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Environmental stewardship is a perennial divine command

Environmental stewardship is a perennial divine command

Last updated on: August 17, 2026 at 10:42 am by Dan Peterson

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Environmental stewardship is a perennial divine command 2026-08-17T10:42:17-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

DHO, GLS, and DCP, three of the attendees at the premiere of the Interpreter Foundation’s dramatic film Six Days in August back in 2024, shown chatting outside the theater just prior to the beginning of the program.

I occasionally encounter the criticism that my involvement and that of others in “apologetics” and in public advocacy and defense of the Restoration and of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is illegitimate because we haven’t been appointed or ordained by the Church to act as we are. This has always struck me as, to say the least of it, an odd complaint, because I’ve never imagined that I needed an official calling from Church leaders to speak or to write. Latter-day Saints don’t have the idea of an imprimatur, and it has never occurred to me to seek such an endorsement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nor would or should the Church grant or even offer such an endorsement:

For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned. (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-29)

(Incidentally, just to be clear: I’ve searched my conscience and I think that I can honestly say that neither fear of damnation nor greed for heavenly brownie points plays any motivating role in my commitment to arguing for the claims of the Kingdom or seeking to counter accusations against it.)

“Every member is a missionary,” President David O. McKay famously taught. So the commandment to commend and defend the doctrines of Christianity and of the Restoration is already in place. “Preach the word,” the apostle Paul counseled Timothy, “be instant in season, out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). And part of missionary work and of preaching the Gospel is, quite obviously, answering questions and providing grounds for belief:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer [apologian] to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)

But, again, we don’t need permission from the Church or its leaders to write or to speak. Why on earth would we? Have they ever even claimed authority to permit or to forbid people, in general, from speaking or writing?

That said, I hasten to add that the Interpreter Foundation has an excellent relationship with the Church and its leaders, as do I personally. I don’t mean to suggest that President Dallin H. Oaks and I do lunch every Wednesday or that we consult with the General Authorities and General Officers of the Church before the publication of every article. But they’re friendly and, in numerous specific ways, they’ve been very helpful.

My first official portrait as president of the Interpreter Foundation (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) was deemed to be possibly off-putting to potential donors. I fought for it, of course, as revealing my true inner essence, but I finally allowed myself to be overruled.

It scarcely needs to be pointed out that I’m a far more despicable person than Darth Vader. A few days ago, in fact, my life was summarized with entirely unearned charity by the poster who goes by something like Everybody’s WC, who ranks among the foremost scholars of my biography and my writings on the Peterson Obsession Board. Of me, EWC said, I’m

already on borrowed time as it is, so why stop now? I say keep the endless parade of greasy burgers, meat pizzas, and milkshakes coming until his heart finally hits the emergency brake. [Peterson] should indulge while he can before fading into oblivion, leaving behind a truly unforgettable legacy of fraud, plagiarism, and hate.

Candidly, I’m not sure that I can count him as a genuine fan of mine. (What do you think?) In another comment, written in response to our having just celebrated our fourteenth birthday, he offers a retrospective on the Interpreter Foundation:

For 14 years, the Interpreter has pumped out poorly edited and unhinged fanfiction. Relying on Olympic level mental gymnastics to defend ridiculous, impossible narratives that even mainstream believers find embarrassing. Congratulations to the Interpreter on cementing its legacy as the absolute gold standard of intellectual dishonesty and the sloppiest “peer-reviewed” rag in the entire Western Hemisphere.

And he’s not really a fan of this blog either, nor, for that matter, of you folks. About Sic et Non — from which, he observes, I’ve recently driven away the agnostic commenter “Axel Being Civil” — he remarks that

The blog has finally evolved into what it always aspired to be, an echo chamber visited only by a tiny claque of unhinged zealots. Proving, yet again, that folks, you really can’t make this stuff up.

But there’s still hope for me, I think. Last night, one of my second-generation units shared this: “Vader’s Redemption: The Imperial March in a Major Key”

Thomas Cole (1801-1848), “The Garden of Eden”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

“Church of Jesus Christ leaders call on Utah members to conserve water amid statewide drought: Conserving water and preserving God’s creations is a ‘sacred responsibility,’ the Utah Area Presidency wrote in a recent letter”

Biblically speaking, humans have been commanded from the very beginning to take care of the planet on which we live: “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). That responsibility is ongoing.

The Fukuoka Japan Temple, which was dedicated in 2000, is, I believe, the closest temple to Kumamoto. Both are located on the southwestern island of Kyushu. (LDS Media Library)

I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t close this blog entry by offering something from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™: “How the Church Is Supporting Those Affected by the Kumamoto Earthquake”

One can only pity the poor Japanese. They’ve recently had to deal with a massive magnitude 7.1 earthquake and now, as if that weren’t enough in and of itself, are obliged to cope with meddlesome religious do-gooders.

But I haven’t yet exhausted the Hitchens File. Nor am I likely to, because it’s effectively inexhaustible. Here, for instance, is still another Hitchens File item: “Mormon Wildfire Relief Expands to Spokane, Colville Tribal Communities”

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