宗教與生態危機的系統關連：以永續發展為例

The Systematic Connection of Religion and Ecological Crisis: Taking Sustainability as an Example

宗教有時被認為是生態危機的根源，有時則被期待提供友善環境的理念，我們該如何理解宗教與生態間的此一悖論處境？某種「生態宗教」是否可能？本文帶著環境倫理學的研究旨趣，企圖以魯曼的社會系統理論作為分析架構，在系統視野中觀察宗教與生態的關連模式。本文要以「永續發展」為焦點，在宗教生態學的論域中論述宗教的永續倫理的建構方案，依次追問：（1）宗教何以成為生態危機的原因？（2）宗教在永續社會中被期待怎樣的角色？（3）我們可以在宗教與生態間看到何種語意銜接的可能性？本文主張，宗教與生態危機的兩歧關連，唯有在社會的視野中才得以澄清。宗教造成的問題，須回到宗教本身的存在方式中來理解。基本上，宗教既有的社會功能有可能在特定條件下隱藏與耽延環境的極限信號，從而阻止永續社會的成形。為克服此一問題，則須期待宗教系統能夠提升其複雜性，方可與其他功能系統進行生態溝通，吸納來自科學的建言，並將之銜接起宗教傳統的信念資源。如此一來，宗教便有可能建構起兼具宗教性與生態性的世界觀，進而將之轉化為環境倫理的呼籲。藉此，吾人或許可以洞察宗教如何在永續社會的打造中扮演積極角色，看到「生態宗教」在現代社會得以成形的系統條件。

Religion is sometimes considered to be the source of the ecological crisis, and sometimes it is expected to provide environmentally friendly ideas. How should we understand this paradoxical situation between religion and ecology? Could there be some kind of eco-religion? With the research purpose of environmental ethics, this article attempts to use Luhmann’s social systems theory as an analytical framework to observe the relationship between religion and ecology from a systematic perspective. We will focus on the environmental issue of sustainable development, and discuss how to construct a sustainable ethic in the field of religious ecology. We will ask the following questions: (1) Why is religion the cause of the ecological crisis? (2) What role is religion expected to play in a sustainable society? (3) What kind of semantic connection possibilities do we see between religion and ecology? This article argues that the dichotomous connection between religion and ecological crisis can only be clarified from the perspective of society. The problems caused by religion must be understood in terms of religion itself. Basically, the social function of religion may hide and delay the limit signals of the environment under certain conditions, thereby preventing the formation of a sustainable society. To overcome this problem, the religious system must be expected to increase its complexity so that it can communicate ecologically with other functional systems, absorb scientific advice, and connect it with the belief resources of religious traditions. In this way, it is possible for religion to construct a worldview that is both religious and ecological, and transform it into an environmental ethics. Therefore, we may gain insight into how religion plays an active role in shaping a sustainable society, and clarify the systemic conditions under which some kind of eco-religion can take shape in modern society.