Some Eco-Fundamentalism

By Carl Milsted

Go into your typical organic food store and you will find tie-dye, tattoos, cards with fairies on them, magazines on yoga and Buddhism, and other neo-pagan artifacts. The message seems to be: “Christians, go to Food Lion and eat GMO grains and factory-raised animals. Concern for the natural is for pagans, only.”
This is not productive for the environmental movement, since Christians are still the largest demographic group in the U.S. Besides, it is not necessary to be a neo-pagan Earth Mother worshipper to be concerned with modern tampering with nature and cruelty to animals. These concerns can be found in the Old Testament.

A core belief of many deep environmentalists is that today’s generation does not own the land outright, but holds it in trust for future generations. This principle is found in Leviticus 25, especially verse 23. Also within Leviticus 25, there are commandments to rest the land every 7 years and let the wild volunteer growth be for common use and for the use by wild animals.

As for genetically engineered crops, it is worth looking at Deuteronomy 22:9-11. In verse 9 it is illegal to sew a vineyard with different kinds of seed because it will defile the resulting seed. Hybrid foods are a sin! This denouncement of mixing things together extends to using two different kinds of animal at the same plow (verse 10) or even cloth made of blended fibers (verse 11)!
There are a several passages on cruelty to animals as well. You are not to muzzle the ox that is treading grain (Deuteronomy 25:4). The Sabbath rest exists for animals as well as for people (Exodus 20:10). You are not to boil a kid in its mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19). While I am conjecturing here, it seems this prohibition is to show some sensitivity for the feelings of the mother goat vs. some type of nutritional command. Otherwise, I would think the commandment would refer to meat and milk in general.

So when you are trying to sell animal rights, organic foods or environmentalism to conservative Christians, leave your tie-dye shirts and mandalas at home. Bring your Bible instead. You’ll get farther.

Dr. Carl Milsted is a Senior Editor of the Free Liberal. More of his work can be read at holisticpolitics.org.