Kidnapping the Lorax Part 2

This week I read more of Kidnapping the Lorax, a story about a group of extreme environmentalists that kidnap the Secretary of the Interior in order to reeducate her on the value of protecting the environment (see earlier post for more background info). Thus far, I have been enjoying the novel because it contains a surprising mix of both humor and sincerity. Toward the middle of the novel though, the plot started to dull a bit to me. After all, how exciting can the story of four people frolicking in the middle of a deserted forest be? However, there was one conversation the characters had while sitting around the campfire that caught my attention.

One of the characters, Walden, is a typical troublemaker. He likes to stir emotion in people, make others angry, and start arguments. One night, for no particular reason other than to start a dispute, he decides it would be a good idea to criticize the other characters’ value in religion, arguing that religion is one of the primary reasons for environmental degradation. It sounds a bit far fetched at first, but listen to his argument:

“It’s religion that’s gotten the planet into this environmental crisis. ‘Multiply and have dominion over the earth’ -  that’s exactly the problem. There are too many people – which are the cause of pollution, over-use of resources, you-name-it – and they think they can rule the earth.”

An interesting argument, no? Whether you agree with him or not, its definitely food for thought. The fact that the world is too overpopulated is definitely one of the main reasons for environmental destruction. To support the seven billion people on earth, we need to cut down a lot of trees, over pump a lot of underground water sources, and slaughter a lot of animals to feed everyone. The question is though, is religion one of the driving forces of human stewardship of the land?

The Secretary of the Interior disagrees. She even counters that Walden’s set of idealistic tree-hugging values is a religion in itself. He claims that he “believes in planet earth, the mother almighty.” Does he worship planet earth? His commitment to it has encouraged him to break the law and lead a kidnapping.  He is willing to die in the wilderness in order to prove his point that nature is worth protecting.

In fact, his “religion” is based off of fear. While some people may practice a religion because of their fear of hell, he respects the land because of an accident that happened when he was a child. When he and his brother were fooling around, trying to push an enormous boulder off a cliff, the boulder fell on the brother, crushing him and killing him instantly. This accident left an impression on Walden – that if you mess with mother nature, there will be consequences. Is it possible to go so far to say that his adoration for nature is based upon fear of retribution? This is one of the many parallels drawn between religion and extreme environmentalism in the novel. Though I personally don’t quite agree with either of the arguments, the evidence they use to support their arguments is quite fascinating.