I think it’s very interesting to look at why people act the way they do. Like Mennonites and environmentalists. Nearly every time this group is mentioned in the presence of someone in my church circle, an unstoppable deluge of disdain (could it be anger?) erupts. Why? The easy answer would be the obvious one. Because environmentalists are perceived as extreme radicals who have lifted the creation high above the Creator. But why the environmentalists? I don’t hear people bringing up and decrying abortion doctor killers very often, yet their extremism is substantially more atrocious than all but the most extreme of the extreme environmentalists.

I believe it comes down to the fact that the environmentalist’s agenda hits close to home, while an abortion doctor killer doesn’t. Mennonites have traditionally been people of the land. The exclusivity of that has changed over the years, but our heritage and a large part of our current sustenance comes from agricultural-related vocations. So when environmentalists want to clean up the air (less field-burning) or legislate pesticides (harder to keep crops clean) or limit logging or over-regulate hunting, it’s almost personal.

Really, the foundation or core of the environmental idea is Biblical. We were given dominion over the earth, and you can’t really rule over something you destroy. At least that’s not God’s plan. Obviously, the environmentalist goes at it wrong a couple different ways. They truly have lifted nature much too high. And they have also failed to realize that God gave man the responsibility and the privilege to use the earth for his benefit.

The fact is that mankind has often exploited the earth terribly for his own greedy purposes. Christians shouldn’t feel “liberal” if they agree with an environmentalist occasionally, because not absolutely everything they say is wrong--though a lot of it is.