Environmentalism means, for most of us, to take care of our natural world. There is no other planet for us except this one, and there is only mankind to protect and sustain it. This is the common ground for all people everywhere, of every persuasion.
For Christians, this concept originated at the beginning - the very beginning, when God created the cosmos (Genesis 1). He then created life and made humankind responsible for managing this beautiful world like a garden.
A garden is an apt metaphor. A resource for the maintenance of life, a garden has beauty and fragrance, an appropriate place to set humanity. It's also the source of good and meaningful work because it must be carefully tended.
This is the Christian view. But it's not held by everybody. Example: Sir David Attenborough (you may have seen him on public tv) says that humanity is a plague on the earth. He's only one of a number of celebrities and academics of like mind. They are opposed to the idea that people have a God-given mission to care for the earth and develop it like a garden.
To be continued this week.
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