|
Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS Church Is Already Green, Says Panel
Salt Lake Tribune 26Apr00 D3
By Glen Warchol: Salt Lake Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The green movement doesn't conflict with the
teachings of the LDS Church, said a panel of LDS Church members and
environmentalists, including Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone of the LDS
Church's First Quorum of the Seventy. The presence of Elder
Featherstone, who cautioned that he spoke for himself and not for the
Church, was called "a historic event" by Rich Ingebretsen, who
moderated the forum on the LDS Church and environmental issues.
The panel spoke at the Wasatch Front Forum last night, an event
sponsored by the environmental organization Save Our Canyons. The
discussion was held at the University of Utah.
Elder Featherstone told the group "I love the out-of-doors with all my
heart and soul," and went on to defend the LDS Church's record in
environmental issues. As examples, he cited the Church's used of
energy- and water-efficient systems in its buildings and the park on
the roof of the new Conference Center, which includes a meadow and
waterfall.
But he also observed that the Church teaches that "the Earth was
created for man, not man for the Earth." He also cautioned that it
would be unreasonable to expect the Church to take stands on specific
environmental issues. He said that the Church encourages good
stewardship of land, but "we don't dictate."
Other panel members, including former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson
and BYU professor Geore Handley sought to explain the perception that
LDS Church members disagree with environmentalism. Wilson observed that
LDS and Utah culture was shaped by the epxerience of the pioneers who
had to conquor nature to survive, "For their time it was quite natural
to take on nature and subdue it," he said. "It was survival." He noted
that a majority of Utahns favor wilderness, apparently including large
numbers of LDS Church members.
Handley added that many LDS Church members have problems with the
environmental movement because the rhetoric is politicized. But he says
that most environmental concepts are already taught in LDS doctrine,
"The sermon has already been preached. We just haven't been listening
well enough."
|
