[stumble]
Get ready for Rush Limbaugh, some other conservative talk show hosts and a segment of conservative bloggers to go after….Pope Francis (again). Now the Pope has proven (to them) that he MUST be a RINO (or a Democrat, or a Socialist, or a Marxist) because he’s come out for coping with climate change, arguing that it is a biblical imperative:
Pope Francis made the religious case for tackling climate change on Wednesday, calling on his fellow Christians to become “Custodians of Creation” and issuing a dire warning about the potentially catastrophic effects of global climate change.
Speaking to a massive crowd in Rome, the first Argentinian pope delivered a short address in which he argued that respect for the “beauty of nature and the grandeur of the cosmos” is a Christian value, noting that failure to care for the planet risks apocalyptic consequences.“Safeguard Creation,” he said. “Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us! Never forget this!”
The problem, of course, isn’t people foretting this. It’s people who don’t care or reject any suggestion that doesn’t fit in with their own ideological agenda and/or with those who they like politically advocate. It’s party ideology, party group-think, part denial, part pandering to gain like-minded voters or like-minded audience share, and part plain, old, unabashed stupidity.
The pope centered his environmentalist theology around the biblical creation story in the book of Genesis, where God is said to have created the world, declared it “good,” and charged humanity with its care. Francis also made reference to his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, who was a famous lover of animals, and appeared to tie the ongoing environmental crisis to economic concerns — namely, instances where a wealthy minority exploits the planet at the expense of the poor.
“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude,” Francis said.
Francis also said that humanity’s destruction of the planet is a sinful act, likening it to self-idolatry.
“But when we exploit Creation we destroy the sign of God’s love for us, in destroying Creation we are saying to God: ‘I don’t like it! This is not good!’ ‘So what do you like?’ ‘I like myself!’ – Here, this is sin! Do you see?”
The pope’s comments come on the heels of a five-day summit on sustainability convened at the Vatican earlier this month. The summit, entitled “Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature, Our Responsibility,” drew together microbiologists, legal scholars, economists, philosophers, astronomers, and other experts to discuss ways for the Catholic church to address a range issues caused by climate change. In a joint statement published after the close of the conference, participants echoed Francis’ belief that environmental justice and economic justice are inextricably linked.
So not only are polls are science (unless you reject science, which many of them do) begging action on climate change, but now so is the head of the Catholic Church. You can just hear his critics now say, “Just who does he think he is? The Pope?”
UPDATE: Scientists are even warning that climate change could threaten America’s national treasures.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.