An "Eleventh Commandment"
When in Palestine in 1939, I pondered the problems of the use of the land through the
ages. I wondered if Moses, when he was inspired to deliver the Ten Commandments to the
Israelites in the Desert to establish man's relationship his Creator and his fellow men-if
Moses had foreseen what was to become of the Promised Land after 3,000 years and what was
to become of hundreds of millions of acres of once good lands such as I have seen in
China, Korea, North Africa, the Near East, and in our own fair land of America--if Moses
had foreseen what suicidal agriculture would do to the land of the holy earth--might not
have been inspired to deliver another Commandment to establish man's relation to the earth
and to complete man's trinity of responsibilities to his Creator, to his fellow men, and
to the holy earth. When invited to broadcast a talk on soil conservation in Jerusalem
in June 1939, I gave for the first time what has been called an "Eleventh
Commandment," as follows:
| Thou shalt inherit the Holy Earth as a faithful steward, conserving its resources and
productivity from generation to generation. Thou shalt safeguard thy fields from soil
erosion, thy living waters from drying up, thy forests from desolation, and protect thy
hills from over-grazing by thy herds, that thy descendants may have abundance forever. If
any shall fail in this stewardship of the land thy fruitful fields shall become sterile
stony ground and wasting gullies, and thy descendants shall decrease and live in poverty
or perish from off the face of the earth. |
issued August 1953
Slightly edited August 1975
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Gvmt Printing
Office
Washington 25, D.C.-Price 45 cents
Stock Number 001-000-03446-4 30
To Top
|
