I believe the Patrick Dobel’s argument relies on the notion that those who argue that Christianity is an environmentally abusive religion or who use Christianity to justify environmental exploitation are misreading and distorting the true message of Christianity, which is that humans are to be the caretakers of the environment. While I believe the author lays out a strong and well-reasoned argument in support of this position, I would have liked to see him offer more examples of how religion is commonly distorted and manipulated. A more in depth analysis of how Christianity and other religions have been misread and distorted over time would have greatly strengthened his argument.
For example, I feel as though it would have been helpful if he had compared those who argue that Christianity is an environmentally unfriendly argument to those who promoted Christian violence in the name of God during the Crusades. Just as Christianity is a fundamentally environmentally friendly religion that advocates being a good steward of the environment, it is also a fundamentally peaceful and tolerant religion that was manipulated by those who advocated violence in the name of God and Jesus Christ. To draw a more contemporary comparison, he could have also discussed how Islam is a fundamentally peaceful religion. Despite this, some small groups of radicals have perverted the true message of Islam to justify self-serving religious violence that increases their own power. Despite this shortcoming, I feel as though the author effectively responded to those who would argue Christianity advocates environmental exploitation, although drawing some comparisons to other ways in which religion is distorted to justify other things would have helped.
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