Articles
A Letter to Brazil and the US
My state in the USA along with many others has some good points and many
horrible ones. In this state, we eliminated completely many species of large
wild animals as well as small ones. Not long after the 1900’s wiped them
out, we were able to import them from other states. Today many of them
flourish here but others are extinct. Wiping out a species or even placing
it in danger has its consequences.
This is a letter to the people of Brazil and other South American countries
such as Venezuela and Argentina. Destroying places such as the Amazon Rain
Forest, the Amazon River’s porpoises and fish, and every creature that calls
that place home, as well as the tropical plants and even the beneficial
insects has a cost. The penalty for such destruction is death from Almighty
God. This sort of death means that you will not experience Heaven, or
eternal life and even walking upon the ashes of the wicked, see Revelation
11:18 in your Bible.
I want to acknowledge and celebrate people like Chico Mendes (Francisco
Alves Mendes Filho) who was a Brazilian rubber trapper, trade union leader
and best of all; an environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon Rain
Forest while advocating for the rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous
peoples. It doesn’t matter if we are communalists or capitalists. If we are
corrupt communalists or corrupt capitalists matters a great deal.
When a forest Mendes was protecting was made an area designed to conserve
the bio-diversity of that land but still allowing the harvesting of some
items, the new owner was charged with assassinating Chico. Many people,
including Paul McCartney made Chico famous in our country. A vast number of
environmentalists have been killed just in these three countries since the
year 2,000. I heard a Protestant priest say, “It’s those environmentalists
who are ruining the country.” He is wrong; he doesn’t know what he’s talking
about! Psalms 47:9 says, “The princes of the people are gathered together,
even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong
unto God: he is greatly exalted.” You’ll notice in the Bible that not all
sick people in the world got healed by Jesus, but only those who called upon
him. The scripture says, “The same Lord over all, is rich unto all, who call
upon His name.” (Romans 10:12) In fact, Jesus specified, “Whatsoever you ask
God in my name, He will give it to you.” The difference between what happens
in huge South American countries and what happens here in the US is what we
do is often upsetting to God, but when you wipe out a species, you are so
large that no animals of that species may exist to replenish your country.
I write unto you knowing that many of you are Catholic. You may never have
considered that our present Pope Francis has called us to protect the earth,
its land and its creatures and Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox
Church has said the same things when he declared, “All environmental
destruction is sin.” I love the Catholic people who know God and as a
minister of His Word, I can attest that the scripture says, “God should
destroy all those who destroy the earth.” (Revelation 11:18)
Many conservatives in our country laugh at that. They say, “How could little
human beings destroy this great big earth?” The answer is one little niche
at a time. When I was a child the fisherman in the stream where I lived
often killed suckers and cursed them as they did so. They did not realize
that the suckers kept the waters clean and free from algae which would kill
the other more particular feeding fish. Today, compared to yesterday, the
stream has no suckers and few of any other kind of fish that are more sought
after; yes all environmental destruction is sin.
I salute, as a follower of Christ, all the people who cry out for those
animals that cannot speak for themselves. To human beings who now consider
the animal’s territory a place free for the taking and the animals a free
meal, I say what God says, “Whatsoever you have done to the least of these,
my brethren, you have done it unto me.” The human invaders and destroyers
of the Rain Forest pay no attention to how quickly it all can disappear.
Twenty thousand square miles vanish every year which equals 12 million
acres. Much of this land is turned into ranch land where many tons of beef,
pork and other domestic animals are sold to places like US restaurants.
The Amazon supports nearly 3,000 edible fruits and countless wild vegetables
that could be improved by simple cultivation. How many varieties of fruit
trees and nut trees did God plant in the Garden of God? One of God’s very
next actions will be to call upon the inhabitants of the earth who know Him
to restore the earth and where will you find the seeds and the scions to
accomplish this task? There is no need on the planet to kill God’s creatures
when we can have dishes that have never been explored yet of raw food which
is much better for the human body us.
While we in the US are abusing our forests by cutting some of them far too
frequently, we do still maintain some examples of unspoiled creation,
although one has to seek for them. No one can produce the variety of birds
and animals that your countries nourish. Is it right to eliminate them? Your
environmentalists can even write to our country and protest their violations
of the earth God made for the pleasure of His Son, Jesus Christ. This
scripture tells us that it was created for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11)
not for us destroying it to make a few dollars. Christ said, “We would be
glorified or (manifested as His true sons) if we first, suffered, with Him.
We don’t need to live high on the hog or tapir in order to be blessed. We
can do all our things with love (1Corinthians 16:14), like not killing other
creatures and still be very blessed. I do not wish to only lift up the name
of Chico Mendes who sounds like a great man, but I must exalt the name of
Jesus Christ who is coming quickly and His reward is with Him.
As a follower of Christ, I want to embrace every one of the many
environmentalists who have given their life to protect what God asked us to
protect; His biodiversity; His individual species and His garden along with
His animals and the people He created. If I could I would tell you how much
the church appreciates and values your willingness to pursue the love of
those things which God has made instead of money, for the “Love of money is
the root of all evil.” Which some, chasing, have found themselves in
destruction and perdition. The church salutes you, embraces you and corrects
those who ask what does environmentalism have to do with the church? To you,
men of the cloth who don’t know that God absolutely values His creation and
His creatures, I would ask you to go deeper into your Bible, study Genesis
2:15. The words “dress and keep” are restored, if we are restored. Look and
see all the meanings these two words which are “Abad and Shamar” in the
Hebrew and you might begin to understand why God should destroy all those
who destroy the earth. “If you don’t study the Word of God, you can never
be approved of God.” (2Timothy 2:15) Our sins in the US have reached
unto Heaven. Act immediately and pray that yours don’t.
