Does your religion or spirituality teach you to enjoy your environment especially nature that of which mother Earth provides you?

If so explain how your spirituality or religion does that.

Tommorow I plant some seeds in hopes that it will create life.

I just love nature very very much, and love being in it even if only in my own garden.

I don't know how spirituality would teach me to enjoy my enviroment, that sort confuses my brain a bit. I just feel great out in nature, it lifts my spirits. And especially when the sun is shining.. If that is god, then I feel god, but never think of it that way. Just feel good.

I feel it is more spirituality than religion. In my opinion there is more of a spiritual connection between man and earth than say a religious connection.

Well, not really, actually:

Christianity teaches that God is the Creator and we and what is around us are His Creation.

Originally, he gave Adam and Eve the garden and its fruit and things to enjoy, but it seems that with the introduction of sin our enjoyment of creation must have been--to *some* degree, I imagine (considering that sin brought death, pain, decay, among many other unhappy things)--mitigated, though not entirely snuffed out.

But I don't think there should ever come a point where creation or our enjoyment of it (sensual pleasure) is elevated above God or worshiped or even over-emphasized; it is just something He has provided for us to *enjoy,* yes.

So. That's that.

Smiless...I find the More Time I Spend With My Creator, the More I Enjoy His Creation.

Especially the Beautiful Sunrises ....

and the Colorful Sunsets ..

and Listening to Birds Chirping...

and Watching Squirrels at Play...

Ahhhhhhh.....

The Simple Pleasures of Life are Always the Best.....

Of Which One Never Tires

Aside from being rather corny, that doesn't really make any sense.

(Duplicate post.)

what doesn't make sense...

"The more time I spend with my Creator, the more I enjoy His Creation."

I don't know. I *suppose* it makes sense, in a way, I just don't see how spending more time with God would increase one's enjoyment of creation; that just makes it seem as if the enjoyment of creation is an extremely important thing. Spending time with God should increase one's enjoyment of...spending time with God, not the things He made; that makes no sense.

In fact, life really isn't about *our* enjoyment, to begin with.

I EXTREMELY enjoy God's creation.....

and last I checked, God don't mind....


now...

I did not say I WORSHIP God's creation....

Well, I was sort of going on the subject of this thread: Does your religion *teach* the enjoyment of nature? If you're talking Christianity based on the Bible, then no; Christianity doesn't teach that. The Bible talks about how Creation demonstrates God's power, reflecting Him (albeit in a flawed way now), and such, but Christians are not called to go out and enjoy God's creation; it is just a side note that they do, sometimes.

Just making a point against such agnostic sentimentalism that often gets attached to or actually *called* Christianity. Such ambiguous, emotional notions can make truth into comfortable fluff, which is why I am a bit bitter towards it.

Edit: I do see your point, but, nonetheless, my point still stands. Not to say that it is WRONG that you enjoy creation, but just making the point that that is not all that Christianity is about, nor does the Bible teach that that is even a main point of Christian life.

God is not opposed to Christians or anyone else for that matter, enjoying life.

True, but that's not what life is all about, unless you're an existentialist. I was not saying YOU are; just speaking in general. Sorry.

My chosen Cosmology says that mankind was given dominion over (stewardship of) the Earth. Have we fallen short on that one or what?

My chosen Spirituality says that to live in harmony with life in general means an appreciation of nature.

My chosen "Religion" (I hate to use the word as it's been misused of late) is the translation and application: conservation, a love of nature, etc. To be a good steward means a great deal of watching, caring, understanding cause to effect and balance, in my experience.

Short answer, yes.

How is the word "religion" misused, if I may ask?

ZPicante....

Neither I, NOR the OP ...

SAID ANYWHERE, that was what life was all about.

Okay. You did not say "that is what life was all about," but you left some things out of the picture (or did not frame the picture completely), which is why I spoke up.

Again, I am sorry. I just wanted to defend my own view, because it looked like you shared my view and were misrepresenting it, which is, again, why I spoke up.

The point is, I'm sorry. Let's move on.

(This is a superfluous post. Mods, please delete if you see this. Thank you.)

In the Encarta dictionary sense of being thoroughly indoctrinated and conscientious about something. Some folks hate Christianity (just one example) but they're religious about Atheism, football, automobiles, politics, etc. Whereas there are some theists who believe in a certain cosmology but they're not really "religious" about it.
It's that underlying reason why when some folks go on a rant about religion and someone yells "preach it, brotha'!" They get angry. Something, somewhere knows that there's a grain of truth to it.

Religion has become a blanket term for theists or mystics, when (some) Humanism is considered a "religion," but doesn't rely on any one cosmology.
That's my opinion, what's yours?

I see. Interesting.

Well, I agree that the term "religion" is ambiguous and is, therefore, often "misused" in the sense that it is meant one way, but is received in another. But then again, since it has become so ambiguous, maybe its usage is flexible. I guess it depends on the context in which it is used.

I would not call Humanism, as your example, a "religion," per se; I would call that a philosophy. What bothers me more is that the term has, as you said, come to encompass all religions, pagan or otherwise, while also taking Christianity under that terminological umbrella, which is not good (in my belief).

More on topic, the reason I frowned so harshly on the almost Agnostic-ly vague "love of God's creation" stuff is because, while I, too, enjoy nature, I think when speaking about Christianity that should be among the last things mentioned or, if mentioned, should emphasize God.