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Stewardship and the Creation
I just finished reading Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment, and the more I think about it the more remarkable the book seems. It's a compilation of essays and articles by LDS authors reflecting on environmental attitudes and issues. It levels some criticism at our western culture, and it even includes some soft criticism of creationism. What makes it remarkable is that it was published in 2006 by the Religious Studies Center of BYU, a research and publishing arm of the BYU religion department. You can read it for free at their website.
Environmental issues tend to be contentious, particularly in the current U.S. political climate. Skepticism--or even disdain--of environmental causes tends to emanate from the same political party that LDS members tend to belong to. As the bloggernacle's own Steven Peck (BYU professor and co-editor) writes:
While on a recent fishing trip with some good Latter-day Saint men who otherwise would never swear, they could not say the word environmentalist without putting the word damn in front of it.He further notes:
From my experience with members of the Church, I see that they have a profound love for nature. They love camping, hunting, and spending time in the wilderness. ... Many of those who express outrage at the mention of environmentalism are Scouters who profess a strong conservation ethic. They have profound memories of being in wilderness areas, which they speak about with love and passion. But talk to these same people about environmental protection, and they vehemently denounce it and claim such legislation is supported only by extremists and malcontents. When I suggest to my good Latter-day Saint family and friends about global warming, the worldwide loss of species, or the protection of our wild areas, they scoff not only at the idea that we should be concerned about these things but that there is even such a problem that needs attention.Yet, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote,
This restored work not only involves the things of eternity but is also drenched in daily significance. True disciples, for instance, would be consistent environmentalists—caring both about maintaining the spiritual health of a marriage and preserving a rain forest; caring about preserving the nurturing capacity of a family as well as providing a healthy supply of air and water...Adam and Eve were to "dress the garden," not exploit it. Like them, we are to keep the commandments, so that we can enjoy all the resources God has given us, resources described as "enough and to spare" (D&C 104:17), if we use and husband them wisely. [A Wonderful Flood of Light, p. 103.]Cultural and political leanings notwithstanding, this book repeatedly points out that environmental concern has strong foundations in our scripture and the teachings of the prophets. If you don't like the word environmentalism, call it conservation, self-reliance, stewardship, or provident living. It ultimately amounts to much the same thing.
In light of the knee-jerk polarization that can occur on this topic, it is unfortunate that the book didn't open with Peck's essay, "An Ecologist’s View of Latter-day Saint Culture and the Environment," because he explores how Latter-day Saints approach several environmental issues and compares it to the broader environmental movement. In spite of a few high-profile disagreements (e.g. population control) and different starting premises, he finds substantial overlap. I think this essay best lays the groundwork for understanding the rest of the book, and I would recommend readers start with it.
A number of the essays are excellent and overlap somewhat in their presentation. I will warn you that some of the chapters are a bit dry, so if they don't interest you, move on to others. Some essays focus more on Utah itself-- especially the late 1800s--while others are more general. I found chapter 11, "A House Divided: Utah and the Return of the Wolf," particularly interesting. Wolves have an image problem that they apparently do not deserve, and I did not realize what central players they were/are in western ecology. (I couldn't help but wonder if their re-introduction to Utah might reduce the number of automobile-deer accidents).
There is always difficulty getting people to accept cause-and-effect relationships. Chapter 8, "The Hope for Extraordinary Ecological Improvement," describes damage that was done in Utah by overlogging and overgrazing. The result was a loss of mountain watersheds and consequent catastrophic floods. Yet some opposed projects to restore and protect the watersheds, attributing the floods to acts of God. There is certainly a basis in scripture for attributing natural disasters to God, but the scriptures and prophets have also been clear about our subjection to the laws of nature.
Chapter 13, "Rattlesnakes and Beehives: Why Latter-day Saints Should Support Ecologically Sustainable Development," makes the interesting suggestion that the latter portion of Doctrine and Covenants 59 can be read as a prophetic forewarning of our environmental problems. In that vein, we might think of it as the Word of Wisdom for the planet.
Chapter 12, "How Can Church Members Increase Their Environmental Awareness?" has a handy little chart of Ensign articles that treat environmental topics. It's not very large, but it's not nothing, either.
For the rest of this post, I'll just quote parts that stood out to me. Maybe they'll pique your interest enough to go read the book.
Chapter 1:
The dilemma we face in organizing our economic activities is that financial capital that Brigham Young identifies as being the least important is also the easiest to measure. Consequently, conventional thinking about economic activity is focused almost exclusively on financial capital with very little attention given to those aspects of human and natural capital that do not have an easily measured financial value.
Humans are free to choose wisely to partner with nature in mutually effective ways, but we are also free to ignore or even interfere with or destroy the work of nature. However, humans are not free to choose the consequences of our actions, the one being sweet and the other being bitter. The penalties for violating natural laws are real and irrevocable, and we as a culture will surely bear the consequences.
There are many who confuse prosperity with the power to waste. An oft-spoken rationale for waste is that if people own something, they are entitled to do with it as they please. This rationale is based on an assumption of the primacy of financial capital while deemphasizing human and natural capital. Brigham Young offers a different perspective by reminding us that one can never have enough to be wasteful, that everything that was created was created for a purpose, and that we interfere with God’s plan when we waste something that He created for a purpose.
Most people realize that for democracy to succeed, it must have a responsible and informed electorate. What is not as obvious is that for free markets to succeed in bringing forth a just and lasting prosperity, the market must have a responsible and informed “consumerate” and “investorate.” For those of us who are fortunate to live in a free market democracy, it is an important part of our sacred stewardship to be part of the responsible and informed electorate, consumerate, and investorate.
Chapter 7:
The scriptures indicate that this arrangement [humans as dominant] has been in place since the creation of Adam, and anyone who takes them seriously has to concede a certain utilitarianism behind the Creation, with man as the designated utilizer. To view the earth, her creatures, and her products strictly in utilitarian terms, however, or to assign them values on the basis of their temporal, immediate, man-centered utility, does not seem justified—especially when it was God himself who started pronouncing his creations “good” long before Adam was on the scene.
Chapter 11:
None of our modern prophets were trained in the complexities of conservation biology. Nevertheless, because they recognize environmental stewardship as a commandment, they advocate the same fundamental ideals as conservationists, namely, that humans are responsible for all life on earth.
Chapter 13:
Of course, wherever human judgment is required, opposing and impassioned social argument is inevitable. Judgment surrounding questions of environmental protection is no exception, and naturally many Latter-day Saints prefer to avoid what could be contentious issues. However, the fact that decisions are difficult or politically loaded and that definitive or detailed instruction has not proceeded from Church leadership does not excuse Latter-day Saints from the obligation to apply wise judgment in the use of “all things which come of the earth” (D&C 59:18). Disciples of Christ cannot choose the do-nothing option simply because there are competing and politically sensitive arguments. The duty to obey supersedes the detail.
Though the natural environment is in a state of perpetual flux and there is in real terms no ideal environment, the past three to four decades have witnessed a global awakening to the fact that humanity, in its rush for the golden egg of economic prosperity, is threatening the very existence of the goose on which it is dependent; namely, this incredibly unpredictable and majestically beautiful natural environment.
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