Conservatism and the Environment

An excellent article from Godspy.

"Animals are more than ever a test of our character, of mankind's capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship," Matthew wrote. "We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights or power or some claim to equality, but in a sense because they don't; because they all stand unequal and powerless before us."

I've heard of this book (Crunchy Cons) before and it sounds like a cool idea. A lot of my friends (and blog readers too) probably consider themselves "conservative" but have some issues with the "money = everything" idea of much of capitalism.

Like the writer of this article, I have issues with environmentalists who seem to care about everything, as long as it's not a human. However, that does not mean that we should go to the opposite extreme and hold the natural world in contempt. There is a middle ground, and I believe Christianity, especially Catholicism, does a good job of pointing towards it. If only we would think about it and act accordingly.

Here's an example I'm using in a Metaphysics paper: If your parents gave you a pet, you would make them proud by loving it and treating it with the respect it deserves. Why? Because, first, you honor the giver by honoring the gift. Secondly, you honor the gift because of the inherent value it has. It's the same thing with the world that God has given us. It's all here for us to use, abuse, respect, or destroy. What do you think our Father would want us to do with it?