[at-l] AT on FOXnews

[bullard@northnet.org (James Bullard)]

At 06:42 PM 8/29/01 -0700, Orange Bug wrote:
>I think it may be even more complex, as the European settlers were
>accepting ownership of the land as a trust or grant from their
>government. The "divine rights of Kings" established distant owners in
>fact of all within their domain -- who made claimed lands as gifts and
>entitlements from God to establish dominion under their crown.

And the foundation of the King's dominion rested on Christian 
interpretation of the Biblical passage where God gave Man dominion over the 
Earth and all the creatures therein.  Under that interpretation Man had the 
God Given Right to use the Earth for his own purposes.  Add to that the 
economic philosophy of capitalism that came along with the industrial 
revolution and you get "property rights".  It's a shame that the notion of 
stewardship took a back seat in the whole process of arriving where we are 
today.  If it had been a cornerstone of our attitude toward the land we 
probably wouldn't need the intervention of government to preserve wild areas.

sAunTerer