Green Mormonism

In a changing international church environment, inevitably voices from Latter-day Saints communities around the world will be heard, on a variety of issues. And whereas cultures are different, so may be their particular view on social-political issues. Where in the United States Mormonism is increasingly associated with Republicanism in the political sense, in other parts of the world these things take on quite different dimensions. In the case of Europe, for example, the church is a small religious minoriy with no political influence whatsoever. Unlike in the United States, there is no political monopoly present within LDS church communities that can be exploited one way or the other.
Most church members in Europe are probably unaware of the political dimensions within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the US. They are aware of the official neutrality of the Church in political matters, but not of what it means when just about all church members vote for the same party in a two-party system. Politics in the US are still centered around controversial issues like abortion, universal healthcare, and same-sex marriage, whereas in Europe, where these things have been resolved quite a while ago, Latter-day Saints are more interested in themes like poverty, European Union, and...the environment!
To better understand European sentiments in the church, reading the following essay may be helpful:

Ethnization and Accommodation: Dutch Latter-day Saints in Twenty-first-century Europe
by Dr. Walter E.A. van Beek, a prolific writer, anthropologist at the University of Utrecht, and former stake president of the Utrecht - The Netherlands stake.
(see the picture above where Walter van Beek joins president Hinckley at the dedication of the The Hague - Netherlands temple)

Dr. van Beek* concludes his essay as follows:

"For European Mormons the issues do not stop with their own family circles. Political and general moral issues are of great concern, including poverty, economic development, political dilemma's, and the like. For Europeans the Utah church seems overly-focused on sex-related problems, ignoring problems of violence, pollution, and poverty. Though possibly far-fetched, one European LDS style might be the development of a 'green Mormonism'. Ecological issues weigh heavily in Europe, and European members sometimes wonder why church leaders say so little about ecological problems. Mormon doctrine easily can accommodate an involved partnership with the environment, offering another venue for coping with the chasm between doctrinal definitions and societal realities. This rises again the issue of the general inward-orientation of the church. For European members more activities and projects aimed at alleviating poverty and at development more generally in the world would greatly enhance their sense of LDS pride and alleviate some of the strain in trying to be both Mormon and European"
(Dialogue, a Journal of Mormon Thought: Volume 29, no.1, Spring 1996)

Certainly in the eyes of American Latter-day Saints, a 'Green Mormonism' may seem 'far-fetched', not so however in the eyes of their European brothers and sisters.
MESJ - Mormons for Equality and Social Justice, wholeheartedly embraces this vision of a 'Green Mormonism', one only has to note the predominant color of her web pages!

MESJ intents to focus each month on environmental issues, by exploring how we as Latter-day Saints use our judgement in using the earth and her resources, while seeking the guidance of the Spirit and looking to the teachings of Church leaders. Indeed, our church leaders do not speak out on the environment very often, but here are some quotes:

Brigham Young: Are you not dissatisfied, and is there not bitterness in your feelings, the moment you find a [c]anyon put in the possession of an individual, and power given unto him to control the timber, wood, rock, grass, and, in short, all its facilities?1

Ezra Taft Benson: The outward expressions of irreverence for God, for life, and for our fellowmen take the form of things like littering, heedless strip-mining, heedless pollution of water and air. 2

Gordon B. Hinckley: This earth is [Christ's] creation. When we make it ugly, we offend him.3

Alexander B. Morrison: [O]ur current way of life is simply environmentally unsustainable. The immensely complex and still not fully understood systems that sustain life on earth are being destroyed by human activities.4

Richard F. Haglund, Jr. & David J. Whittaker: Dominion over the earth is not a license to plunder, but a sacred trust to conserve life and protect the environment.5

Alan J. Hawkins, David C. Dollahite & Clifford J. Rhoades: [T]he hearts of today's fathers and mothers are turned to the children when they begin to care about what kind of natural environment their descendants will have. "Cursed" and "utterly wasted" (Mal. 4:6; Joseph Smith--History 1:39) are accurate descriptions of what the earth will look like if practices of reckless disregard for the natural environment continue.6

Terry Tempest Williams: If we act on the premise that we are not alone, that other individuals and creatures have wants and needs, that our definition of community is not just human-centered but creation-centered, then we begin to engage in a spiritual economics that promises to be more unselfish than our present relationship to Other.7

Ted Wilson: Though it is true that...people must make a living, it is also true that the forces of development on an increasingly crowded planet threaten to tear down our temples of nature. We must seek wisdom and temperance that go beyond the equilibrium of the marketplace. 8

Walter van Beek: Though possibly far-fetched, one European LDS style might be the development of a 'green Mormonism'. Ecological issues weigh heavily in Europe, and European members sometimes wonder why church leaders say so little about ecological problems. Mormon doctrine easily can accommodate an involved partnership with the environment. 9

NOTES
1.	Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886), 1:211.
2.	Ezra Taft Benson, "Problems Affecting the Domestic Tranquility of Citizens of the United States," Vital Speeches 42 (1 Feb. 1976): 240.
3.	Gordon B. Hinckley, "What Shall I Do Then with Jesus Which Is Called Christ?" Ensign (Dec. 1983): 3.
4.	Alexander B. Morrison, Visions of Zion (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1993), 77-78.
5.	Richard F. Haglund, Jr. & David J. Whittaker, "Intellectual History," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 688.
6.	Alan J. Hawkins, David C. Dollahite & Clifford J. Rhoades, "Turning the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children: Nurturing the Next Generation," BYU Studies 33 (Spring 1993): 284.
7.	Terry Tempest Williams, "West of Eden," New Genesis: A Mormon Reader on Land and Community, ed. Terry Tempest Williams, William B. Smart & Gibbs M. Smith (Salt Lake City: Gibbs-Smith, 1998), 215.
8	Ted Wilson, "The Truth of Granite: A Canyon Conversion," New Genesis, 15.
9.	Wouter van Beek, "Ethnization and Accommodation: Dutch Mormons in Twenty-first-century Europe (Dialogue, a Journal of Mormon Thought: Volume 29, no.1, Spring 1996)

ley, "Wh Shall I Do Then with Jesus Which Is Called Christ?" sign (Dec. 1983): 3.Gordon B. Hinckley, "What Shall I Do Then with Jesus Wich Is Called FChrist?" Ensi (Dec. 1983): 3.)

* other publications from Dr.Walter van Beek:

Overview Dr. W.E.A. van Beek's publications.

a book report: of "Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling " by Richard Lyman Bushman.

Mormon Europeans or European Mormons? An “Afro-European” View on Religious Colonization

March 2006 - by Robert Poort