Comments eirracoes has made

That's cute

So, in other words, "La la la, I don't wanna listen to you." Very well.

Quite the Monty Python fan here, thanks for the entertainment.On Pope urges youth to care for the planet posted 1 year, 8 months ago 10 Responses

Re: Good ol' birth control

I am very well aware of the fact that the Catholic Church is against contraception, thus my comment about the Church being irrational on these issues. I made no claims to say that the Church infalliable, and do not believe so. Many Catholics, like myself, do not regard the Church's teachings as absolute authority, as you noted in your comment about Italians. That might make us bad Catholics, but that is the truth. Not every religious person carries out his or her faith like a blind sheep. Most realize that no organization or group (or individuals, for that matter) is perfect and will have its faults.

I'm glad if the comments were only "critical of the Church's outdated stance against contraception and abortion," as you say. But I believe the comment above me stated, "The people who are willing to believe the most outlandish concepts are now interested in participating in the environmental debate. Great, just what we needed: Words of non-reason." Such comments only seem to be rooted in the disagreement with the concept of religion and the belief that anyone who follows such concept is an irrational fool.

You are free to believe what you believe, and I'm only asking for a bit more respect in treatment of other people's beliefs.

Discriminating against an entire group just based on a few of its aspects or your limited perception of them sounds like nothing other than prejudice, something rational-minded people should not be practicing. Let's try to keep away from the ways of close-minded conservatives and focus on the main goal of protecting this planet.

"Nobody said that abortion is the "only" solution."

First, let me say that I can understand how it might seem hypocritical to some that the Church is against birth control/abortion but is promoting environmentalism. But saying just because of that single fact that "religion can never be green" is basically saying that the problem of overpopulation is more of a threat to the planet than any other issues and therefore cannot be canceled out by any amount of eco-conscious efforts. And if that is so, the only solution to overpopulation is either birth control or abortion (or total abstinence, as is required of Catholic nuns and priests... hah, ironic). So, by the transitive property, all that is akin to saying that abortion is the only solution.

But I want to note admist all this that I know that nobody is trying to say that abortion is the only solution. I was just trying to point out how it is a bit radical to suggest that the Church can "never be green" or that it needs not "[participate] in the environmental debate" just because of its stance against contraception/abortion.

Just as the Catholic Church is not perfect, no environmentalist is perfect. We all have our eco-sins. That of the Church is the fact that it does not recognize the problem of overpopulation. We shouldn't let that single fact prompt us to say all its other efforts are hypocritical. We should promote any progress, not condemn it.

To quote George Monbiot regarding the issue of overpopulation, "Even if there were no environmental pressures caused by population growth, we should still support the measures required to tackle it: universal sex education, universal access to contraceptives, better schooling and opportunities for poor women. Stabilising or even reducing the human population would ameliorate almost all environmental impacts. But to suggest, as many of my correspondents do, that population growth is largely responsible for the ecological crisis is to blame the poor for the excesses of the rich."

P.S. Please, refrain from thinking that those televangelists represent the anyone who is religious (which is what you seemed to imply in saying, "One's susceptibility to self-deception... is a necessary condition for religiosity," unless I am making yet another "straw man argument.") I seriously hope that your view of all religions don't stem from watching televangelists, although if it was, I guess I can now better understand your negative stance on religions. But honestly, please realize that televangelists are jokes and considered by many Christians to be so. On Pope urges youth to care for the planet posted 1 year, 8 months ago 10 Responses

Pope John Paul II

I agree with the last comment, but I can't resist continuing the endless list with one of my personal favorites ;)

I don't know much about Pope Benedict XVI, but I know for sure that Pope John Paul spoke frequently about environmental issues.

For example:
"If an appreciation of the value of the human person and of human life is lacking, we will also lose interest in others and in the earth itself. Simplicity, moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become part of everyday life, lest all suffer the negative consequences of the careless habit of a few....A true education in ecological responsibility is urgent and entails a genuine conversion in ways of thought and behavior."
- Pope John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 1990

For further reading, check out the book 'Ecology and Faith: The Writings of Pope John Paul II' by Ancilla Dent.On 15 Green Religious Leaders posted 1 year, 9 months ago 28 Responses