In many parts of the world, primarily Europe, religion determined position and churches' status. Christianity offered state officials and national power its legitimacy, and the fundamental duty of the government was to protect Christian values. Christianity remains an essential aspect of the social, cultural, and federal political domains. It cannot be reduced to personal convictions which do not imply anything in a private sphere. The relationship between Christianity and the state has become an essential aspect of studies in the past decades. Their relationship can be seen from the angle of view using multiple scientific disciplines such as political sciences, history, sociology, law and many more. When analyzing Christian politicians' role in addressing intergovernmental relationships, it is essential to study several theoretical models. Historical techniques will provide a detailed framework for understanding and explain the historical development of politics, religions, and religious groups, primarily between countries. The study is keen to establish that Christianism can be a potent strategy to advance the federal government's robust environmental policies. With the help of vocal Christian politicians, Biblical dogmas can be infused in environmental policies to increase the effectiveness of environmental agendas in the federal government. Consequently, this study will examine the influence of Christian statesmen in the legislation of environmental policies in the federal government. Additionally, the study will measure Christianism's weight in policymaking in the federal states, whether the influence is strong enough to reinforce a particular environmental agenda in the federal governments.
Research Questions
Is the influence of Christianism present in the legislation of environmental policies?
How does Christianism affect policymaking in a federal government?
Limitations of the study
The study is restricted to the influence of Christianism in the legislation of environmental policies in the federal government. Other religions are not considered in this study, mainly because of the predominant nature of Christianity in American politics and society at large. However, the emphasis on Christianity as the religion under focus does not shelve the impact of the other religious beliefs on American politics.
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Literature Review
The current generation needs to be inclined towards shedding off careless living and begin taking the responsibility of making life sustainable. “In Christianity, God is the central pillar, creator of heavens and earth.” “God created the earth “to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18). Besides, Christians are responsible stewards who have many reasons to endorse restoration and prevention of environmental degradation. Ecological solidarity and environmental stewardship are vital towards rethinking social-ecological interdependency and responsibility ( Mathevet et al. 2). According to Munns Jr et al., ecosystems' significance to human well-being is essential as future generations' lives are at risk through the ecological risk assessment (ERA) (2). The possibility of negative ecological effects might happen as a consequence of exposure to one or more stressors.
Christianism supports stewardship despite the many perspectives regarding different Christians denominations, believing they have a responsibility for taking care of God’s creation. However, the medical definition of environmentalism views the environment as a significant element of development, the intellectual and cultural development of a person or group. Moreover, various environmental movement branches are often categorized as biocentrism or “life centered” and anthropocentric or “human centered” (Rice III 13). On the other hand, there are conservative Christians and green Christianity, whereas conservative Christians are usually less obligated in matters of environmentalism in the general public. Although, green Christianity, within the activism arena, promotes action and awareness at the community, church, and national levels (Clements et al. 3). The green Christianity movement is a wide subject encompassing Christian's theological reflection of nature to promote theological or biblical basis for celebrating and protecting the environment.
Environmental stewardship includes three principles. The first principle, earth keeping principle, states that “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it ” (Genesis 2:15). As Christians, sustaining loving and caring for the environment, we expect blessings from God. The second principle, the Sabbath principle, states that “We must provide for creation’s Sabbath rests.” Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 posit that a day needs to be set aside for animals and people to rest, thereby protecting the land from relentless exploitation. The third principle, the fruitfulness principle, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky" (Genesis 1.20, 22). This passage emphasizes the need for us to enjoy but not destroy the world in fruitfulness. As we depend more on the Planet Earth features, human societies need to be concerned about the natural ecosystem's human impact. Jenkins posits that religion is beginning to look environmental, whereas religious leaders have become vocal about many countries' environmental problems. Religious leaders are sensing that they hold a sacred trust towards preserving nature.
Analysis of Christianism Role in the Legislation of Sound Environmental Policies
Christian politicians' role in addressing public issues is based on two common misconceptions that mainly derail church participation in public policy creation. The first aspect is that morality is limited to individual matters. However, Christian norms are not limited to personal character and religion. The founding value of any community is the dignity and worth of each person (Belyaeva et al. 2019, 391). Christian standards are inclusively recognizing the dignity and worth of individuals under God and the role of social morality derived from humans. The second misconception is that public policies are generally based on secular and political endeavors or based on economic and technological scope. However, this assumption is not usually the case since the church and the religious group would have no particular duty to develop public policies (Bankston 2017, 520). The voice of society could have been ignored. There are multiple essential moral and religious perceptions of each of the challenges facing human society, and these aspects must be considered in the development of public policies.
While God's name appears on the Declaration of Independence, the US currency, and the Pledge of Allegiance, its absence is notable in the US Constitution. Fahmy notes that 88% of the 116th Congress members consist of Christians, with the protestants and Catholics being the most dominant. In contrast, about a third of Americans declared that government policies should have a religious pedigree. Half of the Americans adduce that America's laws should reflect Biblical teachings, while 28% of the American people believe that Biblical principles should directly influence policymaking in America ( Lipka ). In the United States, environmental protection was a state matter until the 1970s, when the federal government strongly interceded. The federal government's intervention was necessitated by new logical disclosures about dangers to human and natural well-being, developing resident interest for strategy activity, and a rising agreement that state governments were reluctant to accept accountability. Congress sanctioned significant bits of enactment 20, for example, the 1970 Clean Air Act (CAA), the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA), and the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA) that moved the overall influence from the state to the public level, and the federal state was revamped to make another organization—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — resulting to utilizing the new environmental protection system.
Significant reasoning for the federal intervention in the 1970s was that many state governments could not be depended upon to either successfully address contamination issues or satisfactorily oversee common and natural assets. Key among the worries, the federal-state did not have an adequate motivating force to address interstate environmental contamination overflows. Additionally, the states were too hesitant to consider imposing expensive administrative weights on the industry due to worries that it would have monetary drawbacks. Key among the contentious issues was a conviction that, in many states, big businesses had a lopsided effect on government strategy comparative with ecological public gatherings. Moreover, states came up short on the institutional limit—specialized, money related, and managerial—to oversee natural issues. Therefore, with Christian statesmen's help, there is a good chance that the federal government could advance sound environmental policies.
All Christians believe that it is their fundamental duty to act morally and help the government address the community's challenges. They act as a voice to ordinary citizens (Foy, Schleifer, and Tiryakian 2017, 23). For instance, Christian politicians advise the government about organizations that need relief food and provide food banks in regions where individuals live in poverty. Many Christians tend to follow biblical teachings. For instance, when it comes to helping the poor, the Bible states that "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Mathew 25:35-36). This verse shows that when church and government have a positive relationship, there will be the development of excellent public policies such as environmental principles that will address contemporary society's problems such as climate change and global warming.
Religious leaders play a fundamental role in developing public policy and addressing issues at the political level. Christians also are the agent of social stability and social change. The principal value of the church is to promote social peace and order in the community. They ensure that the federal government has well-underlined principles and laws that speak out the poor people's challenges. The church ensures that they overcome the dichotomy between the government and the subsequent national formation by highlighting the importance of social justice by altering the status quo (Isiaqe et al. 134). It is essential to emphasize that federalism's Christian vision is not a secular vision of the government. Christianity is grounded in fundamental theological and philosophical ideologies about God's nature and contemporary society's reality. Although many allegations about the Christian statesmen interfering with politics, it is essential and useful when the church becomes a sign of justice (Foy, Schleifer, and, Tiryakian 2017, 19). Christians need to take a stance that is regarded as explicitly political to avoid collision with inequality and social injustice structures.
A Biblical Integration of how a Christianism Stateman would Respond to Legislation of Sound Environmental Policies
For thousands of years, a man's life has been pondered since our wrong concept regarding man and land is where the error lies. According to science, we believe man is a physical body, whereas religion has not provided credible counter-arguments. The assumption is that our only physical existence is the only there is; if we die, we also cease to exist following our physical bodies' disintegration. More so, the current belief is that our life's purpose is to live the best we can, get married, have children, accumulate wealth, and, if possible, accrue as several earthly honors as possible. Besides, when successful in all these, then our life's purpose has been achieved. However, according to the Bible, God created us not because He needed us. God created us out of His great love despite not needing us but to fulfill His eternal plan. There is a long historical tradition of reflecting human responsibility and nature. There is a strong tendency towards anthropocentrism in Christianity, “And God blessed them, and God said into them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:26-28). Such has inspired many Christian environmentalists to emphasize the ecological obligation to God's stewards.
Most Christians accept that God gave human beings a special responsibility inside creation to develop it, monitor it, and use it admirably. This is called stewardship. Man needs to work inside the creation and care for it, “God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” Genesis 2.15). Human beings have been supplied with whatever they need. This, therefore, implies that they can use everything at their disposal to survive, “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything” (Genesis 9:3). Nevertheless, as God is the creator of earth, and human beings are tasked with taking care of it, man is therefore obliged to give earth back to God in its best form. “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1).
An analysis of the preceding Biblical statement would have hinted at the aspect of sustainability. Therefore, a Christian statesman would advance an environmental agenda based on the aspect of sustainability. The concept of sustainability denotes the meager resources' prudent utilization while keeping in mind the future generation. The spirit of sustainability has been espoused throughout the Bible, consequently being the most attractive conservation aspect to the Christian statesman.
Christian statesmen also play a fundamental role in community cohesion. They act as a bridge between the government and its people. It is transparent that the current state has become a multicultural and multi-religious society. Christianists believe that church is a stabilizing factor in a world that people have different opinions on particular issues. The federal government will use Christian statesmen to keep peace and harmony in the community because they significantly influence the regions that they minister. Like any other people, Christians have been the center of the public square expressing the views and ideologies and making a distinct contribution from their faith commitments. The Christian statesmen and federal government need to build bridges that are oriented towards shared goals and purpose. The efforts should be built around service and pursuit of the common good for the sake of ordinary citizens.
The influence of Christianism in advancing sound environmental policies cannot be understated. With the high number of senators and congress representatives professing the Christian faith, it is almost imperative that these legislators employ Biblical principles in policymaking. The aspect of environmental conservation is not a utilitarian agenda as widely acclaimed. There is tangible evidence that the aspect of environmental protection is deeply embedded in the dogmas of Christianity. Consequently, Christian statesmen employ these Biblical perspectives in making environmental policies. Environmental policies advanced by Christian statesmen tend to get overwhelming support from the Americans. The large following is as a result of the predominance of Christianity among Americans generally. All Christianists should be involved in politics because their tasks are to provide advice to the government and be the work of priests or religious leaders and Christians.
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