The truth of our earth is that it will not last forever. Even with the best care, we still live on a finite planet. This does not mean that we should abuse the earth or take advantage of it, nor does it mean that we shouldn’t use what the earth has to offer. When studying the earth and our relationship to it there are two extremes, those who believe that our technological advances are entirely to blame for the damages done to the planet, and those who believe that the earth is something to subject without regard to the effects of subjection. Though not all are extremists (and most aren’t), people tend to lean towards one end of the spectrum or the other. The truth is that we cannot take to one end or the other without damaging ourselves and our earth. If we were to abandon technology millions who could have been saved from premature death, or starvation, due to medical and transportation advances would die. However, if we ignore the needs of our earth, and shamelessly take all we want with no thought for the future, we will find ourselves in a horrific situation. By understanding the nature of our earth, and the nature of our needs, we as inhabitants of earth, will be able to create a balance of our interests and resources.
The earth in its most basic terms is a mass of elements put together. Knowing this we can conclude that this mass only has so much of all the elements that compose it. There is only so much silver, so much gold and so much oxygen. Therefore our earth can only give mankind so much of any resource, no matter how much of a resource we want, earth will only be able to supply so much of it. The earth is also a system, which has an established way of working. The water cycle, the tides, storms, currents, the life and death of plants and even warming and cooling. The cycles of the earth can be influenced, but none of them can be done away with completely. By understanding and knowing the limits of our earth we can learn how to treat it with respect to its needs.
While the earth has needs, so does the human species. To live we need food, shelter, and clothing. Of himself man cannot provide all these things. Mankind needs the earth for food, for shelter, and for clothing. In the pursuit of these things we’ve learned how to use the earth, and created our attitudes and feelings towards the earth that provides us with them.
The human race cannot live without the earth, cannot ignore its needs and cannot ignore the fact that as the human race we need to use what the earth has to offer. It is our role to be stewards of the earth that we live on. It is our responsibility to wisely take care of the earth we have been entrusted with. I hope that mankind can come to a compromise between his needs and the needs of the earth he has been entrusted to care for.
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I agree. I think that it is dangerous to tell the mass majority of people that existence for the planet in finite. Most people tend to adopt the "eat drink and be merry" attitude when they learn that they won't be the ones rolling round in the wake of their own mess. I think that while we each hold individual responsibility, we have to give God some credit as well. He knows exactly how this will all play out. I think He knew that we'd have self control issues with resources. I am not advocating a lack of personal responsibility, what I am saying is we shouldn't live in paralyzing fear. I trust that God made enough for me if I use what I have the best way I know how.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fact that Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but I wonder if some things like Carbon Dioxide and land fills could be turned into usable resources. Of course we can't create trees in the laboratory, but perhaps we could figure out how to convert all of our waste products into helpful organic chemicals, fertilizers, building materials, and other things. Recycling is the simplest form of converting waste in to helpful products, but perhaps there is more that we could discover about converting rubbish into practical and useful materials. Is there a way to take smoke and fumes from industries and convert it into water, hydrocarbon oils, and synthetic products? Maybe this is just wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the earth is losing resources at an alarming rate I think that the earth was created with enough resources to be able to fulfill its purpose and creation without having to worry about a complete extinction.
ReplyDeleteat least we have the second coming to look forward to! it shouldnt be too long till the earth is baptized by fire and produces fruit spontaneously :)
ReplyDeleteWell written Blog. I think that any type of extremeist behavior is wrong and you bring up a good point that individuals usually gravitate to one side of the spectrum. I think it all comes back to balance. individual balance and earthly balance.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to remember that although the earth is finite and cannot last forever. Since we do have needs, and the Earth and all its creations are here for us, it is stupid to think we can assume that we know better than the Lord and attempt to do things without using the Earth's resources. However, we need to be exceptionally cognizant of how we are using them and be wise to remember that we are stewards and not leeches of the earth.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is not good to lean too far either way on the spectrum. We need to remember that this world is not going to last forever as it is and that the mortal man will not last forever either. We need to take care of what we have for our future generations to experience the same things we have been blessed to experience.
ReplyDeleteHaught might disagree with your assertion that the planet's lifespan is finite. As Christians, don't we see the planet from an eschatalogical viewpoint? Perhaps God does intend for the planet to live for eternity.
ReplyDeleteForgive me for playing Devil's Advocate, this was a well written post.
I'd never really thought of the spectrum in such a way with a Luddite perspective on one side and a subjection perspective on the other. As Latter-day Saints, I think we often feel the temptation to lean toward the subjection side. Many believe God has given us all the resources we need until the Second Coming comes. I also think our religion's emphasis on the sacredness of life helps us to understand the need for technology. However, we need to realize that all life is sacred. As we talked about in class, every life taken is a sacrifice. I think that understanding the sanctity of all life will help us find a balance between subjecting the earth and a fruitless yearning for a return to the Garden of Eden.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is all about the balance,... and its unfortunate that we seem to be so far behind in finding it. The opportunity God has given us to be in relation to such wonderful elements, and if we can learn to see it as the blessing that it is, we will be on our way towards becoming more like him. Thank you for your blog, I really enjoyed your take on the subject.
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