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Environmentalist

2008-08-30T21:08:47Z

Chicagofan: /* Worship of Gaia */

'''Environmentalists''' are concerned with "protecting" the environment instead of letting human beings take dominion over it. Going way beyond [[conservationism]], they seek legal limitations on human use of the Earth's natural environment and resources. Media reporting usually blurs the distinction between "no-use" environmentalism and "wise-use" conservation. Environmentalists are also often fascist and despise the essential right to damage the earth.

[[David Gelernter]] wrote:
*Passionate environmentalists reject the proposition that love of nature is ennobling because loving nature is good for human dignity and happiness. They flirt instead with a worldview in which human beings are a species on a par with every other, and nature is to be protected not because you damage other people’s happiness when you destroy it wantonly but because nature itself has rights to assert against man. The Smithsonian, for example, posted a label in its Museum of Natural History apologizing for a display in which “humans are treated as more important than other mammals.” [http://www.city-journal.org/html/6_4_the_immorality.html]

==Forest fires and "saving" trees==

In June 2007 residents of Lake Tahoe California were furious at environmentalists and the grip they hold on government regulators who refused to allow the clearing of dead trees. 1,300 homes sustained damage, and the newly homeless victims blamed the special interest environmentalists for their woes.

The amount of fuel in the Tahoe Basin reached critical levels after years of discord among environmentalists and government agencies over how to thin forests and reduce the fire threat. And it has led to predictions of a devastating wildfire because the basin is one of the areas with the most fire starts in the Sierra Nevada. <ref>[http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-clearance26jun26,0,2914697.story?coll=la-home-center Crowd aims fury at regional panel], Land use agency is criticized for failing to allow adequate clearing of combustible materials. By Eric Bailey and J. Michael Kennedy, ''Los Angelas Times'', June 26, 2007.</ref>

==Animal rights and vegetarians==

Citing a heretofore unknown connection between the environment, [[animal rights]], and [[vegetarianism]] movements, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) requested of [[Democratic]] Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] and Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] special treatment in administration of tax laws used to support ecological sustainability. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk alleges, "[V]egetarians are responsible for far fewer [[greenhouse-gas]] emissions and other kinds of environmental degradation than meat-eaters," and that vegetarians should receive a tax break "just as people who purchase a hybrid vehicle enjoy a tax break."

Asked how would the government certify the special interest tax break would go to vegetarians only, PETA spokesman Matt Prescott said, "I imagine that a system could be adopted whereby taxpayers could show receipts for food purchases and/or sign an affidavit attesting … that they are vegetarian." <ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/peta-seeks-tax-breaks-for-vegetarians-2007-05-31.html PETA seeks tax breaks for vegetarians], By Ilan Wurman, ''The Hill'', May 31, 2007.</ref>

==Worship of Gaia==
The environmentalist movement has taken on a new age religious philosophy, and this belief system is considered to be the religion of choice for urban [[Atheism|atheists]] and is one of the most powerful religions in the Western World:
{{Cquote|The religion of environmentalism is a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional [[Judeo-Christian]] beliefs and myths. There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative religious beliefs. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith. Facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them. <ref>[[Michael Crichton]], [http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote05.html Environmentalism as Religion]," Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA, September 15, 2003. </ref>}}

Former U.S. Vice President [[Al Gore]] sees a "spiritual crisis" in [[global warming]]. <ref>[http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050607.01B.gore.35aecd4.html Gore sees 'spiritual crisis' in warming], Anton Caputo, ''San Antonio Express News'', 05/05/2007. </ref> He also believes that [[goddess]] worship is a better and more legitimate spiritual belief than [[Christianity]] and that the life of human beings is comparable to that of trees.<ref>http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45581</ref> British biologist James Lovelock <ref>*James Lovelock, [http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1738945,00.html ''Revenge of Gaia''], Publisher: Allen Lane, 02/02/2006. ISBN13: 9780713999143 </ref> first publicly explained the Gaia theory - that the earth as a whole is a living, conscious organism. <ref>[http://www.tcrnews2.com/gennewage.html Eco-spirituality, eco-feminism, global spirituality, ecological theology, creation spirituality, the new cosmology] </ref> Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho) has described this phenomenon as "environmental religion" and says that it has "profound constitutional implications" because of the First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of religion. <ref>Cliff Kincaid, [http://www.usasurvival.org/cultofgaia.html ''Al Gore, the United Nations, and the Cult of Gaia''], (1999). </ref>

However, many environmentalists are also devoutly religious.
{{Cquote|It's almost a religion. Where you have to believe in anthropogenic (or man-made) global warming or else you are nuts. <ref>[http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/197613 Local scientist calls global warming theory hooey], Samara Kalk Derby, ''The Capital Times'', 6/18/2007. </ref>}}

==See Also==
*[[Socialist Environmental Disasters]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Environmentalist|Examples of '''Environmentalism''' from previous "Breaking News" articles]]

==References==

<small><references/></small>

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]

Environmentalist

2008-08-30T21:06:13Z

Chicagofan:

'''Environmentalists''' are concerned with "protecting" the environment instead of letting human beings take dominion over it. Going way beyond [[conservationism]], they seek legal limitations on human use of the Earth's natural environment and resources. Media reporting usually blurs the distinction between "no-use" environmentalism and "wise-use" conservation. Environmentalists are also often fascist and despise the essential right to damage the earth.

[[David Gelernter]] wrote:
*Passionate environmentalists reject the proposition that love of nature is ennobling because loving nature is good for human dignity and happiness. They flirt instead with a worldview in which human beings are a species on a par with every other, and nature is to be protected not because you damage other people’s happiness when you destroy it wantonly but because nature itself has rights to assert against man. The Smithsonian, for example, posted a label in its Museum of Natural History apologizing for a display in which “humans are treated as more important than other mammals.” [http://www.city-journal.org/html/6_4_the_immorality.html]

==Forest fires and "saving" trees==

In June 2007 residents of Lake Tahoe California were furious at environmentalists and the grip they hold on government regulators who refused to allow the clearing of dead trees. 1,300 homes sustained damage, and the newly homeless victims blamed the special interest environmentalists for their woes.

The amount of fuel in the Tahoe Basin reached critical levels after years of discord among environmentalists and government agencies over how to thin forests and reduce the fire threat. And it has led to predictions of a devastating wildfire because the basin is one of the areas with the most fire starts in the Sierra Nevada. <ref>[http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-clearance26jun26,0,2914697.story?coll=la-home-center Crowd aims fury at regional panel], Land use agency is criticized for failing to allow adequate clearing of combustible materials. By Eric Bailey and J. Michael Kennedy, ''Los Angelas Times'', June 26, 2007.</ref>

==Animal rights and vegetarians==

Citing a heretofore unknown connection between the environment, [[animal rights]], and [[vegetarianism]] movements, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) requested of [[Democratic]] Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] and Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] special treatment in administration of tax laws used to support ecological sustainability. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk alleges, "[V]egetarians are responsible for far fewer [[greenhouse-gas]] emissions and other kinds of environmental degradation than meat-eaters," and that vegetarians should receive a tax break "just as people who purchase a hybrid vehicle enjoy a tax break."

Asked how would the government certify the special interest tax break would go to vegetarians only, PETA spokesman Matt Prescott said, "I imagine that a system could be adopted whereby taxpayers could show receipts for food purchases and/or sign an affidavit attesting … that they are vegetarian." <ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/peta-seeks-tax-breaks-for-vegetarians-2007-05-31.html PETA seeks tax breaks for vegetarians], By Ilan Wurman, ''The Hill'', May 31, 2007.</ref>

==Worship of Gaia==
The environmentalist movement has taken on a new age religious philosophy, and this belief system is considered to be the religion of choice for urban [[Atheism|atheists]] and is one of the most powerful religions in the Western World:
{{Cquote|The religion of environmentalism is a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional [[Judeo-Christian]] beliefs and myths. There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative religious beliefs. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith. Facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them. <ref>[[Michael Crichton]], [http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote05.html Environmentalism as Religion]," Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA, September 15, 2003. </ref>}}

Former U.S. Vice President [[Al Gore]] sees a "spiritual crisis" in [[global warming]]. <ref>[http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050607.01B.gore.35aecd4.html Gore sees 'spiritual crisis' in warming], Anton Caputo, ''San Antonio Express News'', 05/05/2007. </ref> He also believes that [[goddess]] worship is a better and more legitimate spiritual belief than [[Christianity]] and that the life of human beings is comparable to that of trees.<ref>http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45581</ref> British biologist James Lovelock <ref>*James Lovelock, [http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1738945,00.html ''Revenge of Gaia''], Publisher: Allen Lane, 02/02/2006. ISBN13: 9780713999143 </ref> first publicly explained the Gaia theory - that the earth as a whole is a living, conscious organism. <ref>[http://www.tcrnews2.com/gennewage.html Eco-spirituality, eco-feminism, global spirituality, ecological theology, creation spirituality, the new cosmology] </ref> Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho) has described this phenomenon as "environmental religion" and says that it has "profound constitutional implications" because of the First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of religion. <ref>Cliff Kincaid, [http://www.usasurvival.org/cultofgaia.html ''Al Gore, the United Nations, and the Cult of Gaia''], (1999). </ref>

[[Reid Bryson|Dr. Reid Bryson]], founding chairman of the department of meteorology at the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] and of the Institute for Environmental Studies, now known as the [[Gaylord Nelson]] Institute for Environmental Studies and is known as the father of scientific climatology says of global warming:
{{Cquote|It's almost a religion. Where you have to believe in anthropogenic (or man-made) global warming or else you are nuts. <ref>[http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/197613 Local scientist calls global warming theory hooey], Samara Kalk Derby, ''The Capital Times'', 6/18/2007. </ref>}}

==See Also==
*[[Socialist Environmental Disasters]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Environmentalist|Examples of '''Environmentalism''' from previous "Breaking News" articles]]

==References==

<small><references/></small>

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]

Patriotism

2008-08-30T21:03:54Z

Chicagofan:

'''Patriotism''' means love or devotion to one's country or homeland.

The word ''patriot'' comes from Latin; the root is the same as ''pater,'' father.

The [[Roman]] poet [[Horace]] wrote "Dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori", which means ""It is sweet and seemly to die for one's country."<ref>Horace, ''Odes'' (iii 2.13)</ref>.

Later, American satirist [[Ambrose Bierce]] would write "In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first."<ref>Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary</ref>

Later still, [[World War I]] [[British]] infantryman and poet [[Wilfred Owen]] would mock Horace's words by describing a soldier dying a particularly gory death on the battlefield, and saying "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest / To children ardent for some desperate glory, / The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori."<ref>Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est</ref>

Patriotism can be a source of conflict for Christians in wartime. While their nation may call on them to do their patriotic duty, many pacifists believe that [[New Testament]] advocates [[Pacifism#Biblical_references_about_Christian_nonviolence|nonviolence]]. Many western conservative Christians feel that patriotism does not conflict with Christianity as in their view their countries' political systems are based upon Christian principles. However, this argument is dubious. With the possible exception of Vatican City, no nation can truly be labelled "Christian", and given that people of other immoral religious dispositions are allowed to vote - and these are numerous - it is unreasonable to expect a "Christian" outcome.

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/patriotism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Patriotism], [[Accuracy In Media]]
[[category:politics]]