‘Cursed is the ground' because of you

War and God’s creation

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The story of God’s creation of the world describes a garden of beauty and abundance. The man and the woman live at peace with each other and with God in the midst of this garden. When they sin, they are driven from the garden into an inhospitable land. Because of their sin, God says, “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field” (Genesis 3:17b-18).

Later, Cain kills his brother Abel. In response to this act of violence, God demands to know of Cain, “What have you done? Listen; the voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength” (Genesis 4:10b-12a).

These stories point to a connection between peace and the state of the earth. God brings forth a wondrous creation and places humankind in its midst. Where people live in harmony with God’s intention and in peace with each other, the beauty and abundance of the garden is preserved. Where there is violence and sin, the land is cursed and in turn curses. God’s entire creation suffers.

War harms the earth. The sin of war and violent conflict is one of the preeminent ways humankind contributes to “cursing” God’s creation. In our time, war is one of the most ecologically destructive of all human activities. Warfare pollutes air and water, erodes soil, denudes forests, destroys natural habitats, kills wildlife. Mass movements of refugees seeking to escape war in turn impose undue pressure on the land and its resources. The collateral
damage of warfare to the environment is colossal. Here are just a few examples.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military used a potent herbicide called Agent Orange to denude forests and thereby make it more difficult for Viet Cong guerrillas to take cover in the jungle. Besides creating severe health problems for the human population, about 40 percent of Vietnam’s forest was destroyed, some of it permanently.

In El Salvador the Armed Forces used a similar strategy to crush a rebel insurgency during the 1980s. Intended to weaken the rebels’ rural support base, the “scorched earth policy” destroyed forests and agricultural lands. In only one year, 1984-85, a total of 2.8 million tons of bombs were dropped, turning huge areas into virtual wastelands.

During the Gulf War of 1991, oil tankers and oil production sites were primary targets for both U.S.-led and Iraqi forces. About 10 million barrels of crude oil were either spilled into the Persian Gulf waters or turned into toxic airborne fumes. Some 30,000 marine birds were killed, 20 percent of mangrove swamps contaminated and 50 percent of coral reefs affected.2 Additionally, missiles coated with depleted uranium disbursed tons of radioactive dust through the atmosphere. The impact of this environmental disaster on the human health of Iraqi people is showing itself through dramatic increases in cancers and birth defects; the long-term impact on soil, animals and groundwater is yet unknown.

Landmines and cluster bombies are among the cheapest and smallest of conventional weapons, but their impact on the earth is also devastating. Besides the toll they take on human life, often long after wars have officially ended, they contribute to environmental destruction by rendering farmland inaccessible. Small farmers often have few choices but to try farming elsewhere, thereby contributing to deforestation and the degradation of already fragile lands.
Conventional warfare has always been destructive to the environment. Weapons of mass destruction—whether nuclear, chemical or biological—are so devastating that they threaten the survival of the earth as we know it.

Environmental scarcities and disparities contribute to war. Environmental scarcity or disparities in access to environmental resources also contribute to conflict and warfare, particularly where other issues are involved.

The dispute between Israelis and Palestinians is a complex one, with many issues contributing to the armed conflict that has gone on for decades. A significant environmental factor is water scarcity. About a quarter of the water use by the State of Israel originates in the occupied territories (West Bank and Gaza). Much of this water goes to support Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in the territories. While Israel restricts their use of water, settlers still consume about four times as much as Palestinians. Authorities conclude that water scarcity and the resulting economic impact has contributed to the Palestinian uprising against Israel.

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda usually has been portrayed by the Western media as an ethnic conflict between Hutus and Tutsis. But analysts argue that ecological scarcities, compounded by the structures of international trade, were much more significant factors. Rapid population growth after independence, plus rapid transformation of pasture into agricultural land for the production of export crops (primarily coffee), put undue pressure on the soil. As land became scarcer and more degraded, poverty deepened. When the price of coffee plummeted in the early 1990s, resentments over inequities were ripe for exploitation by political factions.

Many analysts suggest that the growth of terrorist groups, particularly those that target Western interests, are rooted in resentment over unequal access to the earth’s resources. They argue that oppressed peoples around the world are aware that laws governing financial assistance and global trade benefit those already wealthy. They see their own agricultural land, forests and fishing grounds being depleted to meet Western demands. They see their own water resources coming under the control of private, foreign-owned corporations. They regard the current “war on terrorism” as being not about democracy and freedom but about America securing control over Middle Eastern oil.

Environmental degradation and conflicts over access to environmental resources are important causes of violent human conflicts both within and between states. A former director of the United Nations Environment Program put it this way: “The ultimate choice is between conservation or conflict. Trees now or tanks later.”

Peacemaking and earthkeeping go hand in hand. As people fight wars, they harm God’s creation in untold ways. Moreover, as they exploit God’s creation, particularly when they use more than their fair share, they contribute to the conditions that fuel conflict and—in some instances—war. A vicious cycle is set in process. Human violence and ecological destruction feed each other, and the land is cursed.

Christian peacemaking and caring for God’s good creation must go hand in hand. Peacemaking should not only be about transforming conflict within the human community. It must also include care for the earth and just access to the earth’s resources.

The apostle Paul promises that in God’s good time God will bring healing to a broken creation (Romans 8:19-20). Human sin and violence and the curse it casts upon the land will be overcome. In the meantime, Christian peacemakers are called to live in ways that anticipate and participate in that healing.

Esther Epp-Tiessen is a member of Charleswood Mennonite Church in Winnipeg and serves as coordinator for the peace ministries program of Mennonite Central Committee Canada. Canadian Mennonite published an abbreviated version of this article in January.

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Additional Notes

Esther Epp-Tiessen is a member of Charleswood Mennonite Church in Winnipeg and serves as coordinator for the peace ministries program of Mennonite Central Committee Canada. Canadian Mennonite published an abbreviated version of this article in January.

Footnotes:

1 Eric Fast, “War’s Impact on the Environment: El Salvador as a Case Study,” paper for Mennonite Central Committee Canada Peace Ministries, 2002. http://www.mcc.org/canada/peace/
environment_elsalvador.html

2 Will Hart, “Collateral Damage: The Impact of War on the Environment,” http://www.commonsentience.com/collateral.
html

3 See Akira Tashiro, Discounted Casualties: The Human Cost of Depleted Uranium (Hiroshima: The Chugoku Shimbun, 2001). See also the works of Dr. Douglas Rokke, former health physicist and director of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project.

4 Thomas Homer-Dixon, “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases,” International Security,19:1 (Summer 1994), 5-40.
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/pcs/evidence/evid1.htm

5 Valerie Percival and Thomas Homer-Dixon,” Environmental Scarcities and Violence Conflict: The Case of Rwanda,” Occasional Paper, 1995, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the University of Toronto. http://

www.library.utoronto.ca/pcs/eps/rwanda/rwanda1.htm

6 See for example, the writing of Anup Shah, a U.S.-trained Indian living in England, at http://www.globalissues.org/
Geopolitics/MiddleEast.asp

7 Quoted in Art and Jocele Meyer, Earthkeepers: Environmental Perspectives on Hunger, Poverty and Injustice (Herald Press, 1991), p. 141.