Molly Fernandes
“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour,” says Ex. 20, 17. This commandment is in par with the vice greed coining as same sides of the coin.
Greed has brought destruction and division throughout the world, as even the once Angel turned into a devil due to this evil, nevertheless or still, man doesn’t find peace and satisfaction with what he is and what he has.
If we look back to ancient times, the idea of greed as a sin is planted throughout history. Philosophers from Socrates and Plato to David Hume and Immanuel Kant viewed greed as a moral violation, to be avoided and denounced. Roman Christian poet Prudentius depicted greed in the Early Middle Ages as the most frightening of all vices. And in its itemized treatment of this sin, among others, the Bible set forth the 10th commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
The commandment refers to desire to the point of seeking to take something that belongs to another individual. It's to want what isn't ours. People steal because they covet something that doesn't belong to them. Coveting leads to committing one of the four acts: murder, adultery, theft and lying. But coveting can lead to committing more than one of them.
In another example, King Ahab covets a field adjacent to the estates belonging to a man named Naboth. Naboth will not sell his land to the king. Apparently, law at that time protected a common person's right to refuse a royal demand when to sell one's own property. Ahab is angry, but doesn't know what to do about the situation, until his wife, Jezebel, has two witnesses tell lying testimony claiming Naboth cursed both God and Ahab. This was a crime punishable by death. Naboth is put to death because of Ahab's covetousness and his wife's scheming.
We in Goa have to see personalities like King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, who covets the estates belonging to a man named Naboth mercilessly overseeing the danger and threat to mother Earth and living beings.
It is the need to know why we need forests and the importance of the natural God given rich biodiversity that stabilizes climate and other related creation and creatures. The main issues people of Goa face are the land conversion and destruction of forest(lungs) whereby people are forced to come on streets and roads to protect their land for the future generations.
We learn the pros and cons of the environment and natural resources while in school. Our hills and mountains, the forest and rivers being part of our daily living. Indeed forests are essential for many reasons, such as climate stabilization, soil conservation, biodiversity, water quality, etc,. We all know that forest absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, that they prevent soil erosion and enrich the soil, while, they are a home to most land-based species and biodiversity, and habitat.
Moreover, forests serve as vital shields against extreme weather conditions, such as storms and floods (as we are already seeing the impact - witnessing these days the speed of the winds and the torrential rains). Also, forests are home to our planet’s wildlife and flora and fauna. The destruction of forests can lead to the migration of animals seeking new homes, which could be a threat to humans living in the villages.
In Goa, as development and lifestyle repeatedly triumphs, the cause of the environment, civil society at large has taken on the responsibility to keep the statutory bodies accountable. But with major infractions happening time and again, environmentalists fear that Goa is turning out to be another Wayanad disaster. In this regard the people of North and South Goa have vowed to protect our vital shields protesting and supporting each other, at the pace it’s land, forest, hills and mountains are razed because of the greed of few Politicians who without obtaining the desired laws, and absence of proper procedures grant licences overnight.