environmental jihad as a tool of the secular progressive left
http://denisdutton.com/newsweek_coolingworld.pdf
This is a link to a Newsweek article from April of 1975. The gist of the column is (was) that mankind was entering a period of global cooling and that the world's political leaders had their heads in the sand and wouldn't "band together" to "cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality." In other words, the author was saying that the countries of the world were resisting the idea of a one-world, socialist government that would be so critical in fighting the impending catastrophe. Sound familiar?
Let me be very plain. Environmental jihad is one of the favorite tools of the left as they fight to advance their secular progressive, socialist, one-world government agenda. In the 70's, it was Global Cooling. Thirty years later, it's Global Warming. In and around those apocalyptic nightmares, it was (and continues to be) deforestation, anti-wind/hydro/nuclear power, anti-vinyl, anti-DDT, and many other wacky environmentalist causes that have, at best, cost mankind billions of dollars and, at worst, killed millions of people world wide. The environmental jihadist doesn't care, though, because they don't give two hoots about the environment or the welfare of mankind. They care about power. Specifically, they care about creating one-world government under socialist, secular progressive control. Period.
Take a look at this link:
www.citizenreviewonline.org/feb2005/06/scare.htm
Even some of the people who used to be part of the jihad have woken up and are speaking out.
Take a look at this link:
www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=47
This is a wonderful article that addresses the environmental concerns of Christians, from a Christian perspective. I found it to be a very well-reasoned article.
From my own perspective, I would add only this. The apocalyptic, nightmare scenarios continually cooked up by the environmental jihadists overlook one fundamental truth that Christian conservatives would do well to never forget. This earth that we live in was created by God. The eco-systems of this earth were created by God, and they are maintained by God. Are we so stupidly proud that we think we could utterly destroy God's creation all by our little, insignificant, pea-picking selves? Read the words of God, as He replies to Job's questioning of Him in Job 38:
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-
while the morning stars sang together and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?
"Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?
"Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death [b] ?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
"What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
"Can you bind the beautiful [c] Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons [d] or lead out the Bear [e] with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's [f] dominion over the earth?
"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
Who endowed the heart [g] with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind [h] ?
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?
The point here is that, if we believe that we have the power to tweak and tinker with God's creation and to cause positive outcomes, we are setting ourselves up as false gods and we are guilty of worshipping self. Does this mean that we shouldn't be good stewards of this wonderful creation God blessed us with? Not at all! We are commanded to be good and faithful stewards. That doesn't mean, however, that we refuse to embrace (with the brains that God blessed us with) sound science and sound theology. As Phillip W. De Vous of the Acton Institute stated in the article linked above:
If Christians want to be leaders in the environmental movement, they must embrace sound science and sound theology, which puts man in his proper role as steward and co-creator. Doing anything less makes Christians pawns in the hands of cynical secularists who fail to understand the human person’s transcendent and dynamic role in stewarding creation.
Those are wise words.
This is a link to a Newsweek article from April of 1975. The gist of the column is (was) that mankind was entering a period of global cooling and that the world's political leaders had their heads in the sand and wouldn't "band together" to "cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality." In other words, the author was saying that the countries of the world were resisting the idea of a one-world, socialist government that would be so critical in fighting the impending catastrophe. Sound familiar?
Let me be very plain. Environmental jihad is one of the favorite tools of the left as they fight to advance their secular progressive, socialist, one-world government agenda. In the 70's, it was Global Cooling. Thirty years later, it's Global Warming. In and around those apocalyptic nightmares, it was (and continues to be) deforestation, anti-wind/hydro/nuclear power, anti-vinyl, anti-DDT, and many other wacky environmentalist causes that have, at best, cost mankind billions of dollars and, at worst, killed millions of people world wide. The environmental jihadist doesn't care, though, because they don't give two hoots about the environment or the welfare of mankind. They care about power. Specifically, they care about creating one-world government under socialist, secular progressive control. Period.
Take a look at this link:
www.citizenreviewonline.org/feb2005/06/scare.htm
Even some of the people who used to be part of the jihad have woken up and are speaking out.
Take a look at this link:
www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=47
This is a wonderful article that addresses the environmental concerns of Christians, from a Christian perspective. I found it to be a very well-reasoned article.
From my own perspective, I would add only this. The apocalyptic, nightmare scenarios continually cooked up by the environmental jihadists overlook one fundamental truth that Christian conservatives would do well to never forget. This earth that we live in was created by God. The eco-systems of this earth were created by God, and they are maintained by God. Are we so stupidly proud that we think we could utterly destroy God's creation all by our little, insignificant, pea-picking selves? Read the words of God, as He replies to Job's questioning of Him in Job 38:
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-
while the morning stars sang together and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?
"Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?
"Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death [b] ?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
"What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
"Can you bind the beautiful [c] Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons [d] or lead out the Bear [e] with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's [f] dominion over the earth?
"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
Who endowed the heart [g] with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind [h] ?
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?
The point here is that, if we believe that we have the power to tweak and tinker with God's creation and to cause positive outcomes, we are setting ourselves up as false gods and we are guilty of worshipping self. Does this mean that we shouldn't be good stewards of this wonderful creation God blessed us with? Not at all! We are commanded to be good and faithful stewards. That doesn't mean, however, that we refuse to embrace (with the brains that God blessed us with) sound science and sound theology. As Phillip W. De Vous of the Acton Institute stated in the article linked above:
If Christians want to be leaders in the environmental movement, they must embrace sound science and sound theology, which puts man in his proper role as steward and co-creator. Doing anything less makes Christians pawns in the hands of cynical secularists who fail to understand the human person’s transcendent and dynamic role in stewarding creation.
Those are wise words.
posted by hondo at 1:23 PM
2 Comments:
Sir - with all due respect, I find your use of the word "jihad" in reference to this country's environmental movement offensive. Not for the meaning, but for the implications that the word carries in this culture. Webster’s defines jihad as "1. a holy war undertaken as a sacred duty by Muslims. 2. any vigorous, emotional crusade for an idea or principle." I don't for a minute disagree that this country's environmental movement is a "vigorous, emotional crusade for an idea of principle". However, when you use the word jihad in reference to liberals who support environmental policy you liken them to the very terrorists we are apparently supposed to be UNITED against. Yes, I know you think liberals want to destroy the United States and are in bed with the terrorists. I know you believe that they are COMPLETELY wrong and you are COMPLETELY right and that it is your duty to educate them. Well, here is a tip about how to win your audience: as soon as you make an Ann Coulterian comparison such as in the title of this post, you not only lose all credibility but you come across as a buffoon. I doubt that if I referred to some pro-life, anti-abortion groups as committing "anti-abortion jihad" that I'd be taken very seriously --- as I shouldn't. Sir, I have nothing to comment on the actual content of your post because upon reading the title (after swallowing the vomit of course) I effectively lost interest in anything you could possibly reveal.
Mark Twain once said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and and lightning bug." Clearly, I used the "right word"! By doing so, I have provoked anonymous into providing us with a teachable moment.
First, anonymous says that the word "jihad is offensive in this context. Next, anonymous provides a dictionary definition of the word "jihad" which shows that I was 100% accurate in using that word. Next, anonymous acknowledges the truthfulness of what I said. In other words, anonymous, like most liberals, finds the truth offensive. What a classic illustration of the liberal thought process!
After working through the dictionary, anonymous makes a truly astonishing statement.
"However, when you use the word jihad in reference to liberals who support environmental policy, you liken them to the very terrorists we are apparently supposed to be UNITED against." Whoa, Nellie! Stop the presses! Excuse me a moment while I collect my thoughts. WE ARE UNITED AGAINST TERRORISTS? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Liberals are dead set AGAINST the war on terror. Look at what the House liberal are doing this week, for cryin' out loud! They are attempting to put unconstitutional restraints on the Constitutionally expressed powers of the Commander In Chief while he is engaged if fighting terrorism. I'll type slowly so you can understand---We are not united against terrorism. Conservatives areunited against terrorism. Liberals are united with the terrorists against the President and our troops!
Whew! I'm glad we got that cleared up. Now we can get back to the rest of your "thoughtful comments." I'll summarize. You admitted that I was correct in using the word "jihad". You say I still shouldn't have used the word because it offends liberals (like I care about that!). You then admit that you didn't read any of my original post, so you really couldn't comment on the accuracy of what I said. Then you slid off the road with some personal attacks, and a little bit of ranting about how much more liberals would like me if I just wouldn't be so doggone mean-spirited. God bless you, anonymous! I truly appreciate your concern over my ability to win friends and influence people, but I think I will just stick to telling the truth. No matter how much liberals don't like the truth.
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