The New Religion- Greenstians

I am convinced that we need to add another religion to our textbook religions. I even have a new name for those who practice: Greenstians. Read on...

The other day, we were out and about and decided to stop at McDonalds for a quick lunch and a chance to play on the playland. We had been around town, touching grocery carts and such so I had everyone head to the bathroom to wash up. After washing our hands we had to stand underneath a hot air dryer forever to get our hands dry. I hate these things, and if you have little kids, you probably do too. I always have a little one who is terrified of a loud machine blowing hot air directly in their face just because they have wet hands. I would be too. I get annoyed having to stand there for so long just to dry my hands and am often just using my skirt/pants to dry my hands and tell my kids to also. We have better things to be doing than to stand around and wait for our hands to dry. There was no other option because McDonalds is "saving the planet" by not letting me use paper towels to dry my hands. (All the while they're killing us with their mostly nasty food.)

We are being pressured to act green. Here is just a small sampling of the pressure I feel:

• Bring your bags to the grocery store (I only do this to save the nickels and so that I can carry more into the house in less trips. I happen to LOVE plastic bags and all their many uses.)
• Waste your time washing your garbage so that you can recycle.
• Use dishwasher soap that doesn't really work because the lawmakers are actually in my kitchen telling me what I can and can not do.
• Embarrassed that I can not spend a fortune on an electric car to proudly drive around saying "I'm saving the world, I'm saving the world"
• Attempt to convince my children that it is their fault that global warming is occuring, not just the natural way that things work. (There has always been climate change even without "emissions" and our "destuctive race")
• Look down on me for eating a cheeseburger, thus driving up the demand for cows, thus forcing more production of cows, thus producing more cow farts and burps. Yeah right, totally my fault.
• Shame me for mopping my floors with *gasp* Pine Sol. A very toxic agent that happens to make my floor sparkly clean and my home smell sooo good and refreshing (to me).
• Stress me out about drinking from plastic bottles when sometimes I have no other choice.
• Feel guilty when I pull up to the gas pumps to yet again fill my gas guzzling mini-van.
• Keep me dodging the hole in the ozone layer over my head that I have created with my almost daily use of hairspray from an aresol can.
• Entertain the ridiculous thought that I have single-handedly over populated the world by breeding 5 children of my own.
  

And countless other practices of this new religion.

What is religion anyway? Religion is a specific system of belief and worship, involving a code of ethics and a philosophy. Green living is a new religion. Society wraps its arms around it and bows down to it and it is becoming the most acceptable form of proselytism.

Now, don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly embrace taking care of the earth and being good stewards of what God has given us dominion over, but it is certainly not my focal point, God is. I also take all realistic, practical precautions not to poison my family or the earth, but it is definately not the first thing I think about in the morning. (See how I feel the need to defend myself against the Greenstians?? I'm scared of backlash and being labeled as non-green, black if you will.)

But really, I am sick and tired of everyone else's religious, obsessive ideals being crammed down my throat. Think about it. Christianity is progressively being nipped and tucked away. Some Christians are even retreating from the fronts in fear of becoming corrupted by this world's ways instead of fighting the good fight and standing firm against the devil. Because of society's every growing godlessness, there is a sense of shame and embarrassment taking the place of the bold living and speaking that Christ calls us to. People don't want to hear about a Saviour who entirely saves us from destruction. But they'll bend over backwards and inside out to try to save the planet. They don't want to hear about the love of God but everyone's on board the love train of sin. Don't you even dare talk about moral living either or else you may be committing a hate crime.

Any other religion besides Christianity is broadcast loud and clear in our society. Think about all the things we can get caught up pursuing that is glorified in the our society's eyes. In fact, even we can get caught up in the things that appear right in the world's eyes and earn us pats on the back.

Here are some other ways of life, that all have their place, but when out of balance, have become culturally acceptable religions:

• perfect health- organic, natural, raw, fat-free, no sugar, excercise, excercise, exercise, (the lawmakers even want to put a tax on junk food, that way they can govern our bodies too and punish us for "bad" choices like the cigarette tax. Did we elect them to punish us according to their standards???)


• perfect lifestyle- namebrand, high-end, best quality, latest and greatest (we've really gotten far... trillions of dollars of debt!)


• perfect education- private, public or home, elite, ivy league, $ (some people in other countries are just trying to survive the day, but in America, we take for granted the privelege of education)


• perfect philosophy- godless, thinking, creating new thought, understanding the ultimate whys (everyone thinks they've got THE answer!)


• perfect relationships- studying endless books, keeping just the "perfect" easily relatable people in your life, consulting Dr. Phil, Oprah Winfrey or countless others (what happened to loving the unlovable, and developing real character in the face of conflict)
  

And so many more culturally acceptable religions! What do you think of?

The real fact of the matter is that there is only one perfection and there is only one way to thoroughly save our planet and that is our Holy God and His sanctifying work in us.

So leave me alone world! "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" (and the Lord alone)