To hunt or not to hunt? That question is pondered each fall by many Utahns in the weeks preceding the annual deer hunting season, the state's largest hunting event. And many look to their churches for guidance.
The over-riding message from Utah clerics focuses on the need to be "wise stewards" and to "avoid wanton killing for the sake of pleasure." There is no outward call to end the sport.
The nine-day deer rifle hunt begins in Utah Saturday, Oct. 21. Over the years the hunt has attracted an average of 70,000 hunters each season. Add the archery and muzzleloader deer hunts, and there are some 97,000 deer hunters in the state each year. The duck and pheasant hunting seasons are also popular pastimes.
The response of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which promotes a vegetarian lifestyle, is typical of most local denominations.
Pastor Rowland Nwosu of the Central Seventh-Day Adventist congregation in Salt Lake City, says the church guidelines emphasize honoring God's creatures but do not specifically prohibit hunting.
"We don't have an official position," he said, explaining hunters shouldn't be cruel and noting that hunting can provide useful food for man.
He said hunting is more of a cultural thing, and the church believes in proper herd management for game.
Still, Pastor Nwosu said the church doesn't encourage deer hunting because of its vegetarian emphasis.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Utah's dominant denomination, also lacks an official policy on hunting, but church leaders in the past have offered extensive guidelines on the sport.
The most recent was by President Spencer W. Kimball in an October 1978 General Conference talk. There, he quoted the advice of previous church leaders — Joseph Smith and Joseph F. Smith — as being against the unnecessary killing of animals.
"I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he needs them for food . . . I think it is wicked for men to thirst in their souls to kill almost everything which possesses animal life," President Joseph F. Smith stated in "Gospel Doctrine," a book published in 1939.
"I exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind during our journey unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger," President Smith stated in his "History of the Church."
President Kimball's advice focused on the wanton killing of birds outside of a hunting season.
In a statement in the LDS Church News of Oct. 7, 1978, President Kimball , "The decision to hunt and fish, under appropriate regulations, is left to the discretion of the individual. However, many clear guidelines have been supplied to assist those who may be involved in such activities. These guidelines are designed to stop the unnecessary and wasteful slaughter of animals and birds, not to define public policy on predator control and game management."
An unofficial Web site on LDS Church beliefs www.mormons.org/daily/hunting.htm lists many of the hunting guideline from leaders.
The Jehovah's Witnesses say the Bible does not speak against hunting, and there is no reason to judge others. However, it advises hunters to have their priorities in order — not to hunt when they should be attending church and not to love hunting more than God.
Rev. Karen Winkle of Bountiful Community Church, which is affiliated with the United Church of Christ, agrees that stewardship should be the primary focus.
"How can we approach that in a way that honors our place in creation?" she asked. "There's a place for hunting. We just need to be thoughtful."
She advises against wasteful killing of animals.
Rev. Steven Epperson of the South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society agrees. If people decide to hunt, they need to be responsible.
"Don't waste it, trash it in any way," he said in reference to the animal kingdom.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com