By Robert A. Rees Robert A. Rees is the director of Mormon Studies at the Graduate Theological Union. He is the author of A New Witness for the World (BCC Press, 2020) and editor of Why I Stay 2 (Signature Books, 2021). I According to Latter-day Saint theology, this earth was created by the …
Tag: environmentalism
The Chairlift Missionary
By Hans G. Ehrbar Hans G. Ehrbar received his PhD in economics from the University of Michigan in 1985. He has taught economics courses on energy policy and global warming at the University of Utah. Our study predicts that Park City’s climate will change substantially as a result of increased atmospheric GHG [greenhouse …
Update: Issue 174
Same-Sex Marriage Temporarily Legalized in Utah Federal Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled on 20 December 2013 that Utah’s Amendment Three, Article 1 Section 29, which defines marriage as being solely between a woman and a man, is unconstitutional. “The state’s current laws deny its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so …
The Earth as Sacrament
MORMONISM DOES NOT accept the common religious belief that the earth is either mundane or evil, or that the realm of the sacred is far from the material world. On the contrary, Mormonism is a richly material religion investing a broad set of earthly objects with sacramental purpose. A sacrament presents us with an object …
Sacred Groves
By Jason Brown Cosmic Trees Imagine the most common of trees, the Christmas (or solstice) tree, decorated with globes, lights and a star on top. Allow that tree to grow in your mind so that it fills the sky. The bright star at the very top of the tree merges with the North Star, Polaris. …
Practicing Stewardship in a Consumer Culture
By Rachel Mabey Whipple We live in a consumer society—all about spending, acquiring, cluttering, and replacing rather than about maintaining, repairing, renewing, and protecting. It is cheaper to buy the new than to repair the old. We live in a disposable country: everything is trash—if not now then soon. How did we get here? …
The Last Palm Tree: Mormonism and Sustainability
By Mark Thomas Soon after her second child was born, in 2005, journalist Florence Williams decided to have her breast milk chemically analyzed. To her surprise and consternation, she found that though she was eating a healthy diet, her milk contained trace amounts of pesticides, dioxin, and a jet-fuel ingredient, as well as high-to-average …
Reverencing Creation
By Steven L. Peck As a BYU student in the early eighties, I earmarked part of my meager paycheck to help protect endangered whales. Since then, “Save the Whales” has become so hackneyed that even unswerving environmentalists smile at its kitschiness. But at the time, I really was concerned with saving the whales (and …
“With Reverence and Care!”
Hugh W. Nibley, one of Mormonism’s most prominent social critics, was a wonderful model for how to walk the fine line of openly challenging attitudes and practices in LDS culture while still being influential among most segments of the community. He accomplished this through clear demonstrations of his own personal loyalty to the gospel and …
Remember the Revolution!: A Mormon Manifesto
By James Goldberg “I know just what you mean—I hate to be in big groups of Mormons” said a Mormon girl to her Mormon friend at a party attended entirely by Mormons who’d met in a BYU creative writing class. “You mean like this one?” said another girl, giving voice to a thought I …