Blame Wisconsin
This is one of those days I’ll use the 6 months or so of my existence as a Californian as a point of pride over the State I’ve called home the rest of my life. Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day, the day some of you might be celebrating today. School children, after being driven by their parents to some some single story school that occupies between one and three city blocks with a service area of a 100 square miles, will be indoctrinated today on what the world needs to do to save the planet. They will learn that they should recycle their pop bottles so that they can be ‘recycled’; in reality over half of ‘recycled’ material is thrown into landfills. They will also not be taught that the industrial process of producing the high fructose corn syrup appearing in those bottles involves burning of fossil fuels and heavy wear on the soil on which the corn is planted. They will not learn about the fertilizers placed on the fields that runoff into our streams to produce the corn. Oh they might learn about the waste runoff in 3rd world countries due to inadequate sanitation systems. But for the most part they will remain ignorant that the way they and their parents live is causing significant environmental problems and is not sustainable if it were adopted worldwide.
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But for the most part they will remain ignorant that the way they and their parents live is causing significant environmental problems and is not sustainable if it were adopted worldwide.
Exactly.
I agree with Katerina and what she highlights in your post M.Z. But I think for different reasons. If our future depends on being educated by condescending and self-righteous people who have ‘seen the light’ then I agree most will remain ignorant because who can blame them for not wanting to listen. The same can be said of bringing the Gospel to people. Thank God we have a humble shepherd in the Holy Father who really desires conversion and doesn’t take the opportunity to indulge in indignation and self-righteousness. He can teach people that caring for creation is a way of loving God and neighbor, and he can do it in a manner in which people will listen I believe. He should be our example if we want to reach people. My frustration with this blog has really never been the views or opinions put forth, and certainly not the references to Church teaching. It’s been the tone and attitude in which these views have been packaged so to speak.
Thank God we have a humble shepherd in the Holy Father who really desires conversion and doesn’t take the opportunity to indulge in indignation and self-righteousness. He can teach people that caring for creation is a way of loving God and neighbor, and he can do it in a manner in which people will listen I believe. He should be our example if we want to reach people.
This is a topic that needs to be explored in more depth. I know the Holy Father touched on authority in several of his public remarks here in the States. He very much believes authority should be used to encourage people where they are. It is something I hope to synthesize when I have more time.
Hear, hear. They also won’t learn how the ridiculous overconsumption of meat in this country is built on one of the most wasteful and destructive industries that requires more than half of all the water we use. Or that the true concept behind recycling was supposed to be REDUCE, REUSE, recycle. Somehow the first two get forgotten because they require less consumption, and isn’t that bad for the economy or something?
Thank you for mentioning something so important. It gets very little press, more’s the pity for us.