Question 8:
Don’t environmental regulations interfere with our fundamental private property rights?
Answer:
This perception is very strong in America today. The reason is that America’s free-market economic system is based on the principle of private ownership of goods. We have the liberty to take the things that belong to us and dispose of them as we see fit—and expect our laws to protect that right. The problem comes when we think of land as we think of goods---something aboriginal cultures never understood (to their ultimate great loss). The Bible is clear in maintaining that God owns the land and that people are stewards of it. Elaborate Old Testament laws protected the availability of land and its resources for the benefit of all people. On the other hand, there is no question that property and goods in Bible times were held, protected, and carefully maintained by individuals and families. In fact, when land is cared for in a biblical manner—affirming that it remains fruitful—it fulfills God’s purposes. Also when the fruit of the land is equitably distributed, God will bless the land for the believer and the unbeliever alike.
In the Bible, land was to be cherished, given its Sabbath rest (to assure productivity), used with thanksgiving to God through tithing, and finally passed on to its next “owners” as little diminished as possible (the principle of “usufruct”). It was expected that
the land-holder would be responsible to steward the land for God’s glory through careful and wise oversight. If our property holdings today were utilized in that biblical manner, there would be few land-related environmental problems. As it is, absentee owners, both governments and individuals, are often unable or unwilling to properly oversee their land to ensure that it is managed, used, conserved, or restored in a way that fulfills God’s purposes. (Not until recently did humankind have the capacity to actually consume the land: thinking of mountaintop removal.)
The biggest problem I see with those who complain about the perceived loss of their property rights as the result of environmental law is that most consider their rights more important than their responsibilities. This is often true because having rights does not require work or knowledge. Having responsibilitie
s does. A land-holder (more accurate word than "land-owner") who does not first understand and tend to his responsibilities is like a parent who considers his or her parental rights to be more important than parental responsibilities---often the first inkling that this person is really a child abuser. Land needs to be protected from abuse just as children need to be protected from abuse---because the health of both means a lot to our future.
Further, few are willing to recognize that a significant amount of land must be left undeveloped for immediate human purposes to ensure that the ecosystem remains sound enough to guarantee ultimate health for every living thing, each of which is important for our creation's vitality. The Bible is full of references to wild lands that fulfill God’s purposes:
He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.... The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the conies. (Psa. 104:10-12, 16-18, NIV).
God obviously delights in His creation and all its marvelous creatures. His care encompasses all the elements of the creation. If we as land-holders cared as God cared, there would be little environmental degradation. But in a world where haste, waste, and greed reign, governments, which the Bible says are ordained by God, are acting in His interest when they seek to curb the activities of those who would destroy or abuse the life-giving elements of a healthy environment. Even Christians need the discipline of wise secular governance.
Dean Ohlman is the host of RBC Ministries website: "The Wonder of Creation." You can read more of Dean's writing at the RBC site: http://www.wonderofcreation.org/
