Dominion Not Domination - 5/1/11

Dominion not Domination

Rev. Lee Ann Bryce

Community Christian Church

May 1, 2011

So God created humankind^* in God’s image,
            in the image of God, God created them;^*
            male and female God created them.
²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ ²⁹God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. ³¹God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good.                                                        - Genesis 1:27-31a

So much of our thinking about how to be in relationship with the Earth comes from our fundamental beliefs about our place in the world.  Sometimes our own religion has etched into our minds the notion that the earth is ours to do with whatever we wish.  It’s an easy belief to fall into, because we’d like to think that we are at the top of the chain.  All that exists is for us—to feed us, to work for us, to make us money, and to make us happy.  Isn’t that what God said to humankind on that sixth day of creation?  Well…not exactly.

God’s words to humankind as recorded in Genesis were that humans would have dominion over the earth and its creatures.  Dominion is a word that seems to cause more trouble than it solves.  Dominion sounds a lot like another word - domination.  When we think of domination, we think of autocratic rule of one thing over something else.  But dominion has a different connotation. Dominion is the benevolent sovereignty of one thing over another. The similarity between these words is that both domination and dominion describe a type of power.  What makes them different is the motive behind the power. The motive in domination is for the ruler to get whatever (s)he wants. However, the motive in dominion is for the ruler to be entrusted with the best interest of the subject.

Consider two hypothetical stories to illustrate the contrast between domination and dominion as it pertains to care of the earth.  Though they are not actual accounts, scenes like this happen

all the time, all around the United States.  As the saying goes, I don’t know if it happened this way, but these stories are true.

Anna makes her living off the land.  She is a developer who buys 30 acres of densely forested land near a growing town and she hopes to make a profit.  Nothing wrong with that, that’s why most people are in business.  She thinks this will be a perfect place for a subdivision that will hold 75 new homes.  The contractors she hires come in with their big equipment and begin their work by cutting down trees.  When they finish the land is bare and unrecognizable.  The animals who live in this forest have to move to the surrounding forest where the species becomes overcrowded, and they begin to die of hunger.  Next the builders begin erecting the homes.  They use beautiful, desirable materials.  It’s true, they have to ship them halfway around world, but they’ll make their money back when they sell the homes.  They don’t know that, where the granite was mined in Asia, that land is now devoid of necessary minerals.  Then landscapers arrive to put in flowers and grass that are foreign to the local area.  To keep the lawns green requires thousands of gallons of water that in a few years will lower the water table in the surrounding farmland.  (With our wet spring, I know it seems crazy that anybody has to irrigate, but it does happen in many parts of the country!)  The developer Anna makes an enormous profit, but it’s at the expense of the land and animals locally and the earth and its peoples far away.

The second picture is of Jake.  He’s a farmer in a small community who, like Anna, also makes his living off the land, but in very different way than Anna.  Jake grows several crops on his 300 acres.  He knows he could be making more money than does, but he chooses instead to live in harmony with the land.  The animals are happy that Jake leaves several dozen acres forested to give them habitat and shade.  The crops grow from the clean, natural nutrients of the soil, without being sprayed down with pounds of fertilizers and pesticides.  Jake rotates the crops regularly so the soil stays rich in vitamins and minerals.  The air smells fresh and clean without fumes from gasoline engines.  Jake’s employees remain loyal throughout year to plow, plant, and harvest all naturally with only the help of animals and manual tools.  Jake could make a lot more money, but he considers the cost on the environment and he knows it would not be worth it.

This is domination versus dominion.  When we view God’s decree for dominion as dominating the earth and its creatures, then we think God has given us license to do whatever we want.  We believe that whatever we do with the land is God’s will, no matter what the cost is to the earth and the plants and the animals and the people.  It’s disturbing what this logic really says when we follow it to the extreme.  Pollution—God’s will.   Human caused lack of water—God’s will.  Chemicals that kill wildlife—God’s will.  Landfills seeping toxins—God’s will.  God put us in charge so whatever we do is ok, right?

But the beauty is that we don’t have to understand it that way.  When we view dominion for what it really is, we realize that God invites us to enter into a covenant in which we share dominion with God. God charges us with the great responsibility to care of everything God has created.  When we share dominion with God, we make decisions with the best interest of all creation in mind.  This means we won’t always be doing what we desire, but instead we’re doing what the earth needs, what the plants need, and what the animals need.  In this way, doing what is best for creation becomes God’s will.  And in the end, we realize that caring for the earth is what we desire, too.  Keeping the planet and its creatures healthy eventually leads to our best health, because we are all connected in a web of relationships.  What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves.

In your bulletin, you’ll find an insert titled, “My Commitment to Creation.”  It contains lots of ideas that can help us live in better harmony with God’s creation.  We’re all at different places in this journey.  At my best, I try to be mindful and I am faithful in some green lifestyle choices.  And I also know that there are many environmentally friendly practices I’m just not ready to do.  Maybe I’ll get here, maybe not.  I aspire to be a vegetarian, but I’m a long way from that.  I wish I could take a firm stand against using any pesticides in our lawn and garden care, but I still use them on occasion. 

I guess what I’m saying is that a faithful Christian response toward eco-justice is one of humility and patience.  None of us can do it all, but all of us can do something.  We can shift a behavior here and there.  We can try out a practice that seems really hard to do, just for a short time and see how we feel.  We may not be able to sell the car, but we can work up to it by observing one “lazy day” a month on which we resolve not to drive.  And instead, we walk or take public transit or carpool.  Living in harmony with the earth is not an “all or nothing” deal.  It’s about the willingness to continue to learn and to continue to make small, even incremental changes can make a huge difference – not only to the earth, but within our own hearts.

Let’s join together on this journey.  Together let us strive to partner with God, not in domination, but in dominion with all of creation.  Amen.

My Commitment to Creation

Ideas to consider:

·         Wash clothes in cold water to save on energy.

·         Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.

·         Eat less meat.  Start by eliminating one meat based meal a week.

·         Plan for your household to observe one “lazy day” a month on which you walk, take public transit, or carpool rather than driving your car.

·         Conduct an energy audit of your home to evaluate your heating system’s efficiency and determine where heat loss may occur.  You can even perform your own home energy audit by going to the Department of Energy’s Website:  www.homeenergysaver.lbl.gov.

·         Run washing machine and dishwasher only when full.

·         When washing dishes by hand, don’t let the water run while rinsing.  Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.

·         Wash fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.

·         Have your car tuned regularly and keep tires properly inflated. 

·         Carry a water bottle with you instead of buying water.

·         Eat locally and organically whenever possible.

·         Teach children to turn off faucets tightly after each use.

·         Turn off water while brushing your teeth.

·         Wash pets outdoors in an area of your lawn that needs water.

·         Reuse towels.

·         When washing your hands, don’t let the water run while you lather.

Remember:  you needn’t take an “all or nothing” approach. 

Work toward doing these things by gradually making changes in your life. 

Even a small change can make a significant difference. 

Start somewhere and see where the new direction takes you!