Questioning the sacredness of nature-outside reading

Ashley Smith
Outside Reading

I recently read an article from the website “http://www.j21c.org/wildern.htm”, titled “Is Wilderness Really Sacred, and, If So, So What?” The article started off by stating, “In its recent television advertising campaign the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) contends that failure to set aside upwards of nine million acres of public lands as wilderness will offend God. But what do theological claims have to do with implementation of the 1964 Wilderness Act?” The Wilderness Act was an act employed in 1964 to, “establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes” (http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=legisAct&error=404). I think that the connection between the Wilderness Act of 1964 and theology is a strong one. Theology is the study of divine things (i.e. God) and religion. People who had a strong faith in God and in his natural creation of the wilderness were probably the people who felt the strongest and most passionate about implementing the wilderness act. The wilderness is God’s creation, and a part of his beautiful masterpiece. Why would anyone want to ruin and tamper with something that was made by God himself? Once nature is destroyed, it cannot be brought back. This is why it is so important to preserve nature and areas of wilderness. As time moves forward, more and more businesses and manmade corporations take over vast areas of wilderness; therefore, it is crucial that all mankind acts equally as diligent and hard to preserve and conserve the natural wilderness areas that still remain.