The Marriage of Environmentalism and Christianity

Saturday night's gathering was great. Lots of people, lots of conversation and a great topic. We addressed the issue of the environment and how environmentalism is linked to Christianity in many ways. First, God entrusted us to care for the world and all of its creatures and plants, he didn't tell us to decimate it. Second, God cares about the flowers and the animals and, since we're made in His image, that means that we should care about the environment too. Third, nature is God's creation, so by exploiting and damaging it, we are not respecting God, and we are placing our wants before God's. Fourth, most environmental problems have huge negative impacts on the poor in the world. We see this directly with global warming, which has caused droughts, violent storms, fires, and water scarcity which has led to unnecessary death and hardships for millions. Since God has commanded us to care for the poor, one of the ways we can do this is by addressing the environmental causes that are the root of their poverty and that cause much suffering. What we do as individuals adds to the problems. We must all take steps to reduce our impact on the world and the suffering of those who aren't as fortunate as us.