This is the biggest bunch of crap I have heard in awhile. The Pope has stated in a recent speech that atheists are responsible for the destruction of the environment. Excerpt from the Pope’s speech:
“Is it not true that inconsiderate use of creation begins where God is marginalized or also where his existence is denied? If the human creature’s relationship with the Creator weakens, matter is reduced to egoistic possession, man becomes the ‘final authority,’ and the objective of existence is reduced to a feverish race to possess the most possible.”
Micha J Stone of the Portland Humanist Examiner responds:
The irony is that any historical evaluation places the blame for global warming and the degradation of the planet firmly in the lap of Christians and the Catholic church. The Holy Bible, a book atheists firmly reject for good reason, claims that God gave man dominion over the earth. Christians, including Catholics, took these words to heart. They used those words as carte blanche, a justification for all manners of planetary abuse.
Thank you Micha for putting the blame back where it belongs.
Micha goes on to say:
Christianity, and Catholicism, are historically anti-environmental. In fact, if blame is to be placed for the current global environmental crisis, it is to be placed squarely upon the Judeo-Christian tradition. The fact that Christianity is anti-environmental is no secret. Indeed, many Christians have taken a perverse pride in claiming their dominion. For example, James Watt, who became U.S. Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, wrote an influential and damning article entitled “Ours Is the Earth”. Watt, speaking for countless Christians, made it abundantly clear that for believers the earth is “merely a temporary way station on the road to eternal life…The earth was put here by the Lord for His people to subdue and to use for profitable purposes on their way to the hereafter.”
Exactly. Why should they care about the planet while the ultimate cosmic paradise is out there waiting for them in some other dimension?
So Pope Ratzi, I call bullshit on this one.
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, commented:
“This is rich coming from the leader of an organisation that has plundered the world to enrich itself. As he sits in his golden palaces, surrounded by unimaginable luxury and material wealth, he lectures the rest of us about restraint and greed. We have nothing to learn about environmentalism from this hypocrite.”
Terry invites us to Read the whole, inflated, self-serving speech
Then if you care to, you can read though some of the comments in this thread.
2 comments:
What Micha says is interesting, however I think to balme "global warming" on Religion is a little over-simple. Even in countries that are largely secular there is still a desire to have more, to want more, or as it would say in the Bible to Covet.
It's human nature to be selfish and want more, in harsh times a surplus meant survival, hoarding stuff and being selfish meant your people would survive, we just have not (yet) evolved to share unless there is something in it for us.
Ohh, and why the separation of Christians and Catholics, are they two different Religions?
Indiana, Most fundamentalist Christians do not consider Catholics to be "True Christians", and Catholics think that fundamentalists have it all wrong. The moderate Christians don't give a hoot and heaven and a loving Jesus and all that fluffy puffy stuff is that they choose to believe in.
I would say that Christianity, no matter what brand all influences many to not give a hoot about this planet because they are taught that everything here on this earth is crappy and terrible and only good place to be is dead and going to Heaven where they imagine a perfect paradise.
Catholics, I would say are more socially and environmentally conscious than fundamentalist Protestant Christians. They support community effort to help the poor, spread the wealth and all that, and they at least realize that it is humans who is causing harm to the planet, whereas the fundies are in total opposition to welfare programs and social services to help those less fortunate and homeless, etc. and they are the first to renounce issues like global warming and damage to the environment due to our carelessness.
One thing they both agree on however, is that atheists are to blame for everything that is wrong in this world. Ironic since most people believe in some sort of religion or another. And in this country, most citizens are Christians.
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