“God blessed [Adam and Eve]; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth’.” Genesis 1:28
I find it interesting that people who accept the Biblical account of creation as fact and those who chose to accept the concept of evolution as fact often disagree over the issue of conservation as well. I know that people who believe in evolution also disagree with other “evolutionists” just as “creationists” have differing views on environmental concerns. I guess it is the hardliners (of which I might be considered one) I am talking about. The most extreme assertions either side would be likely to make might go something as follows: conservatives would allow anyone to use and abuse any resource for any old reason (usually to make money), and liberals would let every last human on the planet die if it meant that spotted owl populations would remain stable.
The fact is that there are “radicals” on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to this issue. I have personally met people were willing to poach game animals, fish, or other protected species for their own personal pleasure or profit. I am sure there are worse offenders out there. We have all heard well-documented stories of the way property has been misused (usually in order to make money) to the point of gross contamination. Watch one episode of “Animal Cops” and you will see ways people have treated animals previously unimaginable to you.
On the other hand, I have also met people (yes, more than one) who have told me, and I am not making this up, “Animals are people, too.” This comment was usually meant to help me decide to not go fishing, not go hunting, not eat meat, or to only buy clothes made of hemp rather than risk wearing a garment a component of which might once have been part of another living creature, or something like that. Of course, most of us would fall somewhere between these two extremes.
The circles in which I run tend to be more conservative, and many of the people I know are turned off to “environmentalism” by the vociferous extremity of that sect. You know, the "fishing hurts/it's mad to eat meat/dolphins are smarter than people" bunch, the kind of people who would print something like this:
As a result of repeated exposure to such dishonesty, my “crowd” tends to react by swinging in the other direction-- perhaps a bit too far. It seems to me, at least, that many of the people I know are generally unconcerned with how resources are handled, trusting that the institution of government will not let things get out of hand. After all the government is so big, keeping such a sharp eye on everyone, and now they have the EPA— how could anything ever go wrong?
The passage of scripture above makes it clear, however, that it is the responsibility of every last person on the planet, whether the population is as low as two or as high as nearly 7 billion, to “subdue“ and “rule over” (doesn’t the word “manage” nicely encompass those two concepts?) the living resources entrusted to us as a group. And while citizens routinely delegate responsibilities to their government, the fact is they remain individually responsible for the actions of their elected leaders. All this begs the question, “What can/should I do?” This is a good question, a tough question for which I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do have some suggestions.
1.
Take responsibility. Some Christians I know latch on to the verse that says-- this is a paraphrase-- “the seasons and cycles of the earth will continue until the Lord returns to judge humanity” and assume that nothing we do to the earth or it’s creatures will be of any significant harm. Indeed, inherent in the command to multiply and fill the earth while managing its living resources is the implication, dare I say, the promise, that we could reproduce until the earth were literally full, and still the resources, if properly managed, would be plenteous enough to supply every need. However, each human as well as the earth are now in a fallen state. The earth will no longer freely yield the bounty it would have prior to the curse, and it is against our own bent to take the steps that would maximize its produce; rather, if left entirely to our own devices, we would render the planet barren in short order. A fact rarely considered by anyone is that humans are probably responsible for the extinction of every species that has ever been extirpated from the globe.
Take dinosaurs, for instance. Most Christians would say that dinosaurs faced extinction shortly after the flood as a result of the radical changes in earth’s climate precipitated by that cataclysmic event. And why did God send the flood? Oh yeah, man’s sin. Then there are the myriad cases in which species have become extinct as a direct result of waste, carelessness, greed, or just the ever increasing demands of humanity upon its environment. Please do not misunderstand me. If it comes down to the necessary extinction of an animal species in order to preserve the life of a human population-- or even avoid causing them undue hardship, I chose people every time. I maintain, however, that the only reason this choice ever has to be made is due the limitation of the earth’s ability to support life imposed by the curse as a result of our sin. Heavy, huh?
My point is this: we ought to be keenly aware that our actions can and do have a direct or indirect impact on the environment, and that we will be held accountable for them.
2.
Give/obey the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ is looking for people to worship Him. If you would like to learn more about this, click
here. If you are already a believer, I would ask you to consider that giving the good news of salvation to others is the surest cure to all of society’s ills. It is impossible to legislate morality into another man’s heart, and you can only legislate behavior as long as you are in the majority. It is the transforming power of the gospel that will change the thief into a benefactor, the liar into someone who is reliable, the murderer into a lifesaver, and the little boy next door who likes to blow up frogs with firecrackers into a conservationist. It is a relationship with the Creator God, rather than seminars, leaflets, or publicity campaigns, will cause people to begin to understand that a snake need not be dead to be “good”, and that even those creatures most repulsive to us were made by God to fill a purposeful niche in their environment, and to declare His glory.
3.
Treat property and animals with respect and kindness. The Bible says that a righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, and that a lazy man will not roast the game that he has killed. These and many other passages point out the fact that animal resources are to be treated humanely and without a wasteful attitude. When is it ok to kill an animal just to kill it? Many people do or would kill any snake they found on their property, especially if it was near the house. Ask them why and you will get answers ranging from “I can’t stand snakes” to “I was just protecting my family”. Ironically, most of the snakes they kill are either completely harmless species that would flee from any human encountered or beneficial rodent predators. Perhaps even more ironically, a good percentage of the snakes that could pose a threat to them or their family or livestock are protected by law. That’s right it is illegal to kill them. Such is the case with 2/3 of Ohio’s venomous species, and 100% of Wisconsin’s are protected. This is not as outrageous as it sounds. Even rattlesnakes would rather turn tail and “run” rather than confront a human, and most of the bites that do occur happen as a result of purposeful and careless handling of a dangerous specimen. Even then, amazingly few are fatal. Quite simply, if you don’t want snakes on your property, keep it neatly mowed and as free of debris as possible. This will keep most species away, including the dangerous ones. Now about those spiders in the basement . . .
4.
Vote responsibly. A candidate’s environmental stance is not the most important issue to look at as you consider whether or not to vote for him. It can, however, give you insight into his philosophy as a whole. Does he worship creation more than the Creator? Would she “devour the earth”? His/her environmental policies might just tell you.
5.
Volunteer to help. This is one of those things to do after you have done everything else. There are lots of ways to do this, ranging from things as simple as reporting poachers to the authorities to doing sampling of vernal pools to help monitor salamander populations. If you are able to recognize them, report sightings of “species of concern” the DNR. These things are more important than you would think. We tend to have a rosy perspective on how things used to be. We kind of get to thinking that folks in the 1800’s killed whatever animals they wanted to eat or felt threatened by and they didn’t do any harm; what’s the big deal? An interesting example. In the late 1800’s deer populations in Wisconsin had been brought to a historic low. But with proper management this trend was reversed. In the 1990’s populations were so high that the average annual number of deer killed legally by hunters was larger than the total state deer herd had been 100 years before. Now
that is having proper “dominion”. Why is it that we tend to pursue that kind of management only for the animals that are cute and fuzzy and have names like “Bambi”?
This post was originally going to be about some of the endangered species I have found while out and about. I guess what you read above has kind of been brewing for a while and had to come out. I hope it helps you a basic understanding of my mindset, and that I am truly interested in these creatures and their welfare, and not just wanting to “play with them”, or worse yet, exploit them. My actual endangered species tales will be forthcoming.
Labels: herps
