V&M 3- Stewardship

first i want to say I am disappointed by the number of responses to my proposed contest. this means either:
1) only Amanda reads my blog
2) only Amanda will admit she reads my blog
3) only Amanda has any real interest in trying teff....i love you manda!
one week to posts your comments!

So moving past the word of wisdom I would like discuss the issue of stewardship. When Adam left the garden of Eden, he became a steward over the whole Earth, this stewardship did not imply control or dominance, but rather care and responsibility. Hugh Nibley wrote a great article entitled "Man's dominion" here are some excerpts, though I encourage you to read the whole thing.

Man's dominion is a call to service, not a license to exterminate. It is precisely because men now prey upon each other and shed the blood and waste the flesh of other creatures without need that "the world lieth in sin"

we are answerable for them: "The Lord will not judge a single animal for its treatment of man, but He will adjudge the souls of men towards their beasts in this world, for men have a special place."

"Always keep in view," Brigham Young exhorts us, "that the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms—the earth and its fulness—will all, except the children of men, abide their creation—the law by which they were made, and will receive their exaltation."²⁸ We are all going to move together into the eternities, and even now look forward to "heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; . . . the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created" (D&C 77:2). What an admonition to proceed with reverence and care! It is only because the Latter-day Saints are ignorant of these things, according to President Young, that God has not already cursed them for their brutal and callous treatment of God's other creatures.

And there's more from other leaders:

"Blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood of every beast will I require at your hands" (JST Gen. 9:11).

"I exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind during our journey unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger" (Joseph Smith)
"Kindness to the whole animal creation and especially to all domestic animals is not only a virtue that should be developed, but is the absolute duty of mankind ... It as an unrighteous thing to treat any animal cruelly" (Joseph F. Smith)

President Joseph F. Smith said, "We are a part of life and should study carefully our relationship to it. We should be in sympathy with it, and not allow our prejudices to create a desire for its destruction. The unnecessary destruction of life begets a spirit of destruction which grows within the soul. It lives by what it feeds upon and robs man of the love that he should have for the works of God. It hardens the heart of man... The unnecessary destruction of life is a distinct spiritual loss to the human family. Men cannot worship the Creator and look with careless indifference upon his creation. The love of all life helps man to the enjoyment of a better life. ...Love of nature is akin to the love of God, the two are inseparable." (Juvenile Instructor, April 1918, p. 182-3)

Now you may say, I eat chicken nuggies, I buy my meat the supermercado, I don't hunt, so how do my habits reflect unrighteous dominion? Your actions might not, but your dollars do. If you have any interest in knowing what happens to the animals you eat, you may watch the video below. If you are prone to vomiting, watch on an empty stomach. Hey, its narrated by Alec Baldwin!

Is this treating God's creations with respect and righteous dominion?