I visited the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary for the first time this weekend.
For those who aren't aware of who Jack Miner is, he's considered by many to be "the Father of Conservationism." He was one of the first conservationists to use bird banding to figure out migration patterns, and based on what he learned, he successfully lobbied the American and Canadian governments to enact legislation to protect migratory birds, and was instrumental in getting a six-nation migratory bird treaty signed.
But his conservationism was accompanied by - or more accurately, inspired by - his strong religious faith. While he saw his conservationism as his way of fulfilling a religious requirement to be a "steward" over God's creation, he also famously stamped his bands with Bible verses in an effort to evangelize.
His religious beliefs also informed his somewhat selective attitude toward conservationism: he advocated protecting what he saw as "moral" bird species, like monogamous geese, but advocated the eradication of species he considered "immoral", such as species that engaged in non-monogamous mating or that were predators of other birds. Even while working to protect geese, robins, and sparrows, he advocated - and participated in - culls of crows and hawks.
... so while he undoubtedly deserves praise for the conservation work he did do, and while he planted the seed that ended up with the protection of threatened species of hawks and other raptors, it's acknowledged that he did a lot in the name of religion that is considered questionable today, and that he probably wouldn't have done if it weren't for his religious beliefs.
Jack Miner - Wikipedia
So how about you? How do your religious beliefs manifest in your life? Is there anything you do where you can see that if you didn't accept your religion, you'd see it as bad or pointless, but because of your religion and its tenets, you see it as good and important?
For those who aren't aware of who Jack Miner is, he's considered by many to be "the Father of Conservationism." He was one of the first conservationists to use bird banding to figure out migration patterns, and based on what he learned, he successfully lobbied the American and Canadian governments to enact legislation to protect migratory birds, and was instrumental in getting a six-nation migratory bird treaty signed.
But his conservationism was accompanied by - or more accurately, inspired by - his strong religious faith. While he saw his conservationism as his way of fulfilling a religious requirement to be a "steward" over God's creation, he also famously stamped his bands with Bible verses in an effort to evangelize.
His religious beliefs also informed his somewhat selective attitude toward conservationism: he advocated protecting what he saw as "moral" bird species, like monogamous geese, but advocated the eradication of species he considered "immoral", such as species that engaged in non-monogamous mating or that were predators of other birds. Even while working to protect geese, robins, and sparrows, he advocated - and participated in - culls of crows and hawks.
... so while he undoubtedly deserves praise for the conservation work he did do, and while he planted the seed that ended up with the protection of threatened species of hawks and other raptors, it's acknowledged that he did a lot in the name of religion that is considered questionable today, and that he probably wouldn't have done if it weren't for his religious beliefs.
Jack Miner - Wikipedia
So how about you? How do your religious beliefs manifest in your life? Is there anything you do where you can see that if you didn't accept your religion, you'd see it as bad or pointless, but because of your religion and its tenets, you see it as good and important?