Exploring the impact of western influence on human-nature relation perceptions of environmental religious ethics in Africa

Abstract

The argument of the influence of Western worldview over traditional religious environmental ethics as the cause of environmental problems in Africa has not been analysed holistically. Most scholars in Africa as far as this issue is concern have ignored some salient matters needed to fill the existing gap, such as: the adverse consequences of considering nature as a sacred entity, the wide margin between theoretical ideologies of traditional religious environmental ethics and its actual practices, and environmental problems orchestrated by human evolution/development. This article adopts the library research method. It employed the historical and analytic research tools and adopted the Cultural Ecological Theory of Julian H. Steward in investigating the subject matter. The article deviates from the conventional notion about Western influence over traditional religious view of human-nature relations; it tries to show that environmental problems have been in existence prior to Africans’ encounter with the Western worldview. It holds that though Judeo-Christian environmental ethics (Western worldview) is anthropocentric it is deontological in approach to human-nature relations. The paper finds that although numerous African cultures continue to express veneration for nature, socioeconomic challenges, including poverty and underdevelopment, frequently compel environmentally detrimental activities such as illicit logging and poaching. One thing remains certain, the primary factor responsible for environmental degradation is the pursuit for a supposed meaningful life without taking into consideration the impact of our actions and activities on human-nature relations.