soft options
By Diogenes (articles ) | October 14, 2009 3:50 PM
Chris Johnson brings our attention to some eco-gushing at the Anglican Communion web site:
Our faith and our ancestors have always taught us that the earth is our mother and deserves respect; we know that this respect has not been given. We know that like a mother the earth will continue to give its all to us.
Wrong. Their ancestors may have taught them the falsehood; their faith certainly didn't. Already in 1908 G.K. Chesterton had nailed it (from Orthodoxy, chapter VII):
The main point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister. We can be proud of her beauty, since we have the same father; but she has no authority over us; we have to admire, but not to imitate.
Why do post-Christians turn back to the earth mother cult? Because the Christian life is hard, while the pagan life is easy: lacking any obligation more stern than the feelings of the moment, nature religion never squeezes 'til it hurts. It's like a table-vise with one jaw. That makes it especially attractive to those disaffected with Church teaching on sexual integrity, or truth-telling, or keeping promises. Think of a man torn by the urge to cheat on an exam or defraud an employee or dump his wife for a newer model. Has anyone ever refused to give in to the temptation because Mother Earth forbade it?
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Posted by: Ambrose -
Oct. 19, 2009 2:24 PM ET USA
The gushers also include Catholics, or at least nominal Catholics. According to an article titled Jesus Christ: Why the Word Became Flesh, by Stephen Doyle O.F.M. (recently sent to our parish director of religious education for use in catechesis by www.AmericanCatholic.org), "It is no coincidence that Francis [of Assisi] is the patron saint of ecology. He who preceived this world as Mother Earth recognized that it is the home of him whom he loved: Jesus Christ." posted by Ambrose
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Posted by: a son of Mary -
Oct. 15, 2009 12:22 PM ET USA
Sir William - touche! I pray she returns to the Faith.
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Posted by: Sir William -
Oct. 14, 2009 6:55 PM ET USA
My mother went through the "I worship the god of nature" kick for a while. She liked to be loud about it, too, until I pointed out that the 'god of nature' would eat her arthritic carcass for lunch since she couldn't run faster than a bear or a tornado. That warm fuzzy vaguely feel good 'god of nature' never looks too good when put in the context of fangs, claws, killer winds and survival of the fittest.
