Analysis Of David George Haskell´s The Forest Unseen
Over the course of the semester, I have immersed myself in a wealth of information from our readings that have enhanced my personal thought of religion, spirituality, and the natural environment. I found two readings, The Forest Unseen and “The Creation,” particularly eye opening. While The Forest Unseen encouraged me to ponder the impact human behavior has on nature and religion, “The Creation” revealed intriguing insight regarding the impact the natural environment has on human understanding of religion.
David George Haskell’s The Forest Unseen offered a new perspective on the intrinsic value of the interactions among the multitude of factors at play in nature. In “April 2nd−Chainsaw,” he discussed how we attempt to justify our destruction …show more content…
I grew up in the church and have always understood that God’s word is the way, the truth, and the life. Haskell posited this response to the moral question posed earlier: “Our collective answer to this question grows out of the values of millions of landowners, pruned and guided by society’s two clumsy hands, the economy and government policy” (Haskell 65). These words encouraged me to dig deeper and to realize the importance of authenticity in spirituality. The two largest world religions, Christianity and Islam, share a major theme: submission to God. I believe this submission is analogous to the notion argued by Haskell. Nature has a unique way of handling itself just as a higher power has a unique way of handling humanity. Human attempts to commandeer and accelerate these processes will always result in failure and destruction. For example, Christian doctrine teaches us to surrender our worldly ways and allow God to work within us and through us to accomplish the greater good. Haskell’s observation of the forest demonstrates this principle in the context of the natural environment. Consider the following: nature destroys forests via forest fires which serve not only to nourish the soil, but also to remove thicker foliage, allowing sunlight and rain to reach new seedlings. Humans, on the other hand, “hacked the forest down with axes and chainsaws” for our own commercial needs such as paper
David George Haskell’s The Forest Unseen offered a new perspective on the intrinsic value of the interactions among the multitude of factors at play in nature. In “April 2nd−Chainsaw,” he discussed how we attempt to justify our destruction …show more content…
I grew up in the church and have always understood that God’s word is the way, the truth, and the life. Haskell posited this response to the moral question posed earlier: “Our collective answer to this question grows out of the values of millions of landowners, pruned and guided by society’s two clumsy hands, the economy and government policy” (Haskell 65). These words encouraged me to dig deeper and to realize the importance of authenticity in spirituality. The two largest world religions, Christianity and Islam, share a major theme: submission to God. I believe this submission is analogous to the notion argued by Haskell. Nature has a unique way of handling itself just as a higher power has a unique way of handling humanity. Human attempts to commandeer and accelerate these processes will always result in failure and destruction. For example, Christian doctrine teaches us to surrender our worldly ways and allow God to work within us and through us to accomplish the greater good. Haskell’s observation of the forest demonstrates this principle in the context of the natural environment. Consider the following: nature destroys forests via forest fires which serve not only to nourish the soil, but also to remove thicker foliage, allowing sunlight and rain to reach new seedlings. Humans, on the other hand, “hacked the forest down with axes and chainsaws” for our own commercial needs such as paper