Let your faith guide you to protect the earth

An infant is totally dependent on the constant care that parents provide. Imagine if, as the child grows, he does not acknowledge that his entire existence depended on his parents and even becomes abusive toward them. Makes no sense, right?

We are in a similar situation and there has been a huge misunderstanding. From the food that sustains us daily and the land that it comes from, to all the materials and energy we consume, to the rain that waters our crops and provides us with drinking water — all come from the environment, from the earth. The environment is not just scenery or a prop in the background. We live entirely at the mercy of the functioning of the living, breathing earth. As Robin Wall Kimmerer puts it, all flourishing is mutual. And yet we treat all things on earth as ours to take and damage, as if our lives are not dependent on clean air and water, healthy soils, stable climate, and the diversity of plants and animals.

This misunderstanding not only leads to depletion and damage to the very source of our livelihood, but it puts us in exile of self-importance and disconnection from the rest of creation. We say In God We Trust, so you would think we would be in awe of God's creation all around us, and would see Iowa's streams, soils and diversity of habitats as holy. If that was the case, we, especially religious organizations, would be at the forefront of protecting the diversity of life and earth processes, right? We would not, for example, sit indifferently as Iowa's streams and drinking water are polluted by the extreme use of fertilizers and pesticides as dictated by global corn merchants who do not have Iowa's well-being in mind.

The current federal administration, allegedly supported by mega churches, is reversing the laws that brought us cleaner air, clean drinking water, and protected communities from many forms of pollution over the last 60 years. Laws that protected Iowa's wetlands, woodlands, rivers, soils — all of which are habitat for many creatures — are being weakened and attacked by supposedly God-loving politicians. Churches and people of faith have been generally silent about these actions or ignorant about the consequences, yet moral and cultural dimensions are at the heart of care for creation.

Aldo Leopold wrote, "we abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may treat it with love and respect." Our faith, so far, is void of that understanding and it is time to renew our membership in the living earth. That shift in thinking is a moral one. We are not a self-appointed lord of creation, we are simply a plain citizen of the community of life and that citizenship entails privileges and responsibilities.

What might renewing our relationship with creation look like? I would start locally by visiting the many magical places near you, a lake, a wetland, a local or state park, biking, hiking, fishing, gardening, paying attention to clouds and all things outside that bring you closer to this American land. Activities that help you develop love and affection for the region where you live and the community of life that is near you, your other immediate family. We protect what we love.

In Our Land, Ourselves, Peter Forbes sums up, "How we live in the world, our security, our health and our happiness influence how the world is. Conversely, the quality of our natural world is the quality of our being. What we do to it is ultimately what we do to ourselves."

Kamyar Enshayan lives in Cedar Falls and can be reached at kenshayan@gmail.com