Coming Soon – Podcasts!
“And they eat/ But a very little meat/ They are seeking to be great and good and wise.”
- In Our Lovely Deseret, Hymn #307, Eliza R. Snow
I’ve been experimenting with podcasts, and I’m determined to start the Green Mormon podcast series! However, podcasting is an art which is learned only through making painful mistakes, and I’m still shopping around for a good enough microphone that won’t pick up so much back static. The first podcast will definitely be about vegetarianism and the Gospel – interviewing my friend and her story of experimenting with vegetarianism in the heart of Mormon Utah, as well as a short story from my wife on [...]
The Loss of Connection
There is a phrase of scripture many Christians know – The field is white, all ready to harvest. However, I’ve lived in the city during my entire childhood, and so the meaning of that image eluded me until one day, my bishop asked us youth why the scriptures always describe the field as white. Why white? Why not golden, which we speak of when we sing about the “amber waves of grain” in America, the Beautiful? Our bishop, who worked on farms in Idaho during his childhood, described how when a field is white, it is past golden, completely overripe – in fact, the harvest is so ripe that the [...]
The Parable of the Two Cars
While I was on my mission, I had the distinct pleasure of teaching younger children whose parents felt they should be taught the missionary lessons before their baptism at age eight (a great idea, if you ask me). One of the lessons, of course, discussed the LDS doctrine of the Word of Wisdom, a type of health code which members are expected to follow. To explain why God would even remotely care about how you treat your body, we discussed various scriptures that dealt specifically with the distinct idea that our bodies belong to God, not us:
“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which [...]
Grassroots Self-discipline
Like most Mormons, I tuned into General Conference a couple weeks ago. One of the talks that have stuck in my mind is Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk “Moral Discipline”, mostly because I found myself raising an eyebrow at some of the things he said. Contrary to popular religious belief, this didn’t make me a heretic. For me it’s a sign that something about Christofferson’s words gripped me, and like a cement mixer, I churned it in my mind, slowly teasing it apart for deeper understanding.
One comment he made seemed outwardly political (which caught my attention). Speaking of the lack of self-discipline recently: “Self-discipline has eroded and societies are left [...]
Stewardship of the Earth
“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
- Genesis 2:15
Does man have a stewardship and accountability concerning the earth? It’s curious to note that some of God’s very first commandments deal with Adam’s relationship with his environment – he places Adam in the Garden of Eden and then tells him “to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam then takes this commandment and performs it – “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field” (Genesis 2:20). In other words, Adam finds [...]
Do the End Times Contribute to Ecological Apathy?
“On the last night of a play, the whole cast and stage crew stay in the theater until the small or not-so-small hours of the morning striking the old set. if there is to be a new opening soon, as the economy of the theater requires, it is important that the new set should be in place and ready for the opening night; all the while the old set was finishing its usefulness and then being taken down, the new set was rising in splendor to be ready for the drama that would immediately follow. So it is with this world. It is not our business to tear down the [...]
The Nephites spoke for the trees
And now no part of the land was desolate, save it were for timber; but because of the greatness of the destruction of the people who had before inhabited the land it was called desolate.
And there being but little timber upon the face of the land, nevertheless the people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell.
And the people who were in the land northward, did dwell in tents, and in houses of cement, and they did suffer whatsoever tree should spring up upon the face of the land that it should grow [...]
We must plant them at once
President Spencer W. Kimball is famous for his suggestion for every LDS family to try and plant a garden. In one of his follow-ups on the gardening efforts of the Church, he relayed this story:
When an administrator in Africa rode out to inspect land that had been devastated in a storm, he came to a place where giant cedars had been uprooted and destroyed. He said to his official in charge, “You will have to plant some cedars here.” The official replied, “It takes 2,000 years to grow cedars of the size these were. They don’t even bear cones until they’re 50 years old.”
“Then,” said the administrator, “we must plant [...]
Introductions
Hello, world!
This newly minted blog – The Green Mormon – is an exploration on the connections between religion and environmentalism. If you haven’t guessed yet, I am what people call colloquially a Mormon; in other words, I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A lot of environmentalists look at some of the fundamental Christians as a liability rather than a great asset. Yet, there is a strong grassroots environmental theme simmering under the surface of Christianity in the United States, deeply rooted in the scriptures and Christian theology. Environmentalism is inherently a spiritual movement – yes, one could argue that environmentalists are driven by survival instincts [...]