Earth Day founder: Son of a preacher man

(McConnell with his Earth Day flag, 2006)

John McConnell, founder of the original Earth Day, was the son of a Pentecostal preacher.  According to his Denver Post obituary, both parents were "devout Evangelicals and traveling missionaries who lived out of their van."  They were also "early contributors to the founding of the Assemblies of God Church."  It was this upbringing that fostered his lifelong ideals

of Christian peace and love.

Wikipedia reports that he began his earth-friendly efforts way before it was fashionable to do so.  He had been involved with the manufacture of plastic back in 1939, and soon realized just how much of a pollutant it was.  During World War II, he favored the power of "love and prayer" over that of bombs.  After being drafted into the Army, he "rejected rifle training, saying he saw the face of Jesus on the target." He was also an early proponent of peaceful cooperation within space exploration.

McConnell drew ecological inspiration from such biblical passages as this one from Psalm 115:16 (NIV):  "…the earth he has given to mankind."  He was so moved when he first saw the earth's picture in Life magazine that he later replicated it on his Earth Day flag.  The flag that he created is still part of the annual spring-equinox Earth Day Ceremony at the United Nations.

This United Nations ceremony was proposed by McConnell in 1969 and has been going strong for the past 43 years.  Other "Earth Days" now exist, but these came afterwards.  Rather than insisting upon credit for being the first, McConnell "walked his talk" by peacefully coexisting with those that followed.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McConnell_(peace_activist)

http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_21871257/vagabond-youth-led-earth-day-founder-john-mcconnell?IADID=Search-www.denverpost.com-www.denverpost.com

Copyright April 21, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved