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Feb 8, 2012

"That they may be brought to perfection as one"

It’s always depressing to watch Christians fight – especially those so dedicated to the Gospel of Life. But today was a day when the forces of division won small battles in the war for love, unity, and life.

As reported in the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN),
Today during an Energy & Commerce hearing that covered the health impacts of mercury on the unborn Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill) challenged Rev. Mitch Hescox, President & CEO, of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) on his pro-life views.
"The life in pro-life denotes not quality of life but life itself," said Rep. Shimkus.
EEN’s blog also refers to a statement of the Cornwall Alliance, which made a staunch defense of maintaining the purity of what it means to be pro-life. The Alliance is not pleased about any association of mercury poisoning with issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and embryonic stem-cell research. Here’s some of their statement:
Consequently, calling mercury pollution and similar environmental causes pro-life obscures the meaning of pro-life. And thanking politicians with 100% pro-abortion voting records...
Jan 30, 2012

The right and wrong of the Right (and Left)

A recent commentary by Steven Cohen, writing for the Huffington Post, explores the failures of many Republicans to champion the natural environment. This follows a similar piece a few weeks back by Rick Ungar, writing in Forbes, which largely takes Rick Santorum to task.

These writers, and so many others, make a good point. In catering to the far-right elements of their base, current Republican presidential hopefuls often espouse sloppy science and are irritating many in the pro-life camp.

In part, Cohen puts it this way:
The attack on climate science and regulation seems to be red meat for the Republican primary voters this winter, but that is a pretty soft target for attack. The political problem with climate change is that its cause cannot always be seen or smelled, and its impact is largely in the future. Attacking regulation is also easy, since rules may be respected and even understood, but they are rarely loved. Still, Newt and Mitt may be forgetting something pretty fundamental: people like to breathe. A Harris poll...
Jan 22, 2012

Roe vs. Wade vs. reason: Part 2

There’s been a backlash recently when ecology is catergorized as a life issue. This needs addressing.

Last year on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, I wrote of the hypocrisy exhibited by some who seek to save seals and rain forests but not unborn people. “For Catholic Ecologists, the link between ecological advocacy and abortion is obvious,” I wrote. “And denying this link results in angst for many so-called ‘pro-choice’ environmentalists.”

It is reasonable to claim that this works in reverse, too. Those of us who seek an end to the cultural acceptance of abortion are also called to protect earth’s ecology. As noted in this blog’s masthead quote by the Holy Father, there is a link between “our duties towards the environment” and “our duties towards the human person.”

Certainly, this link is not an equivalency. Pope Benedict is teaching us that the mystery of life – of organic, living, interconnected, reproducing entities that came into existence following natural laws that were embedded in the cosmos by God at the moment of creation – is...
Jan 20, 2012

The Key to Keystone

President Obama’s decision this week to halt the controversial Keystone pipeline – a hyper-conduit for oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast – sparked predictable commentary from our friends on each end of the political spectrum.

Thomas Pyle, writing in FoxNews.com, summed up much of the criticism against the president’s decision. Michael Brune, Sierra Club’s executive director, wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that we must not only thank the president, we must also rethink how to feed our insatiable hunger for energy. For a balanced look at the decision, we find this in the Washington Post.

Such balance is important. In much of the coverage of the (temporary, politically motivated?) defeat of the Keystone project, the notion that our economy and our ecology need not be at odds seems to have gotten lost. We must reclaim and proclaim this ecology-economy link.

Indeed, the interrelation inherent within both – the fact that economies and ecologies are, in their own ways, living exchanges of resources – speaks to a similarity between them. There is a dialogue...
Jan 11, 2012

Communion

Today at work, my state agency opened its doors to local environmental groups, researchers, and others whose mission is ecological protection. Also attending was the Gospel, although it may have been easy to miss if you weren't paying attention.

The event's purpose was to encourage partnerships between the government and the advocates that want to help. In these days of reduced government budgets, the need to partner with others is necessary, even if it is something we should have been doing all along.

As a person of faith – which I shared in the introductions, that I was not just an engineer with my agency, but that I also worked with “faith-based groups” in the area of ecology – I listened intently as everyone shared in the conversation.

There was the schooled eco-advocate and nurse – a delightful, dignified, smiling woman who labors to build a healthy world, and so reduce the suffering she sees all too often at her job. There was the eco-lobbyist who asked for my card because she wanted to work with people of faith. There was a young...

Jan 6, 2012

Epiphanies: Seeking God in the natural order

Column published: January 5th, 2012

As we approach the Feast of the Epiphany—when the Magi discovered God’s unexpected revelation in the newborn Jesus Christ—two news stories demonstrate humanity’s need for a savior.

A report on marriage by the PEW Research Center finds that marriage rates in America dropped 5% from 2009 to 2010. From a wider perspective, only 51% of those ages 18 and older are married today, a stunning figure compared to fifty years ago, when 72% of all adults were married.

The report isn’t all bad news, but it does show a shift in how Americans view this ancient cultural foundation. What are the societal impacts of all this? The report doesn’t dig deep into that question, but this finding is telling:

“Younger generations are more likely than those ages 50 and older to hold the view that marriage is becoming obsolete.”

Interestingly, the report later notes that just under half of those who say that marriage is becoming a thing of the past also said they would like to be...

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About the Blog

Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.