Care

The ethical standard of Care includes compassion, acceptance, interest and insight for developing students' potential. Members express their commitment to students' well-being and learning through positive influence, professional judgment and empathy in practice.  
This links with the CGE (Catholic Graduate Expectations) #7-
A Responsible Citizen who (f) respects and affirms the diversity and interdependence of the worlds’ people and cultures. 

I have placed my thoughts on 'Ecology and Faith' in this section because being a responsible citizen includes looking after our planet; God created our planet so that we could live on it.  If we don't take care of it, we are not responsible citizens.

Ecology and Faith

The creation accounts are not only important for setting the groundwork for our understanding of God, humanity, and the God-human relationship, but they also contribute to our understanding that we are called to "rule" over creation.

In an era of ever expanding environmental consciousness, what does ruling entail?
Are we called to use the earth primarily for our own needs or are we called to remain sensitive to the economy of the earth as it relates to all elements of creation, not just humans?
My understanding is that like some of the previous readings stated, there is indeed a hierarchy of importance in the stories of creation. God created man and then he provided for man by giving him nature and animals, or God created nature and animals and once everything was in place, he created man. This is why it is acceptable to eat meat, for example.  We are given meat from animals to survive. Perhaps this is controversial for vegetarians but it is just my understanding.


However, with all that said, I believe that we must still remain sensitive to the economy of the earth as it relates to all elements of creation, not just humans. First, if we don’t do this, we will not have an earth to exist.  So as egocentric as it sounds, we need to take care of all of creation for mankind’s survival. Second, it is simply moral and correct to take care of creations. Thomas Aquinas stated that God is “immanently present in each creature.” (Why Catholics Care for Creation, Brown) Despite God instructing us to rule over creation, he also gave us the responsibility to care for all of creation.
The example given by Brown (Why Catholics Care of Creation) of God saving not only Noah’s family but also the animals shows that God cared about all of creation, not just mankind.

Personally, I feel it is unfair for some to criticize Christians as David Suzuki has done, saying that the Bibles statement of mankind’s position of ruling the earth is the “primary cause of the rape of our planet by human greed… and (they) have not listened when this approach has been challenged.” (Cooper, p. 106) Surely, is this blame not incorrectly focussed? People being greedy and wanting everything, despite the ill-effect it has on the planet, does that really correspond to people’s interpretation of the Bible?  Is it not that some people are simply greedy and strive for success no matter the cost to the planet? When I think about greed, I often think about ‘sweatshops’ whereby people often have no choice but to work under horrible conditions for very little pay.  There is an effect of these sweatshops not only on the environment, but also on fellow humans.  The bible did not say one human will rule over another, especially in just a detrimental way, yet something like sweatshops still exist.
The14 Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy are an excellent guide to care for creation and give parameters for what ruling entails. I think guidelines like this would be extremely valuable to display in a classroom and in the home.  I particularly took note of one point (especially in the Advent season) saying to, “Keep holy the Sabbath by sharing a meal with family and friends or by taking a quiet, leisurely walk in nature rather than racing from shop to shop in the mall” (Brown). I remember a time where all shops were closed on Sundays.  It is a shame those days are simply a memory. 

Sharing a meal with family and friends on a Sunday afternoon, before the days when shops were open on Sundays.(1977)

 Extra idea:  Share this video with your class when you're talking about kindness.  It's a great example of how kindness to someone can have a knock-on effect.