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A roundtable panel discussion titled “Caring For Creation” will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, July 22, in conjunction with Mountain Wildlife and Wilderness Days at Sapphire Valley Resort.

Cashiers resident John Edwards still fumes when he recalls how a developer cut more than 100 trees from the mountainside above his home, a woodsy grove where he once walked his dog daily.

“He left absolutely no living thing on the lot, no mountain laurel, no rhododendron. It is a gross abuse of God’s creation,” Edwards said. “Natural resources are to be used but they are to be used wisely and replenished when possible and protected from abuse.”

Edwards — both a conservative and a Christian — is breaking the mold that increasingly pairs “environment” with “liberal” and “moral” with “conservative.”

The stereotype, coupled with an increasingly sharp division between the left and the right, has made environmentalism and morality appear mutually exclusive, each term having been hijacked by feuding political parties. But it is a dichotomy Edwards is unwilling to accept.

“The concept is there that it is a left or right situation,” said Edwards. “I’m not politically active. I’m just active from a moral and spiritual standpoint.”

Steve Kerhoulas, the pastor at Community Bible Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Highlands, said environmentalism appears in the scriptures going all the way back to the creation story where God tells Adam and Eve to rule over the creatures and earth He has created.

“He says to them basically, ‘I have created you and I want you to oversee the fish and the animals and so on. So environmentalist is a word that God gives to them at the very beginning of the creation account,” Kerhoulas said

Kerhoulas said the task God gave humans — to be the overseers of creation — is the theological foundation for environmentalism. But society today is taking this responsibility too lightly, he said.

“God is the owner of the earth and we are the stewards of what God has created, and it is incumbent on us to be good stewards. I think we have been poor stewards of the environment and we need to understand we are accountable,” Kerhoulas said. Kerhoulas said environmental stewardship is also about respecting another’s property and taking care of your home, planet earth.

Bill Denton, president of the fellowship of Universalist Unitarian Church in Franklin, points to the story of Noah as another Biblical foundation for environmental stewardship. God instructed Noah to take two of every species on the arc to save them from destruction.

“We are here on this planet. It is the only one we have, and we have a responsibility to protect and keep it beautiful and think about the generations that come after us,” Denton said.

Denton’s church has recently become an accredited “Green Sanctuary,” an initiative of the Unitarian Church that encourages congregations to be good environmental stewards. The Franklin church is the only accredited Green Sanctuary in WNC.

The church turned its two-acre grounds into a wildlife habitat with a bird and butterfly garden and other native plantings beneficial to wildlife. They have a rack of brochures and flyers inside the church that provide members with tips on energy conservation measures and a special column in their church newsletter to offer environmental tips.

When they have potlucks, they bring their own plates and cups instead of using paper or Styrofoam or plastic. And they turn off hot water during week.

“The larger purpose of the Green Sanctuary initiative is to make people more sensitive to environmental issues, to make people think about improving energy conservation procedures they might use in their homes as well,” Denton said. “I think the point is a sensitizing measure.”

Denton said several church members have hybrid vehicles to help reduce global warming.

The movement of merging Christian morals and environmentalism is not happening just in WNC.

“Religious concern for the environment is steadily growing and causing greater attention to the environment as a religious issue,” said Fred Krueger with the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation based in California. “The churches do not see this as a liberal issue. They see it first as an issue of moral responsibility.”

Kruger cited a Cornell University study by Gregory Hitzhausen that shows religion is not only undergoing a “greening,” but as it sees the wider scope of its responsibilities, it is promoting action on a range of environmental issues.

Churches in West Virginia are teaming up with established environmentalists to stop mining practices that remove mountaintops. Meanwhile, evangelicals are becoming involved in issues surrounding climate change, Kruger said.

“The churches, when they get organized, can confront even the biggest corporations and turn public and legislative attitudes around,” Kruger said.

Edwards hopes to explore these ideas in a roundtable panel discussion titled “Caring For Creation” that will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 22, in conjunction with Mountain Wildlife and Wilderness Days at Sapphire Valley Resort.

“It is designed to encourage people of religious faith to better recognize and share with others the moral and spiritual value of protecting God’s creation,” Edwards said.

Panel members include N.C. Sen. John Snow, D-Murphy; Steve Kerhoulas of the Highlands Community Bible Church; David Beam of Cashiers United Methodist Church; Dr. John Walker, a retired education professor from Clemson University and part-time Cashiers resident; Dr. Laura Higgins, a surgeon from Tennessee; and Bill Lea, a nature photographer and outdoor advocate.

Edwards said the audience will be invited to participate in the discussion, which could take numerous directions.

“Caring for Creation is not well defined. This will be an exploration. We hope it will be a start for some people,” said Edwards.