Top 10 Reasons Every Christian Should Care for the Environment - # 10: The World is Good

Saturday, March 31, at 8:30 pm is Earth hour, in which people around the planet will be unplugging the electric items in their house and turning their lights off to raise awareness for environmental care.

As an Albertan resident and a member of a fairly conservative branch of Christianity, I have encountered time and again over the last few weeks just how little many Christians think or care about the environment, and how little they think of people who do.  Environmentalism is almost a curse word for many conservative Christians, as if earnestly seeking to restore the beauty of the planet is at best a waste of time and at worst an act of paganism. One particular Christian college recently conducted a survey about their effectiveness.  One respondent was concerned that the college was becoming theologically liberal.  In particular, this respondent was bothered by lectures on environmental care that were being taught in a social justice class.  This boggles my mind.  And so the next ten blog posts are not written for non-Christians or those who already care about the planet.  From now until the end of March whenever I finish I am going to provide the top 10 scriptural reasons that every Christian should care for the environment.

Today we begin with number ten: The World is Good

Dr. Daniel Dennett in Calgary Saturday!!! (revised)

Update: Due to mechanical failure, Dr. Dennett's plane did not arrive in Calgary on time.  His talk has been rescheduled for Saturday Feb 11, 4:30 pm in ST140.

Exciting news - Daniel Dennett is the speaker for the University of Calgary's 27th annual Darwin Dinner, and I (along with a friend) get to pick him up from the airport tomorrow!  For those of you who are in town, his lecture, entitled 'The Evolution of Reasons' will be held in Science Theatres 140 at 4:30 pm.  If you can't make it, you can get a taste of Dr. Dennett at 7:20 am on CBC radio.

I've been reading Breaking the Spell, Dennett's most famous contribution to that seemingly ubiquitous genre of anti-religious treatises.  I can say that it is likely the best that any of the big four (Dennett, Harris, Hitchens and Dawkins) have produced, and am finding it to be stimulating rather than infuriating (although brace yourself for a less-than-sensitive opening metaphor).

I'll let you know how the talk goes, along with the behind-the-scenes tour of the Royal Tyrrell Museum I will be taking with Dr. Dennett on Saturday (if everything goes as planned)!