Program on the Environment

Historically, people with Christian morals have taken a dominating perspective towards nature which separated them from the connection between humanity and the environment. Although there have been shifts in western culture towards needing to care for and protect the natural world, many older Christians still hold conservative ideals. The purpose of this study is to engage in learning the accuracy of generalized statements regarding Christian perspectives of nature and to learn if the perspective of younger Christians is environmentally friendlier than older Christians. Through my role as landscaping intern at Malibu Club, a Young Life Camp, where I taught three groups of student volunteers about the environment through hands on work, I was able to survey 79 college-aged students, ages 17-24 years old who identify as Christian, about their passion, care, and perspective of the environment. When asked how concerned students were about the environment, 70% of people responded that they were either concerned or very concerned about the environment, and when asked about how passionate they were about the environment, 84% said they were either passionate or very passionate about nature. This recognizes that young Christians see the hurting environment and care about change. Broader than the perspectives of young Christians, the results also display the need for environmental education and awareness for all people, specifically all youth, no matter if they’re religious or not, and no matter the ideals held by their parental figures. There’s hope for conversations with young people and for overall change in environmental endeavors.