How do I counter this Overpopulation argument?

[GEddie]

If you want to have a car or an airplane or a ship, then distillates and refined oil is superior to any other energy source.

While aircraft are hopeless without oil, it is possible to run cars, etc, on natural gas. The Texas state government runs it’s motor fleet on it (there being lots of gas in TX). The problem being that there isn’t enough gas to meet that general need for any very long time. I’d imagine that two generations after societies made that conversion, the people would start hearing about “peak gas.”

Coal might not work to power an airplane .

Actually, the German Luftwaffe had designs for aircraft that would burn powdered coal. Maybe it’s time to reexamine those blueprints.

In most cities, the older buildings … dating back to the 1920’s … STILL have active gas pipes for lighting, even though the gas lights are no longer used. But periodically, there is a “problem” and the gas company comes because somebody smells gas [which is artificially odorized to make it detectable] and it turns out that the ancient gas pipes for lighting are still there and still charged with gas under pressure and are leaking.

Hmmm… I wonder why the gasworks kept the gaslight lines active once the meters weren’t turning??

ICXC NIKA

 

[lynnvinc]

Here are my responses:

1. It is not so much overpopulation, but some people’s voracious and profligate consumption that is exhausting resources and polluting the earth. Americans consume far more than, say, Africans or Asians…altho some are striving to emulate us. We all need to rethink our lifestyles and do what we can to live within the Earth’s means. We need to live as Jesus would have us live (which would be well within Earth’s means), not rushing after things that we don’t need, especially things that harm us or our pocketbooks unnecessarily. We need to practice efficiency & conservation – reduce, reuse, recycle, buy recycled materials products, and opt for alt energy when feasible. On “Women of Grace” they are talking about not hording, but giving away all those things we don’t need.
2. More people need to go into religious life and take vows of celibacy. Again, this is going against our profligate lifestyle that focuses on self and pleasure. How can I put it – the spiritual benefits are so much greater than any materials benefits or pleasures in this earthly life.
3. There is the rhythm method, and “occasional abstinence make the heart grow fonder.” It is interesting that married Cheyenne, after having a child, would take vows of 7 or 14 years of abstinence so they could focus all their love and concern on their child. Can’t we practice the rhythm method a bit more, or are we so full of uncontrollable lust that’s impossible (I’ll not judge harshly here, since our food and environment are full of sythetic hormones that may be impacting our desires).
4. RE overpopulation harming the environment & the call for abortions: We are saving the earth for the future generations, and it makes no sense at all to abort children in order to save children.
5. Finally, while many conservatives tend to completely deny there are any environmental problems at all, I find that many liberals OTOH tend to blame overpopulation (such as in some African and Asian countries) for the problems. In BOTH cases conservatives and liberals are refusing to face up to their own responsibilities to do their part in reducing their harm to planet earth and to the creatures thereupon…including us humans.

BXVI has called on us to practice a human ecology in which we love and value each other and put people first. I’m thinking it is a “cycle of abuse” which may be the root cause of the environmental problems – people are not loved as children or adults, and they then go on to abuse the environment. As compensation for the love they have not gotten, they engage in profligacy, including sexual excesses and binging on things. Love must begin at home, and spread out to all. It’s sort of like in the airplane they ask you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, then on your children. Same way, we need to love people first, only then will people stop harming the earth and each other.

 

[tskrobacz]

Part of the problem is in our misinterpretation of Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Be fruitful - be productive in matters of the spirit allowing the will of God to be achieved in and through your life.
Multiply - Increase in understanding and knowledge
Replenish the earth - sustain the earth for all future generations
Have dominion - be good managers of all the earths creatures

Until we move away from the idea that God instructed us to continue populating the earth ad infinitum we have not correctly understood the “Great Charge”…the first words of God found in the Bible.

 

[lynnvinc]

Part of the problem is in our misinterpretation of Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Be fruitful - be productive in matters of the spirit allowing the will of God to be achieved in and through your life.
Multiply - Increase in understanding and knowledge
Replenish the earth - sustain the earth for all future generations
Have dominion - be good managers of all the earths creatures

Until we move away from the idea that God instructed us to continue populating the earth ad infinitum we have not correctly understood the “Great Charge”…the first words of God found in the Bible.

Beautiful interpretation, and God surely wanted us to interpret the Bible symbolically and metaphorically, as well as literally. And the saints do just that, such as St. John of the Cross in his ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL when discussing Moses and his ascent of Mt. Sinai:

When God ordered Moses to climb to the top of the mountain … He commanded Moses not only to ascend alone, and leave the children of Israel below, but to rule against the pasturing of beasts on the mountainside. [Ex. 34:3] The meaning is that a person ascending this mount of perfection to converse with God must not only renounce all things, by leaving them at the bottom, but also restrict his appetites (the beasts) from pasturing on the mountainside, on things which are not purely God. For in God, or in the state of perfection, all appetites cease.

And we could also interpret those beasts we are supposed to subdue and have dominion over in Genesis as the beasts within ourselves.

Ancient truth narratives are, in addition to being timeless commandments, explanations for the de facto world of the day and how it came to be that way with God’s help. So people had already been fruitful and taken dominion over the earth by then, by 4000 years ago or so.

But even if one does not agree, then certainly at least by 100 years ago we had been fruitful, multiplied and filled the earth. Mission accomplished.

Now we can look at God’s 2nd commandment (Gen 2:15): “Keep the Garden.” Oops, not only Adam but the rest of us have failed in that. And we went on to become Cains – killing our brothers and denying it…like the anthropogenic climate change deniers, who are so extremely busy spreading their views that lead to the killing of people and God’s other creatures. Cains on steroids. The Bible is an instructive mirror for us to peer into.

If we would just read the Bible more and be about subduing the beasts within us more, and be less focused on populating the earth and Saturday night dates, and killing people thru various means (which we deny or downplay), I’m sure that would be pleasing to God…

 

[mark_a]

Since this thread is still active, I thought the link below to be worth posting again:
overpopulationisamyth.com/

 

[Monte_RCMS]

Yup.

A repeat of a repeat of a repeat.

Here it is.

If humans were merely feral animals, then yup … under those conditions … dog eat dog, then we would be screwed.

But we are not feral animals. Even if a few of us act like it from time to time.

We are made in the image and likeness of God.

What does that mean?

It means that God is INFINITE … and while we are merely very extremely finite, we do have a portion [not a mathematical portion] of His infinity. So, we can “create” … [we really do not CREATE … but we come up with “innovative” ideas … even if some are schizophrenic … or appear to be.

So, God gave us some basic building blocks. After a couple of billion years, someone managed to think up a way of organizing them … The Periodic Table of Elements … and then combining them. And then extracting them. Aluminium went from rare to common because of this “creative ingenuity” “thing”. And someday, maybe somebody will even make “transparent aluminum”. Like on Star Trek.

The point is that even though the Earth appears to be “fixed in size” … we are able to come up with new ways of doing things … energy sources, food supplies,

AND, the Earth is not REALLY fixed in size because it is bombarded constantly by solar eruptions and cosmic rays … and who knows what else. So while the Earth is only 7000 miles in diameter, it draws resources from the entire cosmos. AND we have barely even begun to explore the Earth below the surface. And it’s not as fragile as some make it out to be … just take a look at all those volcanic eruptions. There was a whopper near Oregon … but no one saw it because it was under the ocean.

We are God’s people. And He gave us the “natural resources” [ever hear of that term?] and the tools to make this Planet work for us.

 

[lynnvinc]

So, we can “create” … [we really do not CREATE … but we come up with “innovative” ideas … even if some are schizophrenic … or appear to be…

The point is that even though the Earth appears to be “fixed in size” … we are able to come up with new ways of doing things … energy sources, food supplies,

…

We are God’s people. And He gave us the “natural resources” [ever hear of that term?] and the tools to make this Planet work for us.

In religious terms, it’s not so much “natural resources” (I really hate the term “human resources”…whatever happened to “personnel”?), as God’s creation.

I was talking about mountaintop removal (where the mountain is literally destroyed to get at the coal or other minerals, and the run-off is toxic to the people and wildlife who live nearby and down stream), and I asked someone if mountains might have rights, and they referred me to “God gave us the earth to use.” Then I thought, well, not just for our material use, but also for our spiritual use, and mountains are beautiful and inspire us to think of God.

Of course we need to dry our hair, etc, but as you said, we are very innovative by God’s good grace, and we can find plenty of solutions to live in harmony with people, creation and God. There are a myriad of off-the-shelf solutions. We just need the will, the love…

 

[Monte_RCMS]

In religious terms, it’s not so much “natural resources” (I really hate the term “human resources”…whatever happened to “personnel”?), as God’s creation.

I was talking about mountaintop removal (where the mountain is literally destroyed to get at the coal or other minerals, and the run-off is toxic to the people and wildlife who live nearby and down stream), **and I asked someone if mountains might have rights, and they referred me to “God gave us the earth to use.” **Then I thought, well, not just for our material use, but also for our spiritual use, and mountains are beautiful and inspire us to think of God.

Of course we need to dry our hair, etc, but as you said, we are very innovative by God’s good grace, and we can find plenty of solutions to live in harmony with people, creation and God. There are a myriad of off-the-shelf solutions. We just need the will, the love…

Mountain top removal is not that big a deal.

Not every open pit mine is an environmental disaster … and in some places they could use the restored flat spot. Makes a nice golf course or airport or housing development. Have you seen what those poor people in West Virginia have to put up with when they are forced to build their houses in those very tiny 'hollars" where two mountains intersect?

All the miners have to do is to comply with the rules. But some people are not even happy with that … even when the complied-with rules belong to the EPA.

Worshiping a bunch of mountains that leave you out of breath when you try to walk up and down is not something to give you the fear of the Lord, unless you are not in the state of grace and worry about being out of breath and getting hit with “the big one”.

The people who worship mountains are usually people who don’t have to live there.

Whoever said that … **and I asked someone if mountains might have rights, and they referred me to “God gave us the earth to use.” ** … had it right.

Now, if you want to see some REAL mountain top removal, visit Mount St. Helens. Now THAT was a MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL. And yet, visit it now and you would never know anything happened. Apart from the blown down trees which were not allowed to be recovered for timber … until it was too late. Oh, and don’t you dare try to pick up the tiniest morsel of lava … or the Rangers will arrest you. They only have 40 quadrillion jillion tons of lava and every ounce is precious.

 

[Calliso]

Mountain top removal is not that big a deal.

Not every open pit mine is an environmental disaster … and in some places they could use the restored flat spot. Makes a nice golf course or airport or housing development. Have you seen what those poor people in West Virginia have to put up with when they are forced to build their houses in those very tiny 'hollars" where two mountains intersect?

All the miners have to do is to comply with the rules. But some people are not even happy with that … even when the complied-with rules belong to the EPA.

Worshiping a bunch of mountains that leave you out of breath when you try to walk up and down is not something to give you the fear of the Lord, unless you are not in the state of grace and worry about being out of breath and getting hit with “the big one”.

The people who worship mountains are usually people who don’t have to live there.

Whoever said that … **and I asked someone if mountains might have rights, and they referred me to “God gave us the earth to use.” ** … had it right.

Now, if you want to see some REAL mountain top removal, visit Mount St. Helens. Now THAT was a MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL. And yet, visit it now and you would never know anything happened. Apart from the blown down trees which were not allowed to be recovered for timber … until it was too late. Oh, and don’t you dare try to pick up the tiniest morsel of lava … or the Rangers will arrest you. They only have 40 quadrillion jillion tons of lava and every ounce is precious.

Who is talking about worshiping a bunch of moutains? Personally though I think there is more value in the natural beauty of mountains then yet another ugly subdivision and yet another golf course.I am sure plenty of people that live in near mountains love being there. Sure it might be slightly inconvient to build houses there but many people clearly are willing to take that inconvience. While there are probably some people living there simply because they can;t afford to live elsewhere or find a job elsewhere or whatever I am sure many live in those mountains by choice and could move and live elsewhere if they ever got tired of it.

We are supposed to take care and be good stewards of the planet. The planet is not just ours to use how we please however we please. And we have to think of future generations as well.

 

[Faithdancer]

Phosphorus is required for the production of many food crops for both humans and livestock. Because the replenishment of phosphorus is a geological process taking millions of years it is, practically speaking, a “non-renewable resource.” When phosphorus supplies are completely exhausted, which may occur by the end of this century according to some researchers, there will be a sharp decrease in food production a global food shortage. It seems logical, using simple arithmetic, that the more humans alive when that day comes, the more catastrophic the effects of the food shortage will be.

That is, if you believe environmental scientists. What do they know? After all, they continue to try to foist this whole “global warming” myth upon us!

 

[Edward_H]

Part of the problem is in our misinterpretation of Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Be fruitful - be productive in matters of the spirit allowing the will of God to be achieved in and through your life.
Multiply - Increase in understanding and knowledge
Replenish the earth - sustain the earth for all future generations
Have dominion - be good managers of all the earths creatures

Until we move away from the idea that God instructed us to continue populating the earth ad infinitum we have not correctly understood the “Great Charge”…the first words of God found in the Bible.

This interpretation is faulty, though it’s quaint and trendy.

Thousands of years of exegesis and interpretation don’t converge on your interpretation. Your interpretation for example runs against the actual words “be fruitful and multiply”. A singular command, not fragmented like you interpretation requires.

Misses the point of Jesus’s own multiplication of the loaves…an act of love, union, and abundant generosity. Unitive and procreative.

Our “environmental problems” are fundamentally moral ones…selfishness, an inability to detach from the world, too much comfort seeking, pride, vanity, etc.

 

[Faithdancer]

Who is talking about worshiping a bunch of moutains? Personally though I think there is more value in the natural beauty of mountains then yet another ugly subdivision and yet another golf course.I am sure plenty of people that live in near mountains love being there. Sure it might be slightly inconvient to build houses there but many people clearly are willing to take that inconvience. While there are probably some people living there simply because they can;t afford to live elsewhere or find a job elsewhere or whatever I am sure many live in those mountains by choice and could move and live elsewhere if they ever got tired of it.

We are supposed to take care and be good stewards of the planet. The planet is not just ours to use how we please however we please. And we have to think of future generations as well.

If one is determined to be pagan, regardless of the revelation of Christ, it probably makes more sense to worship trees than mountains, because at least you can get your arms around a tree to give it a hug. I’m just sayin’

 

[Fran65]

Here are my responses:

1. It is not so much overpopulation, but some people’s voracious and profligate consumption that is exhausting resources and polluting the earth. Americans consume far more than, say, Africans or Asians…altho some are striving to emulate us. We all need to rethink our lifestyles and do what we can to live within the Earth’s means. We need to live as Jesus would have us live (which would be well within Earth’s means), not rushing after things that we don’t need, especially things that harm us or our pocketbooks unnecessarily. We need to practice efficiency & conservation – reduce, reuse, recycle, buy recycled materials products, and opt for alt energy when feasible. On “Women of Grace” they are talking about not hording, but giving away all those things we don’t need.
2. More people need to go into religious life and take vows of celibacy. Again, this is going against our profligate lifestyle that focuses on self and pleasure. How can I put it – the spiritual benefits are so much greater than any materials benefits or pleasures in this earthly life.
3. There is the rhythm method, and “occasional abstinence make the heart grow fonder.” It is interesting that married Cheyenne, after having a child, would take vows of 7 or 14 years of abstinence so they could focus all their love and concern on their child. Can’t we practice the rhythm method a bit more, or are we so full of uncontrollable lust that’s impossible (I’ll not judge harshly here, since our food and environment are full of sythetic hormones that may be impacting our desires).
4. RE overpopulation harming the environment & the call for abortions: We are saving the earth for the future generations, and it makes no sense at all to abort children in order to save children.
5. Finally, while many conservatives tend to completely deny there are any environmental problems at all, I find that many liberals OTOH tend to blame overpopulation (such as in some African and Asian countries) for the problems. In BOTH cases conservatives and liberals are refusing to face up to their own responsibilities to do their part in reducing their harm to planet earth and to the creatures thereupon…including us humans.

BXVI has called on us to practice a human ecology in which we love and value each other and put people first. I’m thinking it is a “cycle of abuse” which may be the root cause of the environmental problems – people are not loved as children or adults, and they then go on to abuse the environment. As compensation for the love they have not gotten, they engage in profligacy, including sexual excesses and binging on things. Love must begin at home, and spread out to all. It’s sort of like in the airplane they ask you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, then on your children. Same way, we need to love people first, only then will people stop harming the earth and each other.

Excellent post!

 

[GEddie]

Phosphorus is required for the production of many food crops for both humans and livestock. Because the replenishment of phosphorus is a geological process taking millions of years it is, practically speaking, a “non-renewable resource.” When phosphorus supplies are completely exhausted, which may occur by the end of this century according to some researchers, there will be a sharp decrease in food production a global food shortage. It seems logical, using simple arithmetic, that the more humans alive when that day comes, the more catastrophic the effects of the food shortage will be.

That is, if you believe environmental scientists. What do they know? After all, they continue to try to foist this whole “global warming” myth upon us!

Phosphorus is a chemical element. As such, like oxygen and carbon, it is recycled biologically. Unless it is being blown into space (not), or washed into the oceans, the earth is not running out of phosphorus.

What is happening of course is that the huge deposits of P in the Pacific islands, etc, have been mined out. Science will, however, discover how to retrieve P from surface minerals or from the human waste stream long before “catastrophe” takes place. Chemical elements don’t disappear; they only change form. Unless the atomic number is more than 82.

ICXC NIKA.

 

[lynnvinc]

Mountain top removal is not that big a deal.

Not every open pit mine is an environmental disaster … and in some places they could use the restored flat spot. Makes a nice golf course or airport or housing development. Have you seen what those poor people in West Virginia have to put up with when they are forced to build their houses in those very tiny 'hollars" where two mountains intersect?

I’m sure you’re not suggesting that the people dying & having miscarriages from the toxic run-off from MTR & open-pit (the Papua N. Guinea case is most egregious) is a good way to help reduce overpopulation, esp since those people are NLUs “not like us.”

Of course, the mine shaft method puts miners at risk of dying.

Perhaps we could just a bit think about reducing, reusing, recycling, and becoming just a bit more energy/resource efficient/conservative, and going on alt energy when feasible? Just a couple of baby steps in that direction. Once people try it and find out they are saving money, who knows where that might lead. Maybe together we can save some lives (oops, sorry I’m off-topic on this overpopulation thread ).

 

[lynnvinc]

Phosphorus is required for the production of many food crops for both humans and livestock. Because the replenishment of phosphorus is a geological process taking millions of years it is, practically speaking, a “non-renewable resource.” When phosphorus supplies are completely exhausted, which may occur by the end of this century according to some researchers, there will be a sharp decrease in food production a global food shortage. It seems logical, using simple arithmetic, that the more humans alive when that day comes, the more catastrophic the effects of the food shortage will be.

That is, if you believe environmental scientists. What do they know? After all, they continue to try to foist this whole “global warming” myth upon us!

You are so right. The anti-environmentalists and GW denialists sometimes chastize environmentalists for focusing solely on GW, but many environmentalists are aware of the other global life-threatening environmental problems, and phosphorus is one of them.

Scientists have identified at least 9 such problems, with biodiversity loss, climate change, and the nitrogen cycle having crossed boundaries into unsustainable territory (tipping points that could cause massive death), with phosphous and ocean acidification near such tipping points.

See “Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity” & the graphic of the 9 environmental problems to the right:
multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/stockholmresilience/40125/

The paper (see esp p. 15 for phosphorus) is at
multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/stockholmresilience/40125/docs/40125-planetary-boundaries-long-version210909.pdf

 

[Tighty_Whitey]

I’m just jumping into this thread and have only read the first 4 or 5 posts.

At some point I’d have to admit that there is a certain number of humans that could only survive on the earth at any point in time. My problem with this argument is the audacity to think that we could possibly come to an understanding of what that number is.

Take for instance sand. To claim that sand is an abundant resource is just an understatement. However, sand is what is used to make computer chips and countless other items that have helped us make tremendous technological strides and increase our ability to maximize resources. In short sand helps solve our problems.

E=MC2 Through this equation we learn that a single match stick has enough energy to light a good sized city for a few hours. Incredible but true. The trick is learning how to use all of that energy. The list is long, fields that once could only produce 20 buschles of wheat now can produce 200 buschles. Why not 500 with technological advancements?
Where does this end? It ends at the limits of HUMAN IMAGINATION. Humans, having been created in the image and likeness of God, can accomplish great things and therefore each human life is precious and can learn to maximize the bountiful resources that the Lord has provided.

 

[Monte_RCMS]

I’m sure you’re not suggesting that the people dying & having miscarriages from the toxic run-off from MTR & open-pit (the Papua N. Guinea case is most egregious) is a good way to help reduce overpopulation, esp since those people are NLUs “not like us.”

Of course, the mine shaft method puts miners at risk of dying.

Perhaps we could just a bit think about reducing, reusing, recycling, and becoming just a bit more energy/resource efficient/conservative, and going on alt energy when feasible? Just a couple of baby steps in that direction. Once people try it and find out they are saving money, who knows where that might lead. Maybe together we can save some lives (oops, sorry I’m off-topic on this overpopulation thread ).

Link to the Papua New Guinea article?

But ya know, absolutely nothing in life is risk free.

Where I live, some guy went fishing … slipped and fell and hit his head on a rock by the stream. Died.

Grow your own vegeies? Get a tiny cut, get an infection, ignore it, and die. Or get bit by some critter … and die.

Farming is one of the top ten most dangerous occupations.

Mining has gotten so safe, it doesn’t even make the top ten list anymore.

But even so, nothing is risk free.

Even recycling has a cost or a stream of costs associated with it. Only steel and aluminum are worth recycling. The rest cost more to recycle than they are worth.

 

[tskrobacz]

This interpretation is faulty, though it’s quaint and trendy.

Thousands of years of exegesis and interpretation don’t converge on your interpretation. Your interpretation for example runs against the actual words “be fruitful and multiply”. A singular command, not fragmented like you interpretation requires.

Misses the point of Jesus’s own multiplication of the loaves…an act of love, union, and abundant generosity. Unitive and procreative.

Our “environmental problems” are fundamentally moral ones…selfishness, an inability to detach from the world, too much comfort seeking, pride, vanity, etc.

Genesis 1:28 is one of the more difficult verses to find scholarly interpretation of…quite amazing as these are the first recorded words of God in the Bible.

Our environmental problems are a failure to understand the fundamentals inherent in subduing, replenishing and having dominion over mother earth…while we understand the limits of non-renewable resources we continue to multiply the world population expecting somehow that the world’s oil, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc will somehow multiply like the loaves and fish? As our knowledge and science bring the truth to light we are compelled to and must act as responsible managers as directed in Genesis.

 

[Edward_H]

Genesis 1:28 is one of the more difficult verses to find scholarly interpretation of…quite amazing as these are the first recorded words of God in the Bible.

Our environmental problems are a failure to understand the fundamentals inherent in subduing, replenishing and having dominion over mother earth…while we understand the limits of non-renewable resources we continue to multiply the world population expecting somehow that the world’s oil, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc will somehow multiply like the loaves and fish? As our knowledge and science bring the truth to light we are compelled to and must act as responsible managers as directed in Genesis.

No. All real problems are moral problems. Our relationship with God is the fundamental. All other ‘problems’ are pathways to growth and deeper unity with God.

The “understanding” problem you reference is actually a very superficial thing compared to the super-substantial understanding that we are children of God.

The environment isn’t the thing to fix. It’s our desires and intentions, which should be centered on pleasing God…in what we do, in how we act, in what we think, and what we choose to feel, etc.

This is the moral life. So…if we tend to want things…except that they will in some way serve others or God…then that could be a point of moral error.

If we tend to over-desire comfort, putting comfort in front of serving others…then that’s the problem.

Balancing nitrogen isn’t the problem, loving God by loving others with our whole heart, soul, mind, and all our strength is the struggle to focus on.

Satan would love us to focus on balancing nitrogen and getting all hot and contentious and supercilious and academic over phosphorus. That’d be an easy but big win for satan.

A big loss for him would be for us to to constantly remember that we are children of God and for us to strive daily to love without measure, even at the expense of our little vanities, prides, and comfort seeking…and even the comfort seeking we get by idolizing the environment which instead is merely a tool for our (and our children’s children, children) path toward God.

The Catholic Church has an enormous amount to offer with respect to the ‘environment’ issue…but it’s not in the area of balancing nitrogen, it’s in helping people to build an interior life with God that manifests itself in ever more self-donating love and prudential living.