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A grave error today is an inordinate focus upon - and misunderstanding of - physical evils. Sin leads to physical evils. Recall that physical evil entered the world through Adam's Original Sin. God is also NOT an 'environmentalist.' He does use natural disasters to punish sinful men. Occultists and atheists often worship the cosmos, perceiving nature as an animate 'living being' and are easily aroused over environmental issues. Christians know that the human person sums up all the best qualities of the world - and more. Man is the world in miniature. Thus, one single human is worth more than all material creation. As the universe was made to serve man, so man is made to serve God. The real problem of the environment is on the inside of man! Yet as man abandons God, plagues and natural disasters will increase. If we want to conquer natural physical evils, we must convert sinful man first. All the saints teach us this, from Joshua in the Old Testament who stopped the sun's movement to St. Francis commanding the wolf, to St. Gregory and St. Catherine calling off plagues. Man working in obedience to God has power over the created world - even over deadly diseases. For man is meant to dominate creation in a virtuous and orderly way, and creation is meant to help bring man to God.