Christianity May Alter Animal Life in Amazon

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Religious and cultural norms often dictate which animals should be protected, eaten or avoided at all costs. Islam prohibits consuming pork; cows are considered sacred by Hindus; and most Americans squirm at the idea of eating a horse. These varying taboos and customs can change the faunal landscape around certain groups of people.

Researchers from Stanford University investigated how three Christian influences — evangelical, Sabbatarian and Roman Catholic/Anglican — may have altered animal treatment among converted indigenous communities in the Amazon. It turns out that missionaries might not only be changing hearts and minds in the region, but also biodiversity, the researchers say.

"Based on field observations, I think that the removal of shamans has translated into more killing of animals," Jose Fragoso, a scientist at Stanford, said in a statement. "Our perception is that they are killing more animals that are not taboo, such as pigs, and also that they are making kills in the holy areas, which were previously off-limits."

http://www.livescience.com/26932-christianity-amazon-biodiversity.html

[spud the mackem]

How the "L" did you come up with that idea ?. Religeon has nothing to do with hungry Humans.

[+and-then]

That's funny right there, don't care who you are Seriously? Following the tenets of Jesus Christ harms "biodiversity"? Some of this stuff you just can't make up.

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It's about how certain religions condemn eating certain kinds of animals but not other kinds ... and apparantly they are noticing a shift from what shamans condemn and what christians allow/condemn.

Maybe , just maybe , ppl should try and think about things ...

[Gromdor]

It's not so much Christianity harming biodiversity as it is Christianity having a different biodiversity than say Islam. If Iowa (Mostly Christian) became say vegetarian Hindu, then its biodiversity would be different. We probably wouldn't have 15 million hogs here anymore (5 pigs for every person). We wouldn't grow the crops to raise the pigs. The animals that lives in the fields or off the pests that live in the fields wouldn't be there. The new crops that we would grow that fuel the traditional hindu diet would have their own variety of pests and animals that live in them. Animals that live in both would have their numbers adjusted by what was available. Hunting would probably drop, etc. You get the picture.

Sure it would be different, but I am not sure one would be more "damaging" than the other. The article is more of a "Gee Whiz" kind of thing rather than the bashing of any particular group.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Gromdor

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It's not so much Christianity harming biodiversity as it is Christianity having a different biodiversity than say Islam. If Iowa (Mostly Christian) became say vegetarian Hindu, then its biodiversity would be different. We probably wouldn't have 15 million hogs here anymore (5 pigs for every person). We wouldn't grow the crops to raise the pigs. The animals that lives in the fields or off the pests that live in the fields wouldn't be there. The new crops that we would grow that fuel the traditional hindu diet would have their own variety of pests and animals that live in them. Animals that live in both would have their numbers adjusted by what was available. Hunting would probably drop, etc. You get the picture.

Sure it would be different, but I am not sure one would be more "damaging" than the other. The article is more of a "Gee Whiz" kind of thing rather than the bashing of any particular group.

Yes point taken. A shift in things doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing.

I do find it interesting how a thing like religion impacts so many different facets of the world, and no one stops to think about it in advance.

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Christianity influencing biodiversity in the Amazon, Stanford scientists find

The introduction of Christianity has changed the hunting habits of indigenous people in the Amazon. While some new practices could benefit animals, others could put populations at risk.

http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2013/pr-biodiversity-remote-amazon-020513.html