I don't believe in going green to 'save the planet' either. I do, however, believe we have a mandate to be good stewards of what God has given us. Basically, I am going to 'be green' reasonably without putting the planet before souls. For example, I ain't no tree-hugger, but I sure do like the trees God has created. I most certainly wouldn't go out and 'save the owl' and not allow a land owner to cut the tree down on his/her own property to build their home if an owl was spotted on their property. I think it is pretty ridiculous when environmentalists put an owl's home ahead of a human's home! Etc, etc, etc.
In other words, yes, I'm going to recycle, but only because I believe God wants me not to be wasteful and to use the resources He has provided. Yes, I'm going to learn to make things naturally because I believe when humans try to "improve" a product they make it worse or inhibit the product to do as God designed it.
I could probably go on and on....
Many Blessings,
Holly

I agree with aiminghigh

and please forgive me for not being able to produce many carbon emitters

know I am not on the pill or any other barrier methods

I also apologize for not being able to help bring the birthrate per Believing families up ....

not sure if it's my own choices or maybe my mom ate that beef in the 70's that they said caused baby girls to be born with fertility problems or environmental factors or maybe G-D is the one who has closed my womb and so therefore please don't assume I'm a "population control" mindless zombie.

I know you don't but I just wanted everyone to know that just because someone only has one child it doesn't always mean they are anti-big family....like me, many times our wombs are just closed.

Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth ... all very pious/righteous women and yet they had babies late in life.

I agree that we should be good stewards of what God has given. I just hate to see 'renew, reuse, recycle' become more than what it is intended...it has become an idol to many people.

I also agree with many environmentalists about the state of our food products. They are so tampered with and full of chemicals that its dangerous. But, I trust my God to protect me more than I fear the food. To me its a modern day version of eating food offered to idols. That's an extra tidbit that I was thinking about today. :)

You did not hurt my feelings. I know you also have dealt with secondary infertility so I know you know the sneers and misconceptions that others may bestow on a mom with only one child. I was only trying to state for the record that not all moms with only one kid planned it that way. As you were blessed to be able to go on and have more children, just like Hannah in the Bible, may all us moms with only one child currently and a longing for more, also be blessed.

Okay, I really don't get this post and your follow up comments. I am trying here. I have read the earth charter (and actually studied it quite in-depth) and it advocates: 1) sustainable development, 2) equal justice socially and economically, and 3) peace. It doesn't even mandate that countries do anything - it just sets those as goals that we should have.

Yeah. I really think that God is anti - sustainability (because he didn't say to be good stewards or anything like that...oh wait), anti - equal justice (because he doesn't think we should love everyone...oh wait), and anti - peace (again, he doesn't we should pursue peace...oh wait). Why is it bad that countries make these things their goals? Would you rather their goals be 1) destruction of the earth, 2) unfair social justice (dictatorship here we come...), and 3) war? That is a much better solution to the problem.

And, in all honesty, the earth charter has nothing to do with the rest of your post. It doesn't advocate population control - it advocates being responsible in our growth and, by that, it means developing the world in a sustainable way. Pumping tons of toxins in rivers is not sustainable. Recycling and cleaning the wastewater is. This isn't 'being green' its being responsible - it is fulfilling the mandate that God gave us to be good stewards.

Yes the bible has told us the earth will eventually die. The question is what quality of earth do you want to leave for your grandchildren? Lets say, hypothetically, the earth will die in 2250 (God's plan). You and your children will be dead, but what you and your children have sown will be reaped by your descendants. So, because you believed the earth was dying and did nothing to check its deterioration (because there are no way that the scientists could be right - God didn't create the patterns they read or anything) it is now a barren wasteland for the 75 years leading up to the time at which God decided the earth would die. Granted, it was going to die anyway, you just made it (through ignorance of the problem and a determination not to see what was happening to the earth no matter what people told you) a worse place to live for your great great grandchildren. They really thank you for that.

I say that tongue-in-cheek, but it is a viable prediction of what may happen to the earth. And you, in your mighty fortress of unassailable ignorance, have given that as a gift to your descendants. Rock on! That is awesome! But as for me and my family we will serve the Lord by being the best stewards we can of what he has given us and by fighting to make everyone else aware of the beauty that he placed on this earth and we totally ignore each and every day. We will fight for the planet, we will fight for nature, even if it is a fruitless battle because those we love are placed immediately in our path.

/The In-Law

PS - I would rather give up my personal liberties fighting for something God has given us (the earth) than to give up my personal liberties in a war we should not be in. But that is going political, which is not the point of this post.

PPS - You agree with the Earth Charter on one thing - it wants to get rid of genetically modified crops/organisms.

PPPS - Should we stay away from everything that can become an idol? The church? Your children? Exercise? Laziness?

Just to clarify my last point - we can idolize anything. For you, kids might be the biggest thing to worry about - for my wife, exercise would be the worry - for me, laziness is the biggest worry.

All these things can become idols...anything can become an idol, you can't not do something because it COULD possibly become an idol.

To answer the question one must get past the commercialism of “going green.” Does being green mean you buy a 20,000 plus hybrid car? Does being green mean you mortgage your home to install solar panels? Does being green mean you convert your car to run on Crisco? My answer is no. I think its time that believers reclaim surrendered ground. From the beginning (Genesis for those of you that buy all this evolution junk) we (followers of God) have been charged with caring for this place we call home. So I think believers should embrace the idea of “going green,” just not in the way that the environmentalist think we should. You see all throughout history there are examples of societies that worshipped the creation. They held festivals and had celebrations for all sorts of crazy reasons. However, they were not connected to that original mandate from God. They had decided that he wasn’t important. We as believers need to first appreciate the creator before we can appreciate the creation. We can try all we want to predict whether we are going to melt or freeze, but why waste time. Let’s just do what God has commanded us to do.

The problem with commercialized environmentalism is it doesn’t address the real problem. We would be less inclined to pat ourselves on the back for buying reusable grocery bags if we understood what actually went into making them. But we don’t and therefore since some 20 something celebrity told us how great we were because we were doing our part, we believe the hype.

Let me address the scientist reading patterns comment. I could halfway agree with you about that statement, but the problem goes back to my first paragraph. You have to know the creator before you can understand the creation. I am not saying that being a scientist means you’re an atheist, but if you listen to some of these “experts” they clearly have attempted to denounce any idea of a god. Back to your comment, I can look at a car that won’t start and decide a thousand times over that it won’t start because the batteries dead, but that still won’t put gas in the tank. I can look at a rock all day and tell you how it was formed (geologically) but that doesn’t mean I understand it. That doesn’t mean that I can predict the future course of that rock. What I mean is the further you get from the creator the less and less these “patterns” make sense.

I will do my part to save money (gas ain’t cheap). I will do my part eat better (being fat really ain’t no fun). I will even do my part save a tree or two. But I will not worship this planet and use it as a weapon against a free society. After all the charter does call for tolerance (funny how that only applies to people that agree with it). I will not call others ignorant because they vote different than I do or see things differently than I (tolerance). I will not allow my ideals to be trampled just because someone wants to label them liberal or conservative. I will worship my God and I will enjoy the things that he has given me. I might cut down a tree or even kill a tasty animal, but that doesn’t make me the enemy. I believe that going green means to honor God in all that you do with all that he has given you.

did you miss the part in the Bible (Genisis) that tells us we(man) are in charge of the earth and animals, to take of them?
regardless of your views on the tree hugger ppl, we should be responsible as much as possible.
geez, was that you throwing trash out your window on the interstate?