Earthy Mormons
By Holly Mullen
SLWeekly.com
Posted 05/08/2008
I have this Mormon friend who loves the Earth. Not so different from a
lot of you. He taps into his deepest spirituality while in the
outdoors. Shooting down a north-facing slope on skis, climbing a
favorite pitch on Little Cottonwood granite or an easy hike up to Big
Cottonwood=92s Lake Blanche=97it=92s all church to him.
Not that he didn=92t spend a lot of days wor****ping the conventional
way=97
in church. My friend holds the position of high priest=97the top rank in
the LDS priesthood. He once served in an LDS bishopric of a university
student ward. He says it was a challenge, but he loved it.
Something that=92s always confused, even irked, my friend about
contem****ary Mormonism is its anti-environmental image. If it were up
to him, every Mormon would gladly sup****t 10 percent of Utah land as
designated wilderness. That=92s a decent tithe for all the God-given
beauty around us.
For a church that urges organization and sustainability with calls for
food storage and disaster preparation, its leaders have rarely taken
any consistent stand on organized steward****p of the land. The last
big show LDS hierarchy made about environmental protection was its
1981 opposition to the MX missile in Utah=92s west desert. People buzzed
about it for weeks. Shortly after, then-President Ronald Reagan
scrapped the project.
You might argue the MX opposition was more about peace than
environmentalism, but I think the two are a matched set. If you ask
most practicing Mormons today when was the last time one of their
leaders urged them to drive smaller cars, or to walk instead of drive
the two blocks to the neighborhood ward, or to eat less red meat or to
stay on established off-road vehicle trails while recreating in Utah=92s
desert they would be hard-pressed to answer.
In my own faded Mormon memory, I have to go back to the =9270s for a
clear environmental message. LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball
urged church members in general conference to refrain from wantonly
shooting the birds and the beasts=97which rankled the hunters=97and to
take note of the world around them.
And, contrary to the politically conservative image of the official
church, many Mormon scholars can find nothing in scripture that urges
gobbling up resources at the expense of environmental protection.
=93I have never come across anything in LDS Church doctrine that says,
=91Be wary, people, of this [environmental] movement,=92=94 says George
Handley, professor of humanities at Brigham Young University.
But we live in a state where nearly 80 percent of the Republican-
dominated Legislature is Mormon. Four of our five members of Congress
are Republican and devout Mormon. Most have aligned themselves with
big oil, coal and gas interests, and go out of their way to fight the
smallest environmental protection efforts.
Some faithful Mormons want to change that. Last month, 40 progressive
Mormons turned out in Provo for a discussion titled =93Faith and the
Land: Conversations About Spirituality and Wilderness.=94 Sponsored by
the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), the talk focused on
perceived conflicts between practice of their faith and environmental
protection.
=93It=92s astoni****ng to me how LDS theology is very imbued with spirit,
very sup****tive of the environment,=94 says Deeda Seed, outreach
director for SUWA. =93I was raised Protestant, and I thought we had an
ethic about respecting the earth. But, I=92ll tell you, the Protestant
religions are lame in comparison to Mormonism on this subject.=94
Handley has taught a class in faith and earth steward****p at BYU, and
has authored several scholarly papers on the topic. He finds ample
scriptural sup****t for his own pro-environment politics, which mesh
nicely with his Mormon faith. The creation story, the LDS =93law of
consecration=94 (sharing goods with others, a la the old United Order)
and especially the Word of Wisdom all speak to him of treading lightly
on the earth.
=93The Word of Wisdom counsels us to eat sparingly, to consume the
fruits that are in season and to eat no more than is necessary,=94
Handley says. Because the beef industry is heavily dependent on land
use and fuel to trans****t its products, =93if we committed to eating 20
percent less meat, we can use less energy and create less pollution.=94
Other comments that came from the Utah County discussion group:
=95 =93The church greatly emphasizes the im****tance of the family. Time
spent together in wild places enhances family relations.=94
=95 =93The Mormon pioneers came here to stay. They didn=92t come to just
take and leave, like many of the prospector and trappers who passed
through Utah. Understanding the need for steward****p is part of the
Mormon way of life.=94
=95 =93Steward****p means an accountability to God for all sentient beings,
not an ac***ulation of material wealth. If we view the world as a
supermarket, we are failing to live by Mormon doctrine.=94
=95 =93I would like to hear someone speak about the im****tance of
environmental steward****p at general conference.=94
Heartened by the interest on this topic, Seed says SUWA will continue
to hold similar discussions statewide. You can visit suwa.com for
information and to read more comments from Mormons who believe in
protecting the earth.
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