Why I Don't Celebrate Earth Day

I have to admit, the concept of celebrating Earth Day always struck me as sort of ridiculous. I have never been the hug-a-tree type, although I dont' go out of my way to litter or spray cans of aerosol into the air either. Recently, as I am wont to do, I've been trying to figure out what exactly it is that rubs me the wrong way about Earth Day and its various celebrations. While I really despise how everyone tries to shove it in your face and make you feel like some horrible person if you throw a piece of paper in the garbage rather than recycle or forget to turn out a light if you leave the room (and GOD-FORBID you forget to turn out a fluorescent rather than CFL!), and I really get annoyed by all the energy companies pretending to have a conscience apart from turning a profit, which dang it all is what I want to see in my for-profit companies, and it's not simply because I despise the obvious political agenda or valuing EVERYTHING above human life, I've discovered that actually, what really turns me off is the anthropomorphizing of the earth. The earth is not a mother, it does not sustain us all, and it is not going to die because someone in the Midwest (or more likely South) uses hairspray excessively.

This is what really bothers me about Earth Day in all its forms - it takes the focus off the Creator, who is actually our sustainer, not Mother Earth. Now I imagine some Christian group out there has already ripped it off and is celebrating Creation Day rather than Earth Day (which bothers me more, quite honestly - we as Christians don't need to provide alternatives for worldly holidays, we have the upper hand on holidays both in celebration and meaning!), but still, why would we celebrate creation rather than the Creator? I did a little impromptu Bible study on www.blueletterbible.org, and was reminded that God created the earth, and while the Earth is the Lord's and always will be, He made it for us! Yes, we are supposed to be its stewards and take care of what we have been given, so I don't have a problem with recycling or trying to find alternative energy sources. However, we use oil because it is here and it works, and shouldn't we consider that God put it here for our benefit? And, if the earth is the Lords, shouldn't we be relying on Him to sustain it, not us? The end of the earth will be at His whim, not ours, and how arrogant of us to think we can do anything to prevent His will from being carried out. So instead of focusing on creation I think we should direct our attention towards the Creator, and thank Him profusely for allowing us whatever time He has allotted for us on this amazing planet that He is allowing us to inhabit.