Franz von Assisi als „Heiliger der Ökologen“? Die Religionen und die Umweltzerstörung

Als in den 60er Jahren das Bewusstsein für die Umweltzerstörung erwachte, wurde auch die These vertreten, das Christentum (oder der Monotheismus überhaupt) sei für die ökologische Krise verantwortlich. Zur Überwindung der Krise wurde entweder auf die östlichen Religionen verwiesen, insbesondere auf den Buddhismus, aber auch auf eine Ausnahmeerscheinung im mittelalterlichen Christentum: Franz von Assisi, der als ein Heiliger der Ökologen empfohlen wurde.
Vertreter des Christentums im Allgemeinen („Nicht-Franziskaner“) und anderer monotheistischen Religionen haben dieser These erwartungsgemäß widersprochen. Letztere bekamen auf einer vom WWF organisierten Tagung in Assisi (1986) eine Gelegenheit, die Verpflichtung zum Schutz der Umwelt jeweils aus ihren Heiligen Schriften zu begründen.
Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Debatte sollen das franziskanische und das buddhistische Naturverständnis näher betrachtet werden, fokussiert auf die Mensch-Tier Beziehung, wie sie sich in Legenden aus dem Leben des Heiligen Franz von Assisi darstellt, im Vergleich mit Geschichten aus dem (bzw. den früheren) Leben des Buddha. Abschließend wird auf neuere, alternative Theorien zur Erklärung der Umweltzerstörung verwiesen.

Ulrich Berner

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Berner absolvierte Studien der Theologie, Philosophie, Allgemeinen Religionsgeschichte und Indologie in Göttingen. Nach dem 1. und 2. Theologischen
Staatsexamen und der Promotion zum Dr. theol. in Allgemeiner Religionsgeschichte erfolgte 1980 die Habilitation (Göttingen). Es schloss sich dort bis 1985 eine Lehrtätigkeit als Privatdozent an, dann eine Vertretungsprofessur bzw. Lehrbeauftragung an den Universitäten Hamburg, Bonn und Bremen. Den Lehrstuhl für Religionswissenschaft I hatte Prof. Berner von 1986 bis 2013 an der Universität Bayreuth (Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät) inne. Sehr bekannt wurden insbesondere seine innovativen Forschungsprojekte zu afrikanischen Kirchen (v. a. in Nigeria und Südafrika).

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