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June 28, 2005

Man And The Environment: A Bible- Based Perspective

In today's Jewish World Review there's an interesting piece by Dennis Prager called The case for Judeo-Christian values: Without man, the environment is insignificant. 

Based on the Story of Creation, Mr. Prager's premise is that the environment, like all else that God created on the first 5 days, was put there for the use and enjoyment of man, who arrived on Day 6.

One major conflict between the Judeo-Christian value system and the various secular ones competing with it revolves around these questions: Is nature created for man or is man merely a part of nature? Or, to put it in other words, does the natural environment have any significance without man to appreciate it and to use it for his own good?

The Judeo-Christian responses are clear: Nature has been created for man's use; and on its own, without man, it has no meaning.

Dolphins are adorable because human beings find them adorable. Without people to appreciate them or the role they play in the earth's ecosystem to enable human life, they are no more adorable or meaningful than a rock on Pluto.

That is the point of the creation story --- everything was made in order to prepare the way for the creation of man(and woman, for those whose college education leads themto confuse the generic "man" with "male"). G-d declared each day's creation "good," but declared the sixth day's creation of man "very good."

Critics find three biblical notions about nature unacceptable: that man shall lord over it; that it was created solely for man and therefore has no intrinsic value; and that it is not sacred.

Go ahead and read the whole thing. If you are one of those liberals devoted to the atheist left's War On God or one o' them thar environmentalists it will probably piss you off, but who cares? I believe in God and it really irritates me that there are assholes in my country who are trying to legislate and sue every last vestige of Judeo-Christian belief out of existence while demanding that Muslims' religious beliefs are indulged to their tiniest whim.

Yeah, that's right, man rules nature, he's not its equal, according to The Book the left so detests. The environment is there for man. Go cry in your tofu, then learn to live with it.

Does this mean that the biblical view of nature gives man the right to pollute the earth or to abuse animals? Absolutely not. Abusing animals is forbidden in the Torah:

The ban on eating the limb of a living animal, the ban on placing two animals of different sizes on the same yoke and the ban on working animals seven days a week are just a few examples. To cause gratuitous suffering to an animal is a grave sin. As for polluting the earth, this, too, is religiously prohibited. If the purpose of nature is to ennoble human life and bear witness to G-d's magnificence, by what understanding of this concept can a religious person defend polluting nature?

We are indeed to be responsible stewards of nature, but for our sake, not its. 

Posted by Seth at June 28, 2005 10:36 PM