Our friends
over at The Stream appear to have read Pope Francis’
encyclical, Laudato Si’, more carefully than some
premature pundits. They point out “11 Things You Probably Won’t Hear about
Pope Francis’ Encyclical.” Two of those
are particularly relevant to our concerns here:
(1)
Creation has a Creator, and is more than just “nature-plus-evolution”:
(75) A
spirituality which forgets God as all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable.
That is how we end up worshipping earthly powers, or ourselves usurping the
place of God, even to the point of claiming an unlimited right to trample his
creation underfoot. The best way to restore men and women to their rightful
place, putting an end to their claim to absolute dominion over the earth, is to
speak once more of the figure of a Father who creates and who alone owns the world.
Otherwise, human beings will always try to impose their own laws and interests
on reality.
(77) “By the
word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Ps 33:6). This tells us that the world
came about as the result of a decision, not from chaos or chance, and this
exalts it all the more. The creating word expresses a free choice. The universe
did not emerge as the result of arbitrary omnipotence, a show of force or a
desire for self-assertion. Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the
fundamental moving force in all created things: “For you love all things that
exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have
made anything if you had hated it” (Wis 11:24). Every creature is thus the
object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world. Even
the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of his love, and in its
few seconds of existence, God enfolds it with his affection. Saint Basil the
Great described the Creator as “goodness without measure,” while Dante
Alighieri spoke of “the love which moves the sun and the stars”. Consequently,
we can ascend from created things “to the greatness of God and to his loving
mercy.”
10) The Church does not
presume to settle scientific questions, and we need an honest and open debate:(60) Finally, we need to acknowledge that different approaches and lines of thought have emerged regarding this situation and its possible solutions. At one extreme, we find those who doggedly uphold the myth of progress and tell us that ecological problems will solve themselves simply with the application of new technology and without any need for ethical considerations or deep change. At the other extreme are those who view men and women and all their interventions as no more than a threat, jeopardizing the global ecosystem, and consequently the presence of human beings on the planet should be reduced and all forms of intervention prohibited. Viable future scenarios will have to be generated between these extremes, since there is no one path to a solution. This makes a variety of proposals possible, all capable of entering into dialogue with a view to developing comprehensive solutions.
(188) There are certain environmental issues where it is not easy to achieve a broad consensus. Here I would state once more that the Church does not presume to settle scientific questions or to replace politics. But I am concerned to encourage an honest and open debate so that particular interests or ideologies will not prejudice the common good.
In short, as all the major Western theistic traditions ought to be able to agree, the world has an author who acts freely and deliberate, "not from chaos or chance." However, whether on that issue or any other, scientific evidence is weighed independently. "Honest and open debate," not foregone conclusions, is what's needed..
Comments
Pope Francis needs to read UN Agenda 21 and
then figure out if he should hang out with these clowns. If he reads it, he
should oppose it. Otherwise, the global Marxists will spin his involvement to
sound like he supports UN Agenda 21. He also needs to challenge how these
global Marxists intend to end world hunger by 2020.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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