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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Earth Day is crap |
| 2007-04-20 |
| Kathy Shaidle Did your children celebrate Lenin's birthday in school last week? Don't answer "no" right away. The first Earth Day "teach-in" was celebrated on April 22, 1970, to protest the Vietnam War, pollution, and littering -- and to commemorate what would have been the 100th birthday of one of history's most notorious villains. As the father of communism, the deaths of tens of millions of people can be laid at that Soviet dictator's doorstep. That now forgotten fact about Earth Day's origins should place your child's sudden enthusiasm for recycling, saving the panda bears and energy efficient light bulbs in a new, well, light. Like the Marxist philosophy that inspired it, today's environmental movement has become, for its most ardent proponents, an ersatz religion. As Joseph Brean recently observed, "in its myths of the Fall and the Apocalypse, its saints and heretics, its iconography and tithing, its reliance on prophecy, even its schisms -- the green movement now exhibits the same psychology of compliance as religion." In a widely disseminated 2003 speech, Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton called environmentalism "the religion of choice for urban atheists" and "a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths." Catholics should be concerned. Next time you hear about the latest sacrifices being demanded of us by environmentalists and their friends in politics and show biz (who rarely practice what they preach ) don't just shrug and say "What harm could it do?" "What harm could it do" is most assuredly NOT the standard by which Catholics are called to live. Assuredly, Christians are compelled by their Creator to be good stewards of the earth; the very first book of the Bible makes that clear. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: "The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religions respect for the integrity of creation." (#2415) For radical environmentalists, though, "dominion" is a bad word. Catholic teachings that equate care of the earth with the right to private property go against everything they believe. You see, environmentalists hail mostly from wealthy First World nations. They're really concerned less with "saving the planet" than assuaging their guilt about their own relative affluence. They do this through the "ritual" of recycling, buying carbon offset "indulgences" and following other environmental "commandments." Recently Cardinal Pell of Australia was asked to comment on fellow Cardinal Giacomo Biffi's controversial declaration that the coming Anti-Christ would be a "pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist." Pell responded that "there are some forms of deep-green ecology that are deeply pagan and deeply hostile to the special and central place of human beings and especially to Christianity. But as Christians, we must have a reverence for nature." However, the media "have been warning us of global warming, and that's alternated with warnings of the coming ice age. There have been gigantic climatic changes in the past and I think almost entirely they're beyond human control." "You see," Pell added wisely, "people without religion are often looking for something to fear." That millions may fall prey to a seductive New Age faith that seems based on good intentions (and "irrefutable science" that seems to change weekly) is a much greater danger than the remote possibility that polar bears are doomed to extinction. (As a matter of fact, and contrary to mainstream news reports, their numbers have increased, not decreased, in the past few years...) Your child's immortal soul is infinitely more important than the size of his "carbon footprint", or yours. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #9 No backbones, Frank? Or essentially jellyfish? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-20 23:34 |
| #8 no it's cool. I fertilized three trees with environmentalists....didn't work: looked like a potassium/calcium shortage |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-20 19:59 |
| #7 I thought Arbor Day was the all the ships came sailing into the 'Arbor. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-04-20 19:46 |
| #6 bring back Arbor Day - what Earth Day used to be... but then i guess that was just too stodgy for the Earth Day folks. (shrug) Oh well, their steer manure still makes good fertilizer, and the trees i raise on my patio can't tell the difference! |
| Posted by: Querent 2007-04-20 13:10 |
| #5 The environmental movement is a luxury movement. It is the product of idle minds who can afford to deal in bullshit rather than have to fight on a daily basis for their very existence. One major war, pandemic or worldwide depression will take this shit off the rails pronto. Until then we are going to be forced to call it the crap it is. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2007-04-20 12:11 |
| #4 Earth Day is crap I like it. Clear, concise, to the point in just four words... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-04-20 11:06 |
| #3 There is no God but Gaia, and Gore is her prophet! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-04-20 10:55 |
| #2 the last linky: http://www.verdant.net/rad.htm |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-04-20 10:00 |
| #1 "They're really concerned less with "saving the planet" than assuaging their guilt about their own relative affluence." Is this opinion piece over the top? Consider this. The dogma of Environmental fringe groups, represented by the “Green” political party, is based on “Anti-Consumerism”. Make no mistake; this is code for “Anti-Capitalism”. In recent years they have made a concerted effort to interchange the word “Conservationist” with “Environmentalist”. It is their attempt to blur the lines of those that believe humans have a responsibility to be stewards of the environment and those that insist that “Mother Earth” bestows “rights” to humans, flora, and fauna equally. This Marxist ideology assigns guilt to those that believe in private property ownership and personal responsibility. In their mind, their visions will only come to fruition when traditional values are broken and replaced by a Government run Utopia. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-04-20 09:54 |