I read an article saying Pope Francis will be issuing an encyclical this spring on climate change. He will be stating it is real and the Church and its followers must act on it on moral and scientific grounds. It will be delivered to 5000 bishops and 400,000 priests with instructions to deliver it to parishioners. At an October meeting he decried the religion of money and stated, "Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and deforestation are already showing their devastating effects in the great cataclysms we witness.”
Pretty definitive. Hopefully, this will help convince some of the religious right that there is no conflict between their religion and science, especially the science of climate change. Certainly, there will still be those that oppose it. There are those that feel science is anti-religion and nothing will change their minds. But, there are many who will see the Pope's edict and it will open their minds to the possibility that the scientists were right all along.
The Pope isn't the first person to try and change the minds of religious doubters. Notably, Katherine Hayhoe has been in the forefront on the issue. Why should any Christian fundamentalist care about what Hayhoe has to say on the subject? Well, she is a devout, evangelical Christian. She is also a climate scientist.
Oops! A devoutly religious person that also recognizes the validity of science and sees no conflict with her religious faith. How refreshing!
The fact is, caring for the environment and the people that will be suffering because of climate change is fundamental to all religions. Climate change is a right to life issue. If you are going to be opposed to something like abortions or the death sentence or animal rights, how can you not be opposed to climate change?
Apparently, the Pope thinks you can't.
I'm not about to hold 1 billion Muslims responsible for the actions of a few pychopaths, but I really wish these tragedies were met with a more resounding condemnation from Muslims around the world. True, many will condemn these actions, but they are too few and far between and they are not forceful enough with their rhetoric to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteGreat statement. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in principle. The problem is the way this issue has not only continued, but has gotten progressively worse. I would say the same thing about the Christian community if this was being done by Christians. It isn't about Islam, per se. It's about how some people in a given group are engaging in increasingly sick actions and other people in that same group are simply standing by. Fill in the group of your choice and the argument still stands.
ReplyDeleteIn total agreement.
ReplyDeleteSeems to be a question of fundamentalism. The worst terrorist attack in Europe in the last decade was committed by a Christian fundamentalist named Anders Breivik. Here in the states the fundamentalist Christian community seems awfully quiet whenever an abortion clinic is bombed or a doctor is murdered. It's all bad and bad in much the same way.
ReplyDeleteIn my view, only education and modernity can triumph over fundamentalist reading of Bronze Age texts.
And, Texans do shoot back. I hunted axis, aoudad, pigs and whitetails there this year over the course of two trips. Didn't step across a fence or walk across a dry creek bed. We were on a blood trail and came up to a creek bed across which was a neighboring property. Both guys I was with pulled up like horses smelling a mountain lion. I mean it was the neighbor's place, for crying out loud, and the neighbors knew we were hunting. Still, it was an absolute hill country law, apparently. Texas!
Yes. Anytime you chose unfounded beliefs for reality the results are not going to be good.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were right in my neck of the woods on that hunting trip. Most people are not going to get too angry if you are an innocent trespasser. But, they have legal rights and there are those individuals that will get upset over simple trespassing and it usually isn't a good idea to do an experimental test.
And fundamentalism is a direct result of unscientific thinking.
ReplyDelete