UTT - Blog Post 20

You get in a huge argument with Nathan and Sara about how to properly celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd.  Go to this web address and write out a Christian approach to environmentalism.
http://celdf.org/downloads/FINAL%20UNIVERSAL%20DECLARATION%20OF%20THE%20RIGHTS%20OF%20MOTHER%20EARTH%20APRIL%2022%202010.pdf

        Our Christian approach to Environmentalism is quite simple and can be broken down into two or three simple areas. Firstly, man was created to have dominion over the Earth and all that is within it. With that in mind, we are to be good stewards, treating everything with respect, while still filling the Earth and subduing it. That’s Christian “environmentalism” in a nutshell.

        But let’s break it down a little bit here and look at that first sentence: “Man was created to have dominion over the Earth and all that is within it.” In Genesis chapter one, it says that man is to “fill the Earth and subdue it,” so therefore man is to be seen as above the rest of creation. That means, to a Christian, a human has more value than, say, a tree or an animal, which is definitely different than some of the radical environmentalists would claim. We are to subdue the Earth, or said another way, to control it and use it for our purposes.

        Yet, at the same time, one must remember that the Earth is as much a part of God’s creation as we are and we should, as Christians, always respect that which God has made. Unnecessary waste, destruction, and purposeless desolation of the ground and living material are really shames and shouldn’t happen. Is it worth threatening the lives of human beings over? I don’t believe so. Yet, the environment is a gift from God and should be respected and taken care of, because of what it is. Does that mean radicalism is okay? No, radicalism is never truly okay. Moderate conservatism is where it’s at, but that is all my opinion. =)

        So there we have a little bit of my take on Christian “environmentalism.”