Real Idolatry Is Profit Worship At A Dollar-Green Altar
The pantheists are coming! The pantheists are coming!
Pantheists?
News flash: Right-wingers declare war on pantheists!
Pantheism is a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe. Some simply say that pantheists worship nature.
A vision of pantheism in action may be the proverbial witch doctor tossing a virgin into a steaming volcano to stem nature’s wrath. I haven’t heard of anyone trying to placate Mount St. Helens in this fashion. So who, what and where are these pesky pantheists?
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt recently declared that ‘all plants and animals in the natural world are together a reflection of divinity, creation is a plan of God.’ This realization, he said, caused him to rediscover his Catholicism.
Pantheist!
Conservative columnists, televangelists and right-wing politicians rent their garments in two. Babbitt is not alone. We are being warned by the right that environmentalists are really, yes, you guessed it - pantheists!
The Catholic Catechism (obviously a pantheist manifesto) states, “The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man’s intellect and will.”
It goes on to say that the seventh commandment (Thou shalt not steal.) extends to our use of resources. The use of earthly resources cannot be divorced from the common good of all, including future inhabitants of this Earth.
The catechism also calls for a “religious respect for the integrity of creation.” Could it be that environmentalists, including Babbitt, aren’t pantheists but people concerned about the environment because it is, in fact, God’s creation?
Depending on which poll you want to believe, 70 to 80 percent of all Americans call themselves environmentalists. Surveys show that Americans want more protection of their common resources not less. Why do conservatives insult so many constituents, so many voters, with the pantheist label?
In 1992 (the most recent year for which figures were available) environmentalists lobbied Congress with $1.6 million dollars. Energy interests lobbied Congress with $21 million.
Look at our own state’s experience with the so-called property rights initiative. This industry-sponsored initiative was signed into law without regard to citizens’ desires. When citizens banded together, we overwhelmingly repealed this legislation.
I believe there is a pantheism alive in this country. One that’s embraced by televangelists, conservative politicians and columnists. This pantheism is called Free Market Worship - a worship of man’s creation not God’s. In fact, its worshipers are pitted against the common good of God’s creation. One of the forces standing opposed to this pantheism is environmentalism.
Now, I don’t think capitalism is a bad thing. It is probably the most successful economic system ever devised by humans. But, it is a human system. And, we should be the masters of the system, not vice versa.
I was taught, as a business major, that the only business of business is to make money. That’s why we need government. But, the acolytes of the free market god say government (that’s us) interferes with the freedom of the market. The market (the god) must be free - at any cost.
At least we know what pleases this god. Lay off workers - the stock market approves. Have slaves perform the labor in other countries (and at home) - the market approves. Consider eliminating clean air and water standards - the market approves. Pay unlivable wages to employees - the market approves.
We know what makes this god unhappy, too. Record high employment was good news for the common good, but not good news for the Free Market god.
Employment, liveable wages, sustainable timber harvests, clean air, clean water, safe food, the common good - all volcano fodder for three-piece-suited witch doctors and their god.
I think this Christian environmentalist is beginning to understand the phrase “voodoo economics.”
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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Griffith Contributing writer