Monday, July 09, 2007

I Don't Have A Hybrid, Yet.

My friend loves Bono! She loves his music and his activism. It's a little obsessive really. One day she was telling me that Bono has written in his book that he fights for the poor because of his Christianity. He believes what Jesus said that whatever we do for the "least of the these" (Matthew 25:40) means -for him-the poor. (Did I say that right, Tammy?)

I, too, was intrigued that helping the environment has become a political or religious statement. Is this because most Evangelicals are Republican and this issue has become something the Left love? Are we choosing to believe that the earth is being destroyed based on our political party?

I don't know if the rain forest will be gone in 100 or 10,000 years because we want cars and toilet paper. I have no idea if the polar ice caps will melt so I can fly on vacation. I not sure that if I leave my curling iron plugged in - my grandchildren will have no protection from the sun. I don't have a side in the huge global-warming issue.

But I do believe that God made humans to protect His creation. I believe that He gave us dominion over the earth. (Genesis 1:26) I think that the Father wants us to be good stewards over his creation. I think that means doing the recycling thing whenever possible. I think that means makes wise choices in purchases of appliances. I think that means applauding those who bike more and drive less. I think it means watering your lawn responsibly (1 time a week is enough.) I believe we are doing God's will when we are seeking new ways to provide a planet for our future generations.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You summed it all up beautifully. I don't know the answers either, but I agree that it is our responsibility to take care of the place God placed us to live. I don't think it says anywhere in the Bible "Use up all the Earth, make huge piles of garbage, and drive big machines fueled by non-renewable fuels and cloud the skies with much congestion and smog."

This is so not a this side or that side issue. *slaps head* like I coulda had a V8!

Anthony Parker said...

Good job, Denise. It really blows my mind that the environment has become such a political issue. I am just skeptical enough to think that the whole Live Earth thing had more to do with getting votes than saving the earth. I watched a little of it on the Internet and couldn't help but wonder how much carbon was being emitted by all the electricity to run the lights, sound, etc. Then today I read an article talking about that very thing. But still, maybe it drew some attention that will make up for all that in the long run.

I think global warming is a reality but, like you, I don't think anybody knows how much humans are contributing to it. But even with that issue aside, it seems that we would want to do everything we can to come up with clean, renewable sources of energy. After the flood, God made a covenant with the whole creation -- not just the people. If God respects his creation enough to make a covenant with it, shouldn't we?

Anthony Parker said...

One more thing -- about your title on the hybrids. I learned that the fuel cells have to be replaced after 8 years, they are not recyclable and become toxic waste.

Tammy M. said...

I am only ever reminded of my Bono "obsession" when I read your blog. I think you are actually more obsessed with my obsession than I am really obsessed....he he. What can I say I am inspi [red] by your blog and Bono.

I do agree with just being good stewards. But I also have an inkling of a feeling that end of times somehow relates to our destruction of the earth. Wow, now that is deep...write a blog about that.

Sarah said...

Very well said. And I, like Anthony, wondered how much electricity was being used by the 'Live Earth' concerts. I haven't seen any articles on it -- I should look. Right after I saw a news piece about "look how great we are for doing this live earth concert", I saw a clip about a woman who gave up a 6-figure/year job to go teach business skills to inmates b/c, as a Christian, she couldn't ignore them. Also, she pointed out, "They're already entrepreneurs... they just need direction." THERE is someone who didn't wait for a popular cause or what WAS popular -- she did what she could. That's what we should do -- do what we can.

Anonymous said...

Environmentalism is a religion. When one doesn’t believe in God, one must believe in something so Mother Earth becomes their object of worship.

I remember in the 70s that global cooling was the scare tactic of the moment. Check out the link to a Newsweek article from 1975.
http://denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm

I don't think the lowly human race can destroy nature. Granted, we should take care of the earth but God did give us the brains to invent things to make our lives easier. He also gave us the brains to figure out how to clean things up once we see they are harming the environment.

I think there is plenty of oil to last much longer than we will need it. There is lots of oil in Alaska (and everywhere else) but the environmentalists don’t want us to drill there. Nuclear energy is clean and cheap. The environmentalists don’t want us to have it. They would rather we live in mud huts with no electricity. They would rather 20 million people die of malaria than use DDT which is known to be harmless to humans.

Read a little more about the religion of environmentalism.
www.cdfe.org/religion.htm

Ann