Jesus the Environmentalist?

The subject of environmentalism, particularly within the gospels, is much like the discussion on abortion in my article: "Jesus versus Liberalism: The Value of Life;" it is not specifically talked about but there are principles regarding it in the words and actions of Jesus. Liberalism is itself a religion, and the environment is one of its sacraments. What do I mean by this? Does this mean that all Liberals place the same value on the environment; like anything else, there are always exceptions, but those exceptions seem to become fewer and fewer as Liberal and Socialist governed nations around the world increase their restrictions on their businesses and citizens for the sake of the environment. The fact of the matter is that Liberalism, like any other religion, is composed of "denominations" or "sects" with particular aspects of their religion which they emphasize, but all set aside those differences for the common agreement, which in Liberalism's case is "governmental control". An example of this I found in the blog "theoystersgarter.com" which warns "(e)nvironmentalists that speak out on population control without a knowledge of its history risk their messages getting stuck in a big pasty fog of white privilege. If environmentalists want to be good allies and include diverse viewpoints, I think we need to move beyond Depo Provera(inject able birth-control) and find a way to define women's empowerment (Feminism) as a key environmental issue."

Does this mean that the followers of Jesus, Christians, are to have a disregard for the earth and the life that shares inhabitance with them on the planet? No; for that is part of the reason humanity was created (Gen. 2:15). The difference between Liberal environmental thinking and Christian thinking when it comes to this issue is a matter of priority and the order of those values. It also involves how each sees the responsibility of humanity in relation to its environment.

There are two stories in the gospel of Matthew which give us an idea of Jesus' values on the environment, at least regarding its living inhabitants; one is involving vegetation and the other animals. In the first, Jesus approaches a fig tree in the hopes of obtaining something to eat. Upon finding that the tree has nothing to provide, he curses it saying "May no fruit ever come from you again!" (Matt. 21:19). The tree instantly withers (amazing the disciples). Jesus uses the incident to teach his disciples a lesson about faith (vv 21-22), but the environmental point here is that Jesus caused the death of a tree to illustrate for the sake of (presumably) twelve individuals; something rather profane within the realms of the modern environmental movement. Environmentalists sees the prevented destruction of a forest worthy of placing hidden spikes in trees risking that a logger with a chainsaw might catch one of those spikes and receive serious bodily harm or even death and showing their prioritized view. Of course, less drastic methods are also adopted, such as living in a tree or chaining oneself to it, preventing logging companies from (temporarily) cutting it down.

A second example of Jesus' views on the value of the environment is a positive one. In Matthew 10:26-31 he is continuing to provide encouragement for his disciples as they prepare to go out and evangelize "to the house of Israel" (Judea and Galilee). Discussing the possibility of physical persecution and death for their action he tells them of how God cares for sparrows whose value was "two...for a penny," and yet God accounts for when they die. In verse 31 he continues, "So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows."

As both of these passages illustrate, Jesus placed a prioritized value on the creation, i.e. environment, which placed the value of humanity above that of the rest of the environment. For the Environmentalist Liberal movement of today, that distinction is not only leveled but often is reversed; going so far as to call humanity a "skin disease" upon the earth. One illustration of reversed value was the quote of Peter Singer: a "smart border-collie is worth more than a retarded child," which I used in "Jesus versus Liberalism: The Value of Life." However, there are others who share this disparity of value within the Liberal environmental movement, which in fact, not only see a disparity between humanity and the rest of nature, but within the human race itself. This is where Environmentalists and Eugenicists (two "denominations" of Liberalism) find common ground.

As noted in the oystergarter quote above, population control is one of the concerns of the environmental movement. Of course, with control comes the necessity of regulation which implies someone or a bureaucracy telling others what they can and cannot do; and in the case of population control that means restricting numbers of children or even deciding who may and may not have children. Once one begins down this path, then "logic" requires that you only want the best children and therefore begin engineering what you currently have (present adult population) to produce what you want (healthy, smart, "green-minded" children). The existence of such a mindset has existed in the past in America, and continues today. There is no coincidence that such ideals are found in Socialist countries like China with its "one child" rule, or the former Soviet Union which boasted upon the superiority of their citizens through its sports programs and intellectual accomplishments. Matt Nuenke, an engineering graduate from the well known Liberal-minded University of Wisconsin, has created the website www.neoeugenics.com. Nuenke, who gave up his engineering career in 1994 to "promote eugenics as a secular religion" states in his rather lengthy mission statement (11 paragraphs) how "the East" (Asia) would likely be able to perform his envisioned eugenics program because "(t)hey may be able to overcome the individualism and lack of solidarity found in the Christian West." Nuenke's Liberal dogma is further demonstrated in his closing statement: "So by increasing intelligence, it is my firm belief...that humans can go beyond representative democracy and the welfare state to where violence, warfare, and class divisions can be greatly reduced...a world without class or racial conflict." Nuenke's idea of a world without racial conflict results from his belief in intellectual racial superiority, resulting in the eventual elimination of lower intelligent people by not allowing them to "breed."

As this discussion indicates, while Liberalism does involve many facets of societal thought, it still comes down to a single belief: control of a nation's citizens through the rejection of Christian principles, replacing them with Liberal humanism.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Grand Rapids: World Publishing, 1989.

http://theoystersgarter.com/2009/02/12/speak-out-on-overpopulation-but-know-the-history-first/

http://scienceblogs.com/sciencewoman/2009/01/scienceonline09_gendernscience.php

http://www.drhern.com/fulltext/why/paper.html

http://neoeugenics.home.comcast.net/~neoeugenics/

http://home.comcast.net/~neoeugenics/mission.htm