Pope Makes Biblical Case For Addressing Climate Change: "Destruction of the planet is a sinful act"

[apnu]

2. I don't know about the self-idolarty angle

But I don't disagree with him. Modern Catholics, that I've met and interacted with, seem to be more of a "let's shepherd the earth" type than the protestant/evangelical "the earth is a gift from God and we can do anything we like." stuff. Catholics realize, like the rest of us, that we're part of this planet and it supports our lives. Trashing the planet is really a form of suicide. Perhaps that's what the Pope is getting at.

Either way, I've always found it amusing and scary that so many Christians in America think its their God given right to trash everything. Yet they're big on breeding like rabbits. I keep thinking, you want your kids to live in a polluted landscape? Really? But they don't care, they all think they've got tickets to the Rapture bus.

When I argue environmentalism with conservatives, I don't go the polar bear route, as much as they want me to, being an easy argument to dismiss. I talk about their land, their water, their air, their cancer, and then I talk about their kids being in that environment, right now, in the gated community they live in. Scares the hell out of them, every time.

Make the conversation about the environment personal to them, and they'll suddenly show up at the next Earth Day rally. Or they'll shut the hell up about industrialization. Either way, I count that as a win.