Where Environmentalists Go Wrong
By Doug Hagin (07/15/03)
Conservatives have, for a long time now, taken quite a beating on the environmental front. We have been often characterized as uncaring about Mother Nature and all her creatures. Liberals have done a very effective job of painting Republicans as more interested in business than preserving America’s precious wild lands.
Now of course being pro-business is a positive attribute. And being pro-business in no way means also being anti-environment. The fact is America is one of, if not the most, environmentally friendly nations on earth. And many businesses have done a good job of preserving our natural beauty and treasures.
Of course, environmental extremists will never admit to this and certainly will never be heard acknowledging that things are actually getting better for America’s forests. It is not in their interest to announce any progress or positive stories. Their bread is buttered by fear tactics, lies, and hyperbole about how everything man does, especially Americans, is destroying our fragile, delicately balanced eco-systems.
Now no doubt our wonderful and spectacular natural wonders are precious beyond description. They are some of our nations greatest treasures to which no price tag could ever be attached. But to say these lands are so precariously balanced as to be at risk because of man’s presence is ridiculous at best.
Man and nature not only can co-exist but also were in fact designed by the One who created them both to co-exist. See the one great mistake many environmental extremists make is to overlook and even discredit the role of God in nature.
Simply said it is the height of arrogance for man to assume he can destroy what God Himself created. And please make no doubts about the origin of our natural world and wonders. They were most definitely created by a thinking awesome Creator.
We can argue creation versus evolution all day long and well into the night, but the answer is very clear to see, God did create this earth and nature as well. For anyone who doubts this fact please just take a few days as I recently did and visit one of our national parks or forests. Three weeks ago I was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park north of Denver, Colorado.
Millions of visitors tour this wondrous land annually and many of those hike and camp there. If the claim of environmental extremists that people can not co-exist with nature without destroying it were true then Rocky Mountain National Park would be desolate by now.
Instead it is pristine and as spectacular as ever. I hiked miles of back country trails and saw many things, crystal clear streams, abundant wildlife, including a bull elk I got a little too close to for my comfort, awe-inspiring waterfalls, and beauty no words could ever do justice.
What I did not see, however, was any sign of man’s presence. Besides the trails, and of course other hikers and campers, there was no devastation to dear old Mother Earth. No litter, save for two bottle caps I picked up. No destruction of natures wonders. In short the visitors who go to this and other national forests respect and protect the beauty held there.
Again, those who assume the mere presence of people can spoil nature are overlooking that God created nature. And certainly God did not create a weak and fragile earth. He created it for man. We have a duty to respect and protect this earth He created for us, yes. But to suggest, as radical environmentalists often do, that capitalism is the enemy of nature is just wrong.
Despite the rhetoric put forth by a small minority in the environmentalist community, our wild lands are being preserved for future generations of Americans to enjoy and to be awed by. And this is a grand thing to see. America has a sacred duty to preserve our priceless treasures.
And yes I am a Conservative Republican, as are many of my friends and family. And yes we are environmentalists one and all. Frankly anyone who is not interested in protecting our natural wonders is missing some serious brain cells.
But the radical wing of the environmental camp has attempted, with success, to paint only themselves as caring for the environment. At the same time anyone opposing any of their policies has been demonized as an enemy of nature.
Too often the true aim of these radicals has been to further socialism and to derail capitalism in America instead of actually defending Mother Nature. And as their actions and hyperbole illustrates, there is no room for freedom, business or God in their twisted ideals of what America should be.
America has received many blessings from God. Our natural wonders are among them. We must preserve them, but also remember where they came from. From a perfect God. Too bad the radicals keep leaving Him out of their minds.
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