One of the most counterintuitive facts of life must be that others in one's own community, religion or line of work most easily rub us the wrong way (or, in the case of Iraq, do much worse). So it has been for environmentally-minded Christians in the U.S., trying to emphasize the importance of "creation stewardship" to mainstream evangelicals. The latter have, by and large, exhibited the sorts of attitudes that incensed Friedrich Nietzsche, among others: calling the created world good but acting with otherworldly disregard.

So it is something to read about the cultural shift that seems to be underway at Christian colleges and universities:

Integrating creation care with academics is a growing emphasis on Christian campuses around the country. According to Paul Corts, president of the interdenominational Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), about 40 of 105 North American member schools have adopted significant green initiatives.

And of course my heart swelled with pride on reading that my alma mater is leading the charge (perhaps that's the wrong metaphor since we ditched our old mascot, The Crusaders, but old habits die hard) of applying ideas about good stewardship and making them work in the professional and academic space:

In January, an environmental summit on the Wheaton College campus brought together Christian college students from all over the United States. "We need to cultivate younger leadership," says Wheaton College senior and environmental studies major Ben Lowe. "Rather than reinventing the wheel, we can share ideas, offer feedback, and cooperate with each other."

Roll Wheaton Thunder, roll.