Is Earth Day Also a Religious Duty?

Meredith Hodge
4/22/09
7:00 pm
For many people today is simply earth day. However, when the religious think about the true meaning of the day, they may begin to ask themselves if this is more than simply a day used to raise awareness for the planet. Many religious leaders have brought this thought into the light by saying things such as “God will not save mankind from the "stupidity" and "corporate folly" that has us facing a "range of doomsday prospects" from global warming to bio-terrorism.” On the other hand, a survey that included around 2,000 participant’s responses showed that 67 percent agreed that with no change then the end would be devastating. An interesting thing the survey shows is that evangelical Protestants were far less worried about climate change. They were also much less likely to predict the extinction of life as a whole.
So is earth day a day just to wear shirts with recycle symbols and earths on them? Is it a day to recycle for once? Or is it a religious obligation to believers? The issue obviously varies from person to person depending on what they believe in. However, it is interesting to look at people who share the same beliefs because they tend to rank issues with about the same importance as their fellow believers would.