Sunday, September 04, 2022
Sunday Reflection: The Earth
I know and respect a lot of people who believe that protecting the Earth is a Christian imperative. I agree that it is an imperative, but the way I connect it to faith is a little more indirect.
For some, the importance of conservation is rooted in the Genesis creation story. I get that, but few people I know think that the creation story in Genesis is literally true. AND, it seems like those who believe in doing everything that desecrates the Earth cite to the same verses-- arguing that we were given custody of the Earth to use it to our immediate advantage.
I do think that we need to protect the Earth, and have done a lousy job of it.
For me, as most of you know, a central tenet of my faith is humility, based on the truth that there is a God and it isn't me. That means that I can't know what God's creation really is, and how our actions will affect it. When corporations argue that removing a wetland here won't matter, I don't buy it-- we don't really know what the effect will be. And, of, course, this has been proven over and over as moves that were promised to be harmless turned out to be really damaging.
Climate change is real, and we are causing it. God isn't doing that-- we are. There is deep moral culpability in that.
