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Many faithful Mormons are not familiar with pronouncements concerning environmental stewardship by current and former Church leaders because such teachings typically do not receive as much emphasis from the pulpit and in Church curriculum materials as other more core teachings. Nevertheless, the LDS canon of scriptures and the teachings of Joseph Smith and subsequent LDS Church leaders reveal a rich theology pertaining to the origin and purpose of the earth and to our responsibility as stewards over nature's bounty.
This article examines several salient implications arising from the LDS teaching that the earth has a spirit and feels pain as a consequence of the spiritual defilement and literal pollution inf licted on it by human beings, as the remarkable vision of the prophet Enoch suggests. This key aspect of Mormon ecotheology may resonate more with Native American beliefs, Eastern religions, and various philosophical traditions than with traditional Protestant and Catholic conceptions of the earth. In saying this, I do not suggest that other Christian faiths lack an environmental ethic. Indeed, many Christian denominations and other faiths more overtly embrace environmental stewardship in their teachings, liturgy, and policy statements.1 Nevertheless, the LDS teachings described below, if studied and emphasized, provide profound spiritual insights not readily found elsewhere into our relationship with and responsibility for nature.
Moreover, Enoch's vision of an animistic earth largely com- ports with the views of some modern scientists and naturalists who suggest that the earth's biosphere can be better understood as a living organism-sometimes referred to as "Gaia"-which maintains an equilibrium and relative constancy of temperature, atmosphere, and biospheric and geophysical cycles necessary to sustain life. As such, from both a scientific and spiritual perspective, environmental science and LDS theology both teach that if we live and consume with no respect for earth's delicate balance, we endanger the earth and ourselves.
The Earth's Spiritual Creation and Destiny
From the pulpit, we commonly emphasize the "preexistence" of mortal persons.2 However, one aspect of the LDS concept of the preexistence that is, in some ways, unique to LDS theology3 is its recognition of the preexistence of all of God's creations including animals and plants. Understanding that, in the preexistence, as premortal spirits we rejoiced at the creation of the earth and that some...