Earth Day

Today marks the 29th occurrence of Earth Day, a "day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment" (quoted from the Wikipedia article). Earth Day was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson due to his concern about dangers to the environment, particularly overpopulation, although it united advocates for many different aspects of environmental concern. These included extinction of animal species, herbicides and pesticides, and global cooling :).

The first Earth Day is considered to have been the beginning of the modern environmental movement. This movement is now composed largely of liberals and/or former hippies. Due to that unfortunate fact, the issues raised by these environmental groups are often dismissed offhand by Christian conservatives, despite their validity in some cases.

Of course, global cooling is no longer a concern raised on Earth Day; global warming has taken its place as the war cry of environmentalists. Global warming is too large a topic to discuss in one post, but I certainly don't agree with it, as I've seen no convincing evidence to prove that the Earth will indeed meet its fate in fiery temperatures that will soon force us into underground cave-homes.

Another huge topic among environmentalists is clean energy. Even if carbon emissions from the burning of petroleum products are not a concern, there are other reasons to pursue clean energy sources. First, these clean energy sources- such as wind, water, hydrogen, and electricity- are sustainable, while petroleum may become scarce at some point in the future. Secondly, these sources of energy are not tied to empires of wealth in the Middle East or the political situations in that region. Thus, while oil prices are prone to myriads of variables, the price for clean energy would be quite stable.

Christian Conservation

Stewardship of our environment is an important responsibility for all humans, but especially for Christians. As Christians we are to be an example to the world in all areas of life, and only Christians, or those influenced by Christian principles, can have a true understanding of good stewardship. Through scripture we know that:

• God created the universe and all that is in it, out of nothing (Genesis Chapter 1).

• Thus, God is Lord of all creation including mankind, but God has given mankind the responsibility of caring for the rest of creation (Genesis 1:28).

Christians should be ashamed that the environmental movement is so heavily populated by pantheists. It should have been Christians that spearheaded the movement towards environmental consciousness and stewardship, but instead they have largely remained silent. Therefore, instead of worshipping "Mother Earth" today, I praised God for the beauty of the earth, I planted tomatoes and squash, and I wrote this blog post.

As a farmer, stewardship of the environment is a daily task for me; in every decision I make, I choose farming methods that improve the land, rather than simply mining it. I hope that my children, if the Lord so blesses me, will build on my efforts and continue improving the piece of creation which God has given us to tend.

Note: My understanding of Christian stewardship was largely shaped by Francis Schaeffer's Pollution and the Death of Man, and I highly recommend it. Schaeffer breaks the issue down to basics, and then explains the importance of stewardship, in his clear, logical manner.