Earth Day - Climate Change and Catholic Church

[gam197]

Earth Day(April 22) has replaced Patriots day; this was a 750 word article in newspaper.

Keep God in mind on Earth Day, group says

"The teaming up of religion and environmentalism isn’t new, Shockley said, and noted that King Solomon was an avid conservationist with an “encyclopedic knowledge of God’s creation.”

Congregation across the country have begun adopting strategies for going green.

This week, the Catholic Church will launch the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor, an initiative designed to help members of Catholic parishes focus on climate change and poverty.

The Evangelical Christian community embraced a program called “What would Jesus drive?” to call attention to the impact individuals cars have on the environment and the Jewish congregations have adopted the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs through the program called “How many Jews does it take to change a lightbulb?”

catholicsandclimatechange.org/coalition_activities/covenant.html

I hope this is a small time event but I think it being promoted in many faiths. I heard a radio host say his child brought home a pledge to buy 5 bulbs.

Shockley is executive for the National Religious Partnership for the Environment; here is the web page and yes, the USCCB is on it.

nrpe.org/

 

[Michaelo]

I hope this is a small time event…

And why is that?

 

[Holly3278]

Earth day is a good thing and I think we should all be reminded of what the Church teaches as far as us being stewards of God’s creation goes:

**373 **In God’s plan man and woman have the vocation of “subduing” the earth as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the Creator “who loves everything that exists”, to share in his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them.

**339 **Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each one of the works of the “six days” it is said: “And God saw that it was good.” “By the very nature of creation, material being is endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws.” Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.

 

[gam197]

The** United States Catholic Conference of Bishops** should not be promoting climate change agenda.

Earth Day, Part I: The History
April 17, 2009
Suzanne Heibel--HispanicBusiness.com

Rachel Carson is a main catalyst for the inception of Earth Day, and it’s high time you knew the name, if you didn’t already. Time Magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th Century…

In her famous and perhaps infamous 1962 book Silent Spring, Carson exposed the beastly effects that DDT and other pesticides had on all branches of an ecosystem. …

**The Politician:
Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson was as progressive as they came. His fight for safe birth control in 1970 prompted the national governmental dispute to be dubbed “The Nelson Pill Hearings.”…
**
Nelson urged President John F. Kennedy to let the people know the importance of environmental protection. …

In September 1969, exactly six years after JFK first embarked on his nationwide eco-journey, Nelson announced in Seattle that in spring of 1970 there would be a day to commemorate the earth.
hispanicbusiness.com/entertainment/2009/4/17/earth_day_part_i_the_history.htm

Population control was in most of our public school classes during the 1960’s well before Earth day.
Earth day to me is just an extension, too many people causing carbon footprints and climate change and I don’t think the catholic church should be involved.

 

[BartBurk]

Strict environmentalism will hurt the poor and middle class by limiting their employment opportunities and making food and other necessities more expensive. That this is being done in support of the hoax called “global warming” is appalling. I saw a report the other day which showed that two jobs would be lost for every job created if a so-called green economy were implemented. I’m all for clean water, clean air, etc., but you can go overboard in anything. The idea that people can co-exist with a pristine environment is simply an error – if you want to continue to have people on the planet there will be pollution. We exhale carbon dioxide every time we breathe!

 

[Malkin71]

And why is that?

Because we are on the stage to worship the Earth. Earth is first God is second. I was in elementary school in the 70’s. we were told that the Rain forest would be elimated by the end of the century. The majority of the children that grew up in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s are conviced that the earth is warming up? Denver had a good snowstorm recently. I am more concerned that the church should worry about Pro Life and the Priest shortage and the lack of Faith instead of Earth Day!.

PS 1st Global Cooling, next Global Warming, now its Climate Change? What is it? This is confusion!

 

[Michaelo]

Because we are on the stage to worship the Earth. Earth is first God is second.

This is definitely not the implication of Earth Day.

I am more concerned that the church should worry about Pro Life and the Priest shortage and the lack of Faith instead of Earth Day!.

Or, the Church can address all these issues.

 

[Malkin71]

This is definitely not the implication of Earth Day.

It has gotton to be. Almost everwhere "Being green is being the norm. If you do not follow their agenda you are a polluter or you do not care for the environment. There are sceintists who have the complete opposite findings of the ones who are shouting out doom.

Did all the scientists who are warning us about Global warming factor in the sunspots from the sun. There is a report that compares sunspot activity to the earths tempature. Also would you rather have Global Warming or Global Cooling? There also a report that we are heading into Global cooling.

Or, the Church can address all these issues.

I think protecting defenseless babies and the faith of the church are more important. In my own opinion.

 

[Michaelo]

It has gotton to be. Almost everwhere "Being green is being the norm. If you do not follow their agenda you are a polluter or you do not care for the environment.

I think many of the criticisms of mainstream environmentalists are largely hyperbole.

Did all the scientists who are warning us about Global warming factor in the sunspots from the sun. There is a report that compares sunspot activity to the earths tempature. Also would you rather have Global Warming or Global Cooling? There also a report that we are heading into Global cooling.

Been there. Done that. I’d rather not start debating climate change again.

I think protecting defenseless babies and the faith of the church are more important. In my own opinion.

Catholics are capable of solving numerous problems that exist in our world today, regardless of how they rank in importance.

 

[tuviskazinai]

Strict environmentalism will hurt the poor and middle class by limiting their employment opportunities and making food and other necessities more expensive. That this is being done in support of the hoax called “global warming” is appalling. I saw a report the other day which showed that two jobs would be lost for every job created if a so-called green economy were implemented. I’m all for clean water, clean air, etc., but you can go overboard in anything. The idea that people can co-exist with a pristine environment is simply an error – if you want to continue to have people on the planet there will be pollution. We exhale carbon dioxide every time we breathe!

I will pass over the question of whether global warming is a hoax, since that’s an issue for another thread. But I think you’re right to point out the risks (I would call them “sacrifices”) that conservation will entail, as well as the danger that these sacrifices will fall unfairly on the shoulders of the poor. I think that’s one of the reasons the Church’s voice on these issues is so important. The Church is highly cognizant of the injustice of economic inequality and its role in all this, and is one of the most vocal members of the dialogue when it comes to protecting the disadvantaged. Saw this, for example, just today:

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901812.htm

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[tuviskazinai]

Because we are on the stage to worship the Earth. Earth is first God is second.

I think that this is a risk if it begins to look like an either-or alternative. You are definitely right that many people who find the idea of God too restrictive of their liberty find various New Age, Eastern, and nature-based spiritual practices less demanding, and this is too bad. But many people also leave the Church because they feel they feel it is a one-issue institution (abortion) that neglects other important issues. If we are visible and vocal in the debate on climate change, then I think it can only help the Church’s image, and this is important…it shows that no topic of moral concern is beneath or outside of the Church’s care.

I was in elementary school in the 70’s. we were told that the Rain forest would be elimated by the end of the century.

Well, if the rain forest hasn’t been eliminated by now, it may be because people actually took heed of these warnings and did something about it! But even if the anti-deforestation predictions were somewhat off, the problem remains dire – in Africa, for example, where the rate of deforestation is twice the world’s average. So we still need to be extremely cautious. There is absolutely no room for doubt that 1) deforestation is bad and 2) deforestation continues!

PS 1st Global Cooling, next Global Warming, now its Climate Change? What is it? This is confusion!

There is definitely room for skepticism on any of these things, but most reputable scientists agree that something is going on, and it would be irresponsible to forget the whole issue simply because there isn’t any consensus yet.

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[tuviskazinai]

Just one more quick post, if you’ll indulge me!

As far as I can tell, you don’t need to believe in man-made global warming to believe that conservation is important. I will give one example of a natural phenomenon that threatens dire harm to millions of people: Africa is a drought-stricken continent that is already experiencing lethal water shortages. But a new study suggests that it could be on track for an epochal new drought, whether induced by mankind or not:

nytimes.com/2009/04/17/science/earth/17drought.html

The thing is, as important as it obviously is to prepare the region for such a possibility, if and when a deadly drought actually strikes, it will cause climate refugees of an unprecedented scale, and will therefore touch just about everywhere in the world. I cringe to quote Wikipedia, but it gives a basic idea as well as several links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_refugee

I think that the face of the earth and of human society will change a lot in the next century; it may be one of the crucial problems of our time. And unless we learn now to conserve, to recycle, to preserve and protect and share resources, we could be struck monstrously off guard when it does happen.

Don’t want to be an alarmist, but just food for thought!

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[gam197]

originally posted by tuviskazinai
I think that this is a risk if it begins to look like an either-or alternative. You are definitely right that many people who find the idea of God too restrictive of their liberty find various New Age, Eastern, and nature-based spiritual practices less demanding, and this is too bad. But many people also leave the Church because they feel they feel it is a one-issue institution (abortion) that neglects other important issues. If we are visible and vocal in the debate on climate change, then I think it can only help the Church’s image, and this is important…it shows that no topic of moral concern is beneath or outside of the Church’s care.

Margaret Mead…

"EARTH DAY is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.

A “holy” day in which they ring bells around the world. If this had actually been a real movement based solely on conservation and not one based also on population control as the** founder, Gaylord Nelson stated**, then the Catholic church promotion of this day wouldn’t bother me.

**“The bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become **… We have to address the population issue. The United Kingdom, with the U.S. supporting it, took the position in Cairo in 1994 that every country was responsible for stabilizing its own population.”

 

[tuviskazinai]

A “holy” day in which they ring bells around the world. If this had actually been a real movement based solely on conservation and not one based also on population control as the founder, Gaylord Nelson stated, then the Catholic church promotion of this day wouldn’t bother me.

**“The bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become **… We have to address the population issue. The United Kingdom, with the U.S. supporting it, took the position in Cairo in 1994 that every country was responsible for stabilizing its own population.”

I don’t think that the Catholic Church is “promoting” this day (much less the ideological statements of Nelson and Mead) so much as trying to steer the issues it raises into the direction that they need to go…so I don’t have much of a problem here. I do see where you are coming from, though, and you’re right that we need to bear in mind the danger of slipping towards forms of “population control.”

(That said, the fact that the world’s population is getting larger is beginning to pose a problem. I am not saying that the right response is contraception, abortion, eugenics, or family size policies, but we can’t turn a blind eye to the problem of increased pollution and diminishing resources. What we need is a moral response to the problem that Nelson is talking about – such as learning how to consume less and share resources. This is precisely what the Church is proposing, but it needs to get people’s attention. If we don’t take the opportunity to talk about these things now, while we still can, then I worry that we’ll reach a moment where resources are so strained that the only responses most secular governments will be able to think of are the eugenic ones – like in China. Needless to say, this is something we strenuously need to avoid, and if observing “Earth Day” is one way to draw attention to responsible solutions, then I am all for it.)

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[gam197]

originally posted** by tuviskazinai**
I don’t think that the Catholic Church is “promoting” this day (much less the ideological statements of Nelson and Mead) so much as trying to steer the issues it raises into the direction that they need to go…so I don’t have much of a problem here. I do see where you are coming from, though, and you’re right that we need to bear in mind the danger of slipping towards forms of “population control.”

(That said, the fact that the world’s population is getting larger is beginning to pose a problem. I am not saying that the right response is contraception, abortion, eugenics, or family size policies, but we can’t turn a blind eye to the problem of increased pollution and diminishing resources. What we need is a moral response to the problem that Nelson is talking about – such as learning how to consume less and share resources. This is precisely what the Church is proposing, but it needs to get people’s attention. If we don’t take the opportunity to talk about these things now, while we still can, then I worry that we’ll reach a moment where resources are so strained that the only responses most secular governments will be able to think of are the eugenic ones – like in China. Needless to say, this is something we strenuously need to avoid, and if observing “Earth Day” is one way to draw attention to responsible solutions, then I am all for it.)

The founder of Earth Day was a population zero zealot. If the founder of a group was David Duke, would it matter? That gives cause to question what is the real agenda of Earth Day. Yes, the church is promoting it if they allow news articles about USCCB participation, passing out St. Francis pledge cards at churches and talking about Earth Day in their schools.

Christians are called to be stewards of the earth. Let the churches do a homily about it but not near Earth Day.

 

[BobCatholic]

Modern Environmentalists are part of the culture of death. They believe in zero population growth, and some have even advocated killing off people to prevent the entire human race from being killed off by environmental causes. Some put the earth above people and that’s not good.

 

[Michaelo]

Not surprisingly, Glen Beck mocked Earth Day on his radio show:

The popular radio and TV host claimed to have a “forest manager” on his radio program who was calling in from the Cleveland area. The caller was tasked with clear-cutting a full acre of woodland for a deer-hunting property owner.

Explained Tim the woodsman, deer are very curious creatures. So if you cut down a bunch of trees, eventually they’ll come over to investigate and the property owner can blast them.

The idea of clear cutting woodland and shooting deer was almost too much for Beck to handle, especially on Earth Day.

“This is not only going to hack off all the environmentalists but all the PETA people, too,” he said.

“I need Barry White music,” he excitedly announced. “This is almost full-fledged light some candles, this is eroticism.”

After the roar of the chainsaw fired up, Beck was told that Tim the forest manager felled two trees specifically for him and his producer.

“I laid down an Aspen tree with Glenn’s name on it and an Aspen tree with Stu’s name on it,” Tim the woodsman announced. “So you are both involved.”

But Beck’s glee was short-lived. The Aspen trees were too puny he said.

“Don’t you have like a big huge oak or something?” Beck asked.

“No, no, we don’t cut oak. We cut Aspen and stuff like that and we leave behind the good stuff,” the woodsman replied.

When Tim announced he would cut down an American elm, however, Beck’s spirits were lifted.

“You go to Central Park, American Elms, those are a big deal because they are almost wiped out and everything else. So I mean, give me another Elm, just give me another American Elm,” Beck pleaded.

Wish received. Another elm was cut down.

features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/04/22/earth-day-glenn-beck-celebrates-by-cutting-down-trees/

 

[Calliso]

Not surprisingly, Glen Beck mocked Earth Day on his radio show:



features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/04/22/earth-day-glenn-beck-celebrates-by-cutting-down-trees/

That;s just sad and people say the enviromentalists are the ones off their rockers…

 

[tuviskazinai]

Modern Environmentalists are part of the culture of death. They believe in zero population growth, and some have even advocated killing off people to prevent the entire human race from being killed off by environmental causes. Some put the earth above people and that’s not good.

I think you’re right that zero population growth advocates are horribly misguided, and it’s good to have this reminder on Earth Day. Before Gam197 started this thread I hadn’t known anything about its history.

But I think that “modern environmentalists” is a bit of a generalization. I am certainly not for zero population growth, but I think it’s crucially necessary to protect the planet, whether one uses Earth Day as a vehicle for public awareness or not. Surely there is room for a responsible, reasonable position somewhere in between, no?

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[mpi]

Strict environmentalism will hurt the poor and middle class by limiting their employment opportunities and making food and other necessities more expensive. That this is being done in support of the hoax called “global warming” is appalling. I saw a report the other day which showed that two jobs would be lost for every job created if a so-called green economy were implemented. I’m all for clean water, clean air, etc., but you can go overboard in anything. The idea that people can co-exist with a pristine environment is simply an error – if you want to continue to have people on the planet there will be pollution. We exhale carbon dioxide every time we breathe!

Well said!

Reducing CO2 is NOT a Catholic doctrine. It is a doctrine of the misanthropic, anti-life left.