LIVING IN DENIAL

The fool has said in his heart there is no ... God/climate change/unintended consequences for our enthusiastic "Go forth and multiply ... fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the earth and every living thing that moves upon the earth."  (Genesis 1 v 28)

Sixth Mass Extinction episode - and that's us, would you believe!  What is happening is a tragedy for humanity.  In the process, we are bringing down all other life forms.

I think, we humans have exhibited hubris, folly and, short-sightedness in thinking that we can live infinitely on a finite planet and unnaturally on a natural planet.  And, thinking it would not have, eventually the most unfortunate of consequences for us all.

We had the intelligence but not the wisdom.

We had the knowledge going back to the 1850s but still failed to take seriously what scientists, Eunice Foote and John Tyndall had discovered - and reinforced and confirmed ever since.

We even had Margaret Thatcher, as here:

How right Margaret Thatcher was when she said, on the 27 September 1988, in a speech to the Royal Society,

"For generations, we have assumed that the efforts of mankind would leave the fundamental equilibrium of the world's systems and atmosphere stable. But it is possible that with all these enormous changes (population, agricultural, use of fossil fuels) concentrated into such a short period of time, we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself. (my emphasis)

"Recently three changes in atmospheric chemistry have become familiar subjects of concern. The first is the increase in the greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons—which has led some [end p4] to fear that we are creating a global heat trap which could lead to climatic instability. We are told that a warming effect of 1°C per decade would greatly exceed the capacity of our natural habitat to cope. Such warming could cause accelerated melting of glacial ice and a consequent increase in the sea level of several feet over the next century. This was brought home to me at the Commonwealth Conference in Vancouver last year when the President of the Maldive Islands reminded us that the highest part of the Maldives is only six feet above sea level. The population is 177,000. It is noteworthy that the five warmest years in a century of records have all been in the 1980s—though we may not have seen much evidence in Britain!

FROM: -  https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107346

The exploitation of finite fossil fuels was a rush to the blood that is now bringing catastrophe.  Even turning earth into our sister or twin planet, venus seems to be the uncomfortable reality.  Fossil fuels are a mixed blessing, indeed.

A brilliant but brief tenure on planet earth for homo sapiens!

The first book of the Bible is optimistic about our future, that we humans are the top dogs in creation and can do as we like with the rest of creation.  The last book acknowledges that "the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more."  It has the promise of "a new heaven and a new earth" and "the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God ... for the former things have passed away".  (Revelation 21 v 1-4)  The best has yet to come.

However, none of us should be helping things along by knowing about the threats facing us but then doing nothing.

To Michael Bourke, ret Bishop of Wolverhampton

 Thanks so much for sending me your helpful talk that I have now read and, re-read.  It reflects some of my own thoughts and has increased my understanding.  Thank you.

I particularly liked,

"the Presence of One whose world it is, who is here before us
and we are her guests. We know that nature can be cruel and
inhospitable, and yet, as today’s environmental movement
testifies – despite everything (the second part of my title!) –
the natural world is not just a blind mechanism or a material
resource for us to exploit. It mediates a presence and a
sense of wonder."

AND,

"We are not the lords of the universe.  Reverence, humility and trust are required of us in the macro-ecology of which we are part."

Yes, indeed.  We are part of nature and subject to the laws of nature.  But we think we are a cut above nature.  Such is our hubris and eventual undoing.

"The fool has said in his heart, there is no God."  Psalm 14 v 1

The problem I have is that even the wisest of the wise who are most devoted to the Lord God, are, like the rest of us, living infinitely on a finite planet and unnaturally on a natural planet.  That is extremely dangerous and foolish.  Unfortunately, we are now well and truly locked into this behaviour.  Utterly dependant on, addicted to, oil and gas that without them, means I think, we cannot even eat or drink!  We are well and truly trapped into using finite fossil fuels for virtually everything!  Yet, both must be in short supply before the end of the century.

In addition, as we merrily burn them up and live it up, we have been told for 150 years, that making carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels warms the planet.  Eunice Foote, in 1856, was the first and is the mother of climate science.  The IPCC has confirmed this in every report since 1988.  However, still no effective action to reverse the rot and we carry on regardless, with our fingers crossed behind our backs.

As a result, it looks likely that we humans will have a much shorter track record than the dinosaurs that God seems to have created the earth for and not for foolish humans.  I hope I'm wrong!

A poisoned chalice.  The gods have played a cruel trick on us.  A one-off geological inheritance that was never meant to be exploited with such gay abandon.  It was the apple on the tree that we were never meant to take, let alone partake of as we have done, for 300 years.  But we can hardly blame our ancestors, can we?  I expect, we would each have done exactly the same.  Perhaps, a serious flaw in our human nature! 

Very many thanks, again for such an erudite essay to promote thought!  I have put it in my 'Religious thoughts' folder to refer back.

Have a wonderful Christmas and new year.