This year Christians throughout the United States will be celebrating Earth Day through a live simulcast nationwide, through documentaries, lectures and seminars on God’s creation and man’s stewardship of the earth.

Earth Day, slated for April 22, is intended to raise awareness and appreciation for the environment.

Now on its 40^th year, Earth Day is said to be founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson.  However its concept originated from Pentecostal minister John McConnell Jr, 95, who told the Assemblies of God (AG) Heritage magazine that he first proposed Earth Day in 1969 to promote peace and unity.  He wanted it to be held in late March at the start of spring.

McConnell said he submitted his proposal for Earth Day to San Francisco city officials on Oct. 3, 1969.  The first governmental recognition of Earth Day was held March 21, 1970 supported by Congress and the United Nations.

However, it was moved by Sen. Nelson to April 22 because he had scheduled a political protest called Environmental Teach-In Day.

McConnell’s biographer, Robert Weir, said Nelson admitted that he got the idea for Earth Day from others, but he did not specify from whom. In time, he began to publicly claim full credit for Earth Day.

Christians have commonly neglected to celebrate Earth Day as it was deemed to be identified with left leaning environmentalism and implied nature worship.

However now they see Earth Day as a time to renew their stewardship of God’s gift of creation, celebrate God and to witness their faith to others.

McConnell said, “We love God … [and therefore should] have an appreciation for His creation.”

A study in 2008 by the Barna Group, a religious research organization, found that 78 percent of self-identified Christians would like to see their fellow Christians take a more active role in caring for the earth.

Some of the things that Christians are doing on Earth Day include:

• Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, Fla. will hold a simulcast on April 21 that organizers say will be the largest ever faith-based gathering involving Earth Day, drawing thousands of churches.
• Blessed Earth, founded three years ago by Dr. Matthew Sleeth of Wilmore, Ky, has organized hundreds of churches for “Hope for Creation: A Live Simulcast Event,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.  Sleeth is the author of “Serve God and Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action.”  Since its founding, Blessed Earth has produced a 12-film series on the Bible and the environment.
• St. Monica-St. George Parish Newman Center in Ohio will hold its annual “Thomas Merton Year,” from April 25-May 7 with the talk, “Meeting Merton Again for the First Time: Contemplative Ecologist, Ecological Prophet.”  Merton was a 20th-century Catholic monk in Gethsemani, Ky.  The talk is presented by Sister Kathleen Deignan, a GreenFaith Fellow with training in religious environmental leadership.  She wrote the books, “When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature” and “Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours.”

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A Supreme Court decision slated for June may be the last chance for the Christian Legal Society chapter at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco to run their organization in adherence to their core spiritual beliefs and still retain their school benefits.

At issue is the university’s non-discriminatory policy which bars student groups from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, sex, or sexual orientation.  The CLS believes that the non-discriminatory law is inherently discriminatory against student faith groups.

The issue arose in 2004 when the CLS asked members to pledge to core religious beliefs, including that they will not engage in a “sexually immoral lifestyle,” or “all acts of sexual conduct outside God’s design for marriage between one man and one woman.”  Failure to live by this standard would disqualify an individual from becoming a voting CLS member.

School officials viewed the pledge as discrimination.  They said the group’s faith-based by-laws reflected intent to discriminate against gay and lesbian students and others.  Under the school policy, student groups must agree to accept any student as a voting member.

The society was ordered to abide by school policy, or they would lose school recognition including school benefits such as funding, use of school facilities, and use of school communication systems to publicize meetings.

When the CLS balked, the school withheld their benefits.  The CLS sued, claiming the First Amendment rights of free speech, free association and free exercise of religion.  They said the school policy is unconstitutional.

The CLS said gay and lesbian students and others of different beliefs could attend CLS meetings and events, but if they do not sign a pledge acknowledging that they share the precise Christian beliefs of the group they would be excluded from voting, holding leadership positions, and leading Bible study discussions.

CLS’ lawyer Michael McConnell wrote in their defense brief, “To forbid groups to form on the basis of shared beliefs is to forbid freedom of association at its most fundamental level.”

McConnell added, “The policy targets solely those groups whose beliefs are based on ‘religion’ or that disapprove of a particular kind of sexual behavior.”  He said

the non-discrimination policy is “explicitly viewpoint discriminatory”  and only applies to religious beliefs–not political, social, or cultural ideals or beliefs.

So far the Hastings policy has been upheld by a federal judge.  The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judge’s ruling.  The Supreme Court decision in June will be the CLS last chance to run their organization according to their core beliefs and still keep their status and benefits.

Some 60 student organizations are currently registered at Hastings, all of which can receive school benefits.  If the Supreme Court supports the school’s policy, the CLS will be the only student group that was ever denied those benefits.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/opinion/19mon2.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100417/ts_csm/295149

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The controversial documentary on the life of Larry Norman, the “Father of Christian Rock,” will be screened on Tuesday, 6:30 pm at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville.

After the screening of “Fallen Angel: the Outlaw Larry Norman,” director David Di Sabatino and Randy Stonehill, a longtime friend of Norman, will answer questions from the audience.

Controversial documentary on Larry Norman, ‘father of Christian rock’ to be shown after years of legal wrangling

“Fallen Angel: the Outlaw Larry Norman,” will be shown after a court judgment favoring Di Sabatino was made recently.  Norman’s family tried to block the film claiming violations of the copyright law and denying some allegations that were made in the film.

“Fallen Angel: the Outlaw Larry Norman” pays tribute to Norman’s musical genius, but also tackles his dark side, citing Norman’s relationship with Stonehill’s estranged wife, allegations of cheating his business partners out of royalties, and fathering a child out of wedlock with another woman.

Norman was a San Francisco hippie who wrote songs about Jesus, sex, drugs, war and the end times.  His music made him a hero of the 1970s Jesus freaks and his albums such as Upon This Rock, Only Visiting This Planet and So Long Ago the Garden became Christian rock classics.

From 1966 to 1968 Norman performed in concerts with The Doors, The Who, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix, among others.  His band People! scored a Billboard hit in 1968 with a cover of The Zombies’ song “I Love You.”  However, Norman left the band the day People!’s debut album was released.

His 1972 release, Only Visiting This Planet, is considered one of the best albums in Christian rock, and his music influenced that of U2, John Mellencamp, and the Pixies.

Time Magazine called Norman “the most significant artist in his field.” Over 300 cover versions of his songs have been recorded by artists such as Petula Clark, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Black, and Cliff Richard.  His songs have also been recorded by contemporary Christian artists like DC Talk, Rebecca St. James, and Audio Adrenaline.

Norman performed for The White House twice, and also performed in the Hollywood Bowl, the Sydney Opera House, the Palladium and London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall, which he sold out six times. In the last 40 years Norman has released nearly 100 solo albums.

Of “Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman,” Stonehill said he believed the documentary has a redemptive message and celebrates Norman’s brilliance as a musician.   Of his stormy friendship with Norman he adds, “You see us (in the film) on our best days as friends and collaborators, and on our worse days.  It’s a picture of God’s faithfulness.”

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