‘생태학적 죄’와 ‘집합적 책임’의 신학적 의도와 반향에 대한 연구

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the concepts of responsi- bility and guilt contrasted by political theorist Hannah Arendt and to apply them to contemporary christian ecological environmental prac- tices to assess their practical and political theological implications. The reason we need to contrast the concepts of responsibility and guilt that humans feel is because ‘emphasizing guilt’ can lead to blame, condemnation, punishment in everyday life. The author ar- gues that the climate created by concepts such as guilt, blame, con- demnation, and punishment can, although not always, inadvertently hinder sustainable ecological environmental activities that should be implemented globally. The term ‘ecological sin,’ which has emerged recently as interest in the ecological theology has grown, is reminiscent of anthropocentrism. But from a theological perspective, it functions as a preliminary term for rigorous reflection and thorough rebuke. The author argues that we must be careful that eco-theological strategies utilizing the con- cepts of ‘ecological sin’ or ‘ecocide’ do not degenerate into criticism that strongly condemns others, and that we must be careful not to fall into misanthropy, the opposite concept of anthropocentrism. Therefore, when discussing it, it should be mentioned together with concepts such as forgiveness and reconciliation. This paper analyzes forgiveness as a ‘political action,’ an activity that begins with the belief that the wrongdoer can start anew. As Arendt puts it, forgiveness means making possible continuous political action. Forgiveness, according to Arendt, is an activity that enables endless action and endless ‘a second birth’ and is therefore an essen- tial activity in human history. Simply put, forgiveness is not a reli- gious or ethical activity, but an everyday and political one. It is there- fore loosely related to guilt. In conclusion, this paper predicts that as more people recognize and share a sense of responsibility rather than guilt for the ecological and climate crises, and as we address and practice forgiveness in our ev- eryday lives, our practical, political, and global ecological activities will become more sustainable. So we can act sustainably without necessarily claiming to be religious or moral, or condemning one an- other(Roman 4:3).