Why shouldn't Christians care about the environment and conservation

[Alligator guy]

As I just posted recently, I'm majoring in Zoology with the hope of educating people about how valuable wildlife really is be it zoos or other areas. I have always been passionate about wild animals ever since I was a kid growing up near wetlands in Florida watching alligators, snakes, river otters, bald eagles and other fasinating animals. My biggest fear is watching some of the most fasinating animals in both my home state and around the world go extinct because of US. I also do volunteer work at our zoo (home of Jack Hanna).
I was reading an article recently that the Florida Panther will most likely be extinct in the wild within 5-10 years because of the habitat destruction. The animal isn't alone. We have been seeing more and more animals disapearing. While people like Jack Hanna have been very outspoken about this, I have seen very few from the christian side spoke out about this.
I remeber one christian pastor did went on tv and said this "we are destroying God's artwork because of our greed. God gave us wetlands, rainforrests, desserts, and the animals who occupy it for a reason."
He is so far the only one who leading a charge of it.
How much longer can we as christian continue to ignore this?

 

[aspen]

Awesome post! Thank you for bringing this subject to discussion. Before we were called to love one another, we were called to care for our environment. As a Catholic Christian, I am so impressed with the evangelical community that has taken a stand for the environment - it is inspiring.

 

[Robbie]

that's funny you brought that up... me and my girl were just talking last night about how we've met so many christians that freak out over the world falling apart but are totally OK with the destruction of the earth... like they'll worry all day about economic and political failures and then call someone who cares about the earth a tree hugger in a derogatory way ... as for me I hope the whole world is wiped out and the whole earth is restored and the meek inherit... the meek being me and my family... haha

The world is at war with God... the earth is His creation... and I personally 100% feel EARTH > world...

 

[aspen]

I think Christians let their conservative politics override our liberal calling to care for God's creation.

 

[martinlawrencescott]

Meh, it's all going to burn in the end anyway.

Sorry, that's my fatalistic side showing.

I agree. Taking care of our environment is a demonstration of our respect and reverence to God for the great creation he gave us to live in.

 

[Foreigner]

Sorry, but it isn't the "conservative politics" that is the problem, it is the "Liberal Calling" that Aspen mentioned.

When Obama says his 'individual salvation' is tied to his 'collective salvation' he is implying that, in order for him to do God's work, he must force Americans to give more money that the government will then decide how to distribute to the 'poor and needy' of America.

Unfortunately, when we stand before God and he says, "I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat" we are not going to be able to say, "But Lord, I allowed my taxes to be increased to help cover welfare and medicaid payments to the poor."

Americans are the most generous people on earth, as far as charities, foundations, and emergency situations go.

Among Americans, Christians are the most generous. (Except for Liberals - who are the most generous with OTHER PEOPLE'S money.)

One of the reasons donations have declined in America, to all charities including wildlife charities, is because income is down and taxes are up.

And PLEASE spare me the tripe about the rich not paying their fair shore. While I am in no way rich, I am in no way stupid, either.

The top 1% pay 39% + of all taxes.
The top 5% pay 59% +
The top 10% pay 70% +
The top 25% pay 85% +
The top 50% pay 95% +

However:
The bottom 50% of all Americans pay just 3.07% of all taxes.

That bottom 50% also are the biggest benefactors of what the top 1% are paying in.


And just as a sidebar, I would put forth the idea that Christians aren't doing enough in the more important areas: Getting the Word our and spreading the message of salvations.

Multiple countries on earth either have minimal or a lacking presence of Christians doing what God calls ALL of us to do.

When you stand before God he is going to worry more about what you did to bring Christ to Indonesia, not whether you saved the Snail Darter in California.


Also:
If end of times prophecy is to believed, some very bad things have to happen here on earth, to both man and nature. Giving your savings to charities isn't going to change what happens to nature.
What you can do to help man, however...




.

 

[[email protected]]

As I just posted recently, I'm majoring in Zoology with the hope of educating people about how valuable wildlife really is be it zoos or other areas. I have always been passionate about wild animals ever since I was a kid growing up near wetlands in Florida watching alligators, snakes, river otters, bald eagles and other fasinating animals. My biggest fear is watching some of the most fasinating animals in both my home state and around the world go extinct because of US. I also do volunteer work at our zoo (home of Jack Hanna).
I was reading an article recently that the Florida Panther will most likely be extinct in the wild within 5-10 years because of the habitat destruction. The animal isn't alone. We have been seeing more and more animals disapearing. While people like Jack Hanna have been very outspoken about this, I have seen very few from the christian side spoke out about this.
I remeber one christian pastor did went on tv and said this "we are destroying God's artwork because of our greed. God gave us wetlands, rainforrests, desserts, and the animals who occupy it for a reason."
He is so far the only one who leading a charge of it.
How much longer can we as christian continue to ignore this?

You have got to be kidding here!

Christians don't care about American jingoism, why should they care about the little beasties in the forest?
We are busy with our own affairs.
Christians don't care about their loss of liberty, why should they care about losing the environment?
We are too busy watching our ball games and reality shows on TV.
Christians don't care about saving the church, why should they care about saving the planet?
We're too busy to help the pastor do his job.
Christians don't care about the condition of their fellow saints in the faith, why should be give a moment's thought to the condition of God's artwork?
All that about being our brother's keeper is someone else's job. Let them do it, we're busy.

Go back and play with your little critters and don't worry your mind about what other Christians ought to be doing.

We're busy.

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

You have got to be kidding here!

Christians don't care about American jingoism, why should they care about the little beasties in the forest?
We are busy with our own affairs.
Christians don't care about their loss of liberty, why should they care about losing the environment?
We are too busy watching our ball games and reality shows on TV.
Christians don't care about saving the church, why should they care about saving the planet?
We're too busy to help the pastor do his job.
Christians don't care about the condition of their fellow saints in the faith, why should be give a moment's thought to the condition of God's artwork?
All that about being our brother's keeper is someone else's job. Let them do it, we're busy.

Go back and play with your little critters and don't worry your mind about what other Christians ought to be doing.

We're busy.

I don't know why I find this funny. But, I do. I'm also guilty of alot of it.


Firstly, Many Christians are afraid of the whole idea of "green", they're afraid of worshiping "mother earth". It's odd that we are the stuards. We should care and do our part to help. However, manythings complicate this.

IMHO, between work, school, and families, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of time and more less energy for most. Many people don't understand how bad some things are.

The first and foremost reason we don't do much is not laziness. We get overwhelmed with the task at hand.

We can see all the problems, while trying to work (me specifically 10hrs/day, 6 days a week.) Not that I can't do anything at all, or even that I'm not concerned. What can I do with 4 hrs/day and still spend time with my family, and my one day off for any kind of rest?

So, thre's literaly not that much time for many people. I think people take for granted how much time just having a job demands.

My first priority is to take care of my family. My job is to teach my kids to be the best people they can and to teach them about the Lord and about life. That's my contribution. On the side, I do what I can where I can with what I have. Even something so small as not litering, trying to limit waste, giving a dollar or 2 here or there, picking up trash I see on the ground when I pass by. Or helping someone in need when I see it.

I don't go out of my way to find huge great endevours(sp?) and giant projects. Seems to me that if each one of us does just a tiny bit it will add up to something good.

I think people get caught up and back to overwhelmed at the task at hand, because we have so little time and think we have to do huge projects.

Much like physical fitness. People think you have to spend hours and hours each day at the gym to stay fit and thin or muscular. But, it's really 15 to 20 minutes a day.

Maybe if we all do just a little here and there, it would be productive and do way more to help all areas from environment to the homeless and fellow believers.

You don't need to plant the seeds, water them, till them, harvest them, and process them every day. We all have a job and a part, and not everyones part is this or that.

Sorry, I'm rambling.

 

[aspen]

Meh, it's all going to burn in the end anyway.

Sorry, that's my fatalistic side showing.

I agree. Taking care of our environment is a demonstration of our respect and reverence to God for the great creation he gave us to live in.

Hi Martin,

I think many Christians really believe this idea.

Sorry, but it isn't the "conservative politics" that is the problem, it is the "Liberal Calling" that Aspen mentioned.

When Obama says his 'individual salvation' is tied to his 'collective salvation' he is implying that, in order for him to do God's work, he must force Americans to give more money that the government will then decide how to distribute to the 'poor and needy' of America.

Unfortunately, when we stand before God and he says, "I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat" we are not going to be able to say, "But Lord, I allowed my taxes to be increased to help cover welfare and medicaid payments to the poor."

Americans are the most generous people on earth, as far as charities, foundations, and emergency situations go.

Among Americans, Christians are the most generous. (Except for Liberals - who are the most generous with OTHER PEOPLE'S money.)

One of the reasons donations have declined in America, to all charities including wildlife charities, is because income is down and taxes are up.

And PLEASE spare me the tripe about the rich not paying their fair shore. While I am in no way rich, I am in no way stupid, either.

The top 1% pay 39% + of all taxes.
The top 5% pay 59% +
The top 10% pay 70% +
The top 25% pay 85% +
The top 50% pay 95% +

However:
The bottom 50% of all Americans pay just 3.07% of all taxes.

That bottom 50% also are the biggest benefactors of what the top 1% are paying in.


And just as a sidebar, I would put forth the idea that Christians aren't doing enough in the more important areas: Getting the Word our and spreading the message of salvations.

Multiple countries on earth either have minimal or a lacking presence of Christians doing what God calls ALL of us to do.

When you stand before God he is going to worry more about what you did to bring Christ to Indonesia, not whether you saved the Snail Darter in California.


Also:
If end of times prophecy is to believed, some very bad things have to happen here on earth, to both man and nature. Giving your savings to charities isn't going to change what happens to nature.
What you can do to help man, however...




.

I guess I just care about a lot more issues than the government taking my money.

Why do conservative Christians care more about keeping their money away from the government than anything else? - it has always baffled me. They fact is, if the government wants your money, they will have it and there will be nothing we can do about it. It reminds me of the hoopla of gun ownership - "we want our guns!" people cry - the government will always let you have your guns (while making a fortune off the sales), but if they want to attack us, they will stop all sales of ammunition - believe it.

These "rights" are imaginary anyway, and they keep us from focusing on caring for the poor and the environment.

Now I am rambling....

 

[Foreigner]

I guess I just care about a lot more issues than the government taking my money.

-- One should never brag of financial irresponsibility.
Especially when the "issues" you speak of are not focused in any way - by your own admission - on winning souls to Christ, either locally or the world.
But at least the Snail Darter is safe....

What else should we expect from a man who said that we should not witness to homosexuals, but rather let them "eat drink and be merry" because they are going to go to hell anyway.

Whatever we do with/for the environment, it will all be negated in the very near future by what is going to happen at the end-of-times.
Souls should be the focus right now, not shrubs.

Why do conservative Christians care more about keeping their money away from the government than anything else? - it has always baffled me.

-- A moronic and unsubstantiated blanket statement smearing an entire group. Why am I not surprised?

Conservative Christians - whether you choose to accept the facts or not - are the most generous Christians in the U.S.

Millions every year on charities for the poor, the homeless, battered women, neglected children, drug and alcohol recovery programs...

Besides money they give up their time to food banks, homeless shelter kitchens, even opening up their homes to those in need.

I have to go no further than my own church and community to see how widespread these programs are.

This is on top of the taxes paid to the government for your "Gov't-is-your-mother-and-will-take-care-of-you" programs.

Apparently, if Aspen is the standard, Liberal Christians believe God only works through the government and is more concerned about the environment than winning souls to Christ.

And the closer we come to Jesus' return, the more important it is to hug a tree than to bright God's light to the lost.

They fact is, if the government wants your money, they will have it and there will be nothing we can do about it.

-- Spineless AND Defeatist. You must be very proud.

It reminds me of the hoopla of gun ownership - "we want our guns!" people cry - the government will always let you have your guns (while making a fortune off the sales), but if they want to attack us, they will stop all sales of ammunition - believe it.

-- I always laugh when the far-left feels the need to bring in issues unrelated to the topic. It smacks of desperation.
They simply cannot help themselves...

These "rights" are imaginary anyway, and they keep us from focusing on caring for the poor and the environment.

-- Another all-inclusive, non-supported, and rather stupid statement.
Apparently those who want to maintain their Constitutional rights don't care about the environment or the poor.

You forget one obvious fact: If the Left would quit spending so much time and money to remove the right to bear arms, both the left and the right would have more time to do what you say needs to be done.

At least try to comprehend that.

Now I am rambling....

-- What's worse, your rambling has the sole purpose of antagonizing, and is either based on ignorance or willful dishonesty. Neither is anything to brag about.

 

[aspen]

-- One should never brag of financial irresponsibility.
Especially when the "issues" you speak of are not focused in any way - by your own admission - on winning souls to Christ, either locally or the world.
But at least the Snail Darter is safe....

Who is bragging? How is being realistic about the government and choosing to focus on more important things rather than money, being fiscally irresponsible?

What else should we expect from a man who said that we should not witness to homosexuals, but rather let them "eat drink and be merry" because they are going to go to hell anyway.

What do my views about homosexuality taken out of context have to do with this thread? So why bother responding to a person you have zero respect for, unless you are simply trying to discredit me?

Whatever we do with/for the environment, it will all be negated in the very near future by what is going to happen at the end-of-times.
Souls should be the focus right now, not shrubs.

Here we go! The fatalism of the fundamentalist Christian. On that same note, why do anything? God's Will is going to override anything we do anyway, right?

-- A moronic and unsubstantiated blanket statement smearing an entire group. Why am I not surprised?

Actually it is a question, but don't let that stop you from your ongoing, condescending attempt to discredit me; BTW, your hatred is showing......

Conservative Christians - whether you choose to accept the facts or not - are the most generous Christians in the U.S.

I guess you are the only person who is allowed to use blanket statements? Ah! a whiff of hypocrisy in the morning.....how perfectly redundant.

Apparently, if Aspen is the standard, Liberal Christians believe God only works through the government and is more concerned about the environment than winning souls to Christ.

And the closer we come to Jesus' return, the more important it is to hug a tree than to bright God's light to the lost.

Another sweeping statement carried to extreme. Give me a break.

-- Spineless AND Defeatist. You must be very proud.

My, what an ugly statement! It would only be defeatist if my first priority was money.

-- I always laugh when the far-left feels the need to bring in issues unrelated to the topic. It smacks of desperation.
They simply cannot help themselves...


Yes, you do have the ugly habit of laughing at people who disagree with you - it is a character issue. Another sweeping statement.....wow, that whiff of hypocricy is becoming pungent.

-- Another all-inclusive, non-supported, and rather stupid statement.

One, you could not resist responding to, right?

Apparently those who want to maintain their Constitutional rights don't care about the environment or the poor.

Not at all. It is merely another example of misplaced priorities. The Left does it with abortion rights - same thing, why waste time fighting for something that is already legal when people are staving and the planet is being buried under plastic?

You forget one obvious fact: If the Left would quit spending so much time and money to remove the right to bear arms, both the left and the right would have more time to do what you say needs to be done.

The right to bear arms is in the Constitution.

At least try to comprehend that.


Nice.

-- What's worse, your rambling has the sole purpose of antagonizing, and is either based on ignorance or willful dishonesty. Neither is anything to brag about.

Hmm......well, I am glad you gave me a more Christian example to follow in the future, Foreigner.

 

[Foreigner]

Who is bragging? How is being realistic about the government and choosing to focus on more important things rather than money, being fiscally irresponsible? -- Aspen

-- How can you - with a straight face - say you are focusing on things "rather than money" while at the same time criticizing people for how they chose to spend theirs? Specifically, that they won't spend it the way YOU see fit.

Spend yours as you like. But don't criticize other Christians because they would rather spend theirs on things that actually will help save souls and bring people to Christ - as Christ has directed us to.





What do my views about homosexuality taken out of context have to do with this thread? So why bother responding to a person you have zero respect for, unless you are simply trying to discredit me? - Aspen

-- Actually, you discredited yourself. When you said that if a person voted against gay marraige they have 'violated the civil rights' of all gays.

But the other view of yours I shared was absolutely NOT taken out of context. Unfortunately for you, a simple re-visit of that thread shows that.

By your own admission you say homosexuals are going to hell, but then you turn around and criticize ANY efforts to share the Gospel with them -- even though sharing the Gospel with the lost is what God calls us (including little ol' you) to do.

No proactivity to try to save the souls of those you yourself admit are lost, but you criticize what you feel is the lack of proactivity on the environment.

You do indeed show where your priorities lie.





Here we go! The fatalism of the fundamentalist Christian. On that same note, why do anything? God's Will is going to override anything we do anyway, right? - Aspen

-- God has called us to take the Gospel to all corners of the world to save as many souls as we can before His return.
You would rather make sure the Snail Darter has a safe habitat.

There are very strong environmental laws in the US and several other countries. And the UN is working to expand those laws further. Earth is not going to be destroyed by lack of care for nature before Christ returns.

Unfortunately, during that same time, MILLIONS of people the world over will die in sin because people like you feel it is more important to plant a tree than plant God's seed.

I am sorry that you are more concerned with 'Mother Earth' than your Heavenly Father. But that's all on you.





I guess you are the only person who is allowed to use blanket statements? - Aspen

-- Not an unsubstantiated statement if it's supported by facts.
http://christiannews...-charities.html
(Psst, how many organizations on that list would call themselves 'liberal' rather than 'conservative?'

For you, 'fact' truly is a four-letter word.




.

 

[aspen]

Who is bragging? How is being realistic about the government and choosing to focus on more important things rather than money, being fiscally irresponsible? -- Aspen

-- How can you - with a straight face - say you are focusing on things "rather than money" while at the same time criticizing people for how they chose to spend theirs? Specifically, that they won't spend it the way YOU see fit.

Spend yours as you like. But don't criticize other Christians because they would rather spend theirs on things that actually will help save souls and bring people to Christ - as Christ has directed us to.

What do my views about homosexuality taken out of context have to do with this thread? So why bother responding to a person you have zero respect for, unless you are simply trying to discredit me? - Aspen

-- Actually, you discredited yourself. When you said that if a person voted against gay marraige they have 'violated the civil rights' of all gays.

But the other view of yours I shared was absolutely NOT taken out of context. Unfortunately for you, a simple re-visit of that thread shows that.

By your own admission you say homosexuals are going to hell, but then you turn around and criticize ANY efforts to share the Gospel with them -- even though sharing the Gospel with the lost is what God calls us (including little ol' you) to do.

No proactivity to try to save the souls of those you yourself admit are lost, but you criticize what you feel is the lack of proactivity on the environment.

You do indeed show where your priorities lie.

I hope so! My priority is love. You have indeed misrepresented my original statement; I was commenting on the idea that homosexuality is a choice and that if this is true then who are we to deny homosexuals the right to choose homosexuality? Not even God stops them from making this choice when they are alive on Earth. This statement presupposes that homosexuals already know that some Christians believe they are making a sinful choice. I used Solomon's statement "eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die" as a Biblical example - in the same spirit as Solomon did - if you are not a believer (or there is no God in your mind) and you choose to live for today - why should you be hindered in your behavior based on someone else's standards? especially when you need to live for today because you are going to live in Hell for eternity?


Now, it should be obvious that I am speaking hypothetically, because I do not believe homosexuality is a simple choice and I have been very clear on this point.


So if you want to continue to misrepresent what I believe - I cannot stop you, but I will call you on it.

Here we go! The fatalism of the fundamentalist Christian. On that same note, why do anything? God's Will is going to override anything we do anyway, right? - Aspen

-- God has called us to take the Gospel to all corners of the world to save as many souls as we can before His return.
You would rather make sure the Snail Darter has a safe habitat.

There are very strong environmental laws in the US and several other countries. And the UN is working to expand those laws further. Earth is not going to be destroyed by lack of care for nature before Christ returns.

Unfortunately, during that same time, MILLIONS of people the world over will die in sin because people like you feel it is more important to plant a tree than plant God's seed.

I am sorry that you are more concerned with 'Mother Earth' than your Heavenly Father. But that's all on you.

I guess you are the only person who is allowed to use blanket statements? - Aspen

-- Not an unsubstantiated statement if it's supported by facts.
http://christiannews...-charities.html
(Psst, how many organizations on that list would call themselves 'liberal' rather than 'conservative?'

For you, 'fact' truly is a four-letter word.

I just thought I would repost my original post - I think it is obvious that you are reading into it far too much.

[font="tahoma][size="2"]

I guess I just care about a lot more issues than the government taking my money.

Why do conservative Christians care more about keeping their money away from the government than anything else? - it has always baffled me. They fact is, if the government wants your money, they will have it and there will be nothing we can do about it. It reminds me of the hoopla of gun ownership - "we want our guns!" people cry - the government will always let you have your guns (while making a fortune off the sales), but if they want to attack us, they will stop all sales of ammunition - believe it.

These "rights" are imaginary anyway, and they keep us from focusing on caring for the poor and the environment.

Now I am rambling....

[/size][/font]
[font="tahoma] [/font][/color][color="#000080"]
[font="tahoma][size="2"]I stand by my original post, which is inquisitive in nature and based on my opinion, rather than condemning. If you disagree, you have a right to your opinion.[/size][/font]
[font="tahoma] [/font][/color]
[color="#000080"][font="tahoma][size="2"]Anyway, back to the original topic. I want some interesting videos about the melting polar ice on the msnbc website. I learned some facts that are new to me.[/size][/font]

 

[Comm.Arnold]

Not the big kitty cats I think that is a very bad thing to do as humans. The bible says we are to take care of the land and the animals which we have been given dominion over.