1970 Geloof en Wetenschap : Orgaan van de Christelijke vereeniging van natuur- en geneeskundigen in Nederland - pagina 116

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FROM TERRITORIAL IMAGE TO CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

need to make guidelines for the manipulation of his environment, for much the same reason we today ponder the consequences of our actions on Nature and our fellow men. In the Mosaic laws, for instance, we find regulations having to do with maintaining natural conditions, e.g., the principle of Sha' atnez (Deuteronomy 10-11: „Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff (Sha' atnez), wool and linen together"). Some traditional Jewish sects still follow this tradition, which is purported to be of Egyptian origin. If this is so, the concept of mixes being unnatural has come to us from the earliest time of recorded history. Jesephus later summarizes it with the words, „Nature does not rejoice in the union of things that are not in their nature alike." This principle can be considered the root of many habits and regulations intended to keep interference with a natural order to a minimum. Rules against marriage with and partaking in customs of strangers, as well as agricultural regulations (such as not harvesting continually from the same field but having it lie fallow every seventh year) belong under this general aegis. We may safely conclude that, at this stage of history, man experienced some disastrous consequences caused by his attempts to interfere at will with his environment, possibly depletion of soil elements, miscarriages when interbreeding domestic animals, fights because of misinterpretations of the customs of neighboring tribes, etc. All this found its reflection in advice to exert caution if one wanted to survive in dealing with the physical environment and the people outside the tribe. Another important stage in the cultural history of men is the emergence of the Western attitude, primarily based on the Christian tradition. Once the apologists of Christ invented the notion that our world was a vale of tears, only needed for a temporary stay in anticipation of heavenly glory, all that man wanted tot do with or against Nature and its non-human creatures was condoned. And, as far as fellow-man was concerned, even though every man was invited to become a brother, those who did not convert to Christianity were excluded as sharply as a stranger would be during tribal times. It was the combination of a culture of ruthlessness against Nature, with the cultivation of natural bonds among the group members that made Christianity succeed to an extent not equaled by other religions. At the same time, however, this wedding of powerful instincts and the reliance on technology, (an alliance having little to do with the

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