to a rampage of these large animals causing millions of dollars in loss (World Wildlife, 2020).
