World Magazine's Gene Edward Veith gets it. I certainly hope more people join him—and me!
4 thoughts on “It’s Not Easy Being Green”
This is a great topic. Often when I bring it up people assume I’m some sort of mother-earth worshipper.
A big point that most environmentalists miss is that God says that *our sin* pollutes and defiles “the land”. So if we are trying to save the spotted owl but ignoring our other sins, its not effective in keeping the land from being polluted. Thus we Christians should be advancing the only effective form of environmental stewardship, which would have to be comprehensive enough to include the effects of sin.
Most people would not pour toxic chemicals into the ground near their well, so the golden rule would seem to contain a general warrant against polluting water and soil that God gave us stewardship over, and will be used by others in the future.
As far as hunting animals to extinction, the dominion mandate seems to be a prima facie prohibition of this. Destroying the garden is not tending it, and destroying creatures is not subduing them. Animals were created for a reason (perhaps even just to give us tribulation – e.g. the mosquito), and we risk many unintended consequences by destryong them. If we killed all the flies and worms, for example, we would find ourselves in quite a stinky refuse heap before long!
I think too many get side-tracked refuting the typical athiestic epistemology of environmentalists, to the point of glossing over our failings in the practical applications of stewardship.
This is a great topic. Often when I bring it up people assume I’m some sort of mother-earth worshipper.
A big point that most environmentalists miss is that God says that *our sin* pollutes and defiles “the land”. So if we are trying to save the spotted owl but ignoring our other sins, its not effective in keeping the land from being polluted. Thus we Christians should be advancing the only effective form of environmental stewardship, which would have to be comprehensive enough to include the effects of sin.
Most people would not pour toxic chemicals into the ground near their well, so the golden rule would seem to contain a general warrant against polluting water and soil that God gave us stewardship over, and will be used by others in the future.
As far as hunting animals to extinction, the dominion mandate seems to be a prima facie prohibition of this. Destroying the garden is not tending it, and destroying creatures is not subduing them. Animals were created for a reason (perhaps even just to give us tribulation – e.g. the mosquito), and we risk many unintended consequences by destryong them. If we killed all the flies and worms, for example, we would find ourselves in quite a stinky refuse heap before long!
I think too many get side-tracked refuting the typical athiestic epistemology of environmentalists, to the point of glossing over our failings in the practical applications of stewardship.
Also Dan, maybe you should have added this to the “Work”, category?
Seems we shouldn’t compartmentalise this issue – it would make a big difference if applied by the business world.
Chad,
About the “work” classification, I seriously considered it but decided not to go that route.
I would also recommend the following posts from here on this topic:
Warring Evangelicals Make Iron Eyes Cody Cry
A Plague of Viral Green Memes
The Christian & the Business World #13
(Actually, that entire series touches on the issue obliquely.)
Creation in the Heart of the Christian
Tim on the Terrors of Tech