CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 18 September) — Based on Thomas Berry’s account of the Universe Story, the birth of ecological age arguably happened in 1968, when the astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission documented their unique experience of seeing the beauty of the Earth from the moon and brought back to us the first photographs of the Earth from space known as Earth Rise.
Al Gore remarked that the Earth Rise photograph “exploded into the consciousness of humankind” and, within two years, it gave birth to “the modern environmental movement,” including the annual Earth Day celebration every April 22.[1]
We are Integral Parts of the Earth
You may criticize this Earth photograph by saying: it’s not the picture of the real Earth we know. The real Earth has plants, fish, birds, animals, and humans. Well, that is true. But do you know why we and other fellow earthlings are not visible in this beautiful Earth photograph? It is because all of us are deeply united with Earth to the effect that we form one single unit. We are integral parts of the Earth as a whole.
This Earth photograph from space offers a new ecological worldview that “the Earth and humankind make up a single entity.”[2] Thus, it powerfully visualizes the integral ecological principle that “everything is related to everything else in all respects.”[3]
The Earth has Bleeding Wounds
It is not enough to see the Earth photograph. We need to turn our gaze to the actual realities on Earth.Presently, this small, fragile, and precious planet Earth is suffering from, at least, two bleeding wounds: dehumanizing poverty and devastating ecological crisis.[4] Both wounds make the poor and the Earth cry out simultaneously.
On one hand, the wound of dehumanizing poverty has been bleeding for centuries due to several forms of oppression and violence suffered by the poor children of the Earth. On the other hand, the wound of ecological crisis is getting worse due to the systematic assault on the Earth in the guise of development. Apparently, both wounds appear to be human-induced.
Integral Ecology as Uniting All Ecologies in a Coherent Perspective
To heal the Earth’s bleeding wounds, a number of ecological therapies have emerged: Technological Ecology, Political Ecology, Human Ecology, Social Ecology, Mental Ecology, Ethical Ecology, and Deep Ecology. Moreover, the greening of other fields continues: ecological economics, ecological engineering, ecological agriculture, ecological spirituality, ecological theology, etc.
To unite all ecologies into a coherent perspective, Hillary B. More used the term integral ecology for the first time in 1958.[5] As described by subsequent authors, integral ecology is “a framework that allows all aspects of reality to connect with what has traditionally been associated with the scientific study of ecology.” [6]
Integral Ecology as Moving Beyond Green Movement
In order to become integral, ecological reflection has to move “beyond its early stage as a green movement or one to protect and save endangered species.”[7] Consequently, ecological advocacy today can no longer be reduced to conservationism, preservationism, and environmentalism. It must also pay attention to the conditions of poverty and all forms of social crisis, as these can be considered “ecological aggressions against the most complex being of creation, the human being.”[8]
Moreover, this sense of integral ecology invites us not to separate the cry of the Earth from the cry of the poor. It would be pretentious to claim that we care for God’s creation if we do not care for the ongoing marginalization and impoverishment of the most complex of creation—the human beings.
Furthermore, Leonardo Boff explained that this integral ecological perspective seeks to articulate “a new alliance between societies and nature.” It presupposes that “society and culture also belong to the ecological complex. … In this holistic perspective, economic, political, social, military, educational, urban, agricultural and other questions are all subject to ecological consideration.”[9] It can be argued that this overarching claim of ecology with its liberative notion of integral ecology may have “provided a direct inspiration for Pope Francis.”[10]
The Meaning of Integral Ecology in Laudato Si’
Laudato Si’ repeatedly affirms the integral ecological principle that “Everything is inter-connected” (LS 70, 138, 240). Building on this principle, the notion of integral ecology tries to bring together the environmental, economic, social, cultural, and everyday life ecologies (see LS 138–55), including the ethical principles of the common good, human rights, intergenerational justice, and the intrinsic value of nature (see LS 140).[11]
Pope Francis invites us to see “everything [as] closely interrelated and [to listen to his] … call for a vision capable of taking into account every aspect of the global crisis” (LS 137). [12] It is clear that the solutions to the complex causes of global crisis “will not emerge from just one way of interpreting and transforming reality” and “cannot be dealt with from a single perspective or from a single set of interests” (LS 110).