Politics have a way of ruining things. They really do. Environmental issues have become so political that oftentimes people don’t see the issues very clearly. And it really is a shame.
In its beginning Earth Day was celebrated by both Republicans and Democrats. The problem is that a few different events gave Earth Day a rather Anti-Christian feel. Andrew Spence does a very good job discussing the reason for this. You can read it here.
Spencer points out that the anti-Christian ideologies tie to environmental causes came from a few specific things. 1) Environmental degradation was blamed on Christianity by Lynn White in 1967. 2) Paul Ehrlich wrote a book called The Population Bomb that predicted famines and revolutions to come because of the Earth’s overpopulation. The solutions that Ehrlich proposed were regulating family size and abortion on demand, which really alienated conservatives. 3) The Commission on Population Growth and the American Future was a report that called for population control in 1972. Again, the ideas that were within this alienated conservative Christians. It called for population control using “government-provided contraceptives for minors, abortion on demand, and voluntary sterilization”. To this I will say only that it is understandable, once we know the history, why it is that environmental causes still have an Anti-Chrsitianness.
I will propose however that the actions of some within our society does not merit our withdrawal from caring for the environment. I would argue that Christians still need to be involved in this, not because our culture thinks it important, because God sees it as important.
God’s Mandate To His People
After God created all things He gave Adam and Eve some directions. These directions are oftentimes called “The Creation Mandate”.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. – Genesis 1:28 ESV
With that statement God mandated that humanity should fill the earth and care for it. The ruling over the earth that is called for here is not doing whatever we please with it like a ruthless monarch, but to care for it. We are God’s vice-regents. We are ruling the Earth for Him. And as we do so we are to care for the Earth.
It’s Biblical To Recycle
This is what is so fascinating about this topic. Because it has become so politically energized, there will be many who read this in dismay. But, what I am saying here should shock no one. God has left us to care for the earth. As we have learned more about how things work and how the Earth works, we have found that there are certain things that we can do to care for the environment.
The slogan “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is part of how we as believers can care for the Earth. It seems to me that this is something that we can easily do to fulfill our part in caring for the Earth. And, even though the people running these things may not like believers, it would be a good thing to show up at Earth Day events and participate.
A Lesson, Hopefully Learned
I hope that this causes people to pause and think about how the politics of this matter has tainted our view of it. This topic is supercharged with conservative and liberal bad blood. This is one case where to be a Conservative Christian is to work alongside those who hold to Liberal Politics.
R. Dwain Minor
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