15 December 2008

Growing up I remember my church being fairly neutral on environmental issues. It stemmed from the belief that the world would get worse and worse before Jesus returned, so why try to fix somethings inevitable demise?

That was fine with me for a while, but over time it started thinking about it and realized that was a bit non-committal. It was also an easy excuse not to do anything helpful and to inadvertently support behavior that is downright damaging to the earth.

Because of this, I was forced to draw the line in my life and develop a belief as to how "green" a Christian should be. Here's what I came up with:

A Christian should do nothing to damage the earth. If there are simple things you can do to keep damage from happening you should do those things. If there are things being done that are causing damage to the earth there is nothing wrong with lending support to the legal process so that it stops. However, all these things should be done in ways that don't suggest we're worshiping the creation over the Creator. And all should be done with an understanding that what we are doing will not keep the inevitable from happening.

A better illustration might be the way we take care of ourselves. The typical Christian would probably tell you they are "supposed to" take care of the body they were given. We exercise (at least we're supposed to), eat well (at least we're supposed to) and educate ourselves (at least we should). And we do all this knowing that we will eventually die. This is very similar to the way I view the environment now.

BUT! One thing I get more than frustrated about is when Hollywood forces it down our throats as if they have been called to police the earth.

Here are just three examples of movies that push the topic:

Fern Gully: Probably one of the most in-your-face environmental movies out there. Designed specifically for kids, it lays it out there and "scares" kids into living green.

Wall-E: Another kids movie designed to show how humans kill the planet and yet get another chance to fix what they did wrong.

The Day the Earth Stood Still: First off, don't see this movie. You'll regret spending the money. Same green agenda: Humans are idiots that are destroying the planet. All humans must die.

I'm sure there are many more examples out there. I just picked the first three that came to mind.