Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The pope calls for more science, less dogma
It is getting very difficult to figure out who is on which side of the climate change argument. Jet-setting, mansion-living, mega-polluting activists want everybody else to stop grilling steaks on their back yard patio. Now, defenders of the faith are calling for more science:
Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.
The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.
The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.
Call me an irony junkie, but I find it hilarious that the pope of the Roman Catholic Church is worried that the "dogma" of the environmental movement is more influential than scientific proof. Not saying I don't agree with him, just that I am highly entertained.
12 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Dec 12, 12:25:00 AM:
It initially seems ironic, but when you consider the long scheme of things, as the Church will occasionally do, not that surprising.
Recall Benedict's controversial speech last year where he compared Islamic and Christian world views during the Middle Ages. Our God is a God of reason, he said.
That was not mere cherry-picking on his part. From what I have read of the history of science, the primary reason that science in Europe outstripped its counterparts beginning in the 15th century was that in Europe, investigators were looking for manifestations of God’s work in nature. God has so ordered the universe- what is this order? This viewpoint was much less prevalent in Islam and in China.
The irony is that many of the global warming people consider themselves enlightened, scientifically minded people who scorn religious dogma. Here Benedict has called them on dogma.
As an agnostic with Protestant roots, I would say that the whole world- not just the world’s Catholics- has been blessed with the selection of at least the last two Popes.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 12:40:00 AM:
Enough about "Climate Change" already!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOLkze-9GcI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN06JSi-SW8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCXDISLXTaY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpQQGFZHSno
Google Video; "Professor Bob Carter Climate Change", in case the links don't work. The (1st) video starts out dark, but the graphs, and professor Carter's dialogue, are abundently clear.
There are no such things that anyone could formally label as "Global Warming", or "Climate Change".
On the other hand, "Mass Neurosis About Humankind's CO2 Emissions" should be formally entitled as such.
By 
clint, at
Wed Dec 12, 12:50:00 AM:
Particularly amusing just a week after the Pope reinstated the medieval doctrine of indulgences -- fly Air Vatican and get frequent-pilgrim years off your time in Purgatory!
In any case... it's fairly common for religions to disagree with one another. It's just surprising because Global Warming isn't usually recognized as a religious doctrine.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 12:51:00 AM:
In other words, the only irony I'm picking up is that the de facto figurehead of one of the worlds great "faiths" is using REASON when it comes to the climate change... ahem... "debate".
Which, frankly, is more than could be said for anyone --ANYONE-- who is participating in the Bali-hoo.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 06:23:00 AM:
There can't be too much of a crisis in climate change/global warming if everyone goes to Bali for a conference.
Just for the record, I'm on the climate change/global warming side that sends me to Bali for a month to study climate change.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 07:47:00 AM:
Dave, no one's asking us to go live in a cave, just to cut back a little on the Carbon. And then maybe we won't have to send the Army to the Mid-East every 10 years either.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 08:25:00 AM:
"... just to cut back a little on carbon. And then maybe we won't have to send the Army to the Mid-East every 10 years either" (ifonlymccainhad won, 7:47AM)
Well yes, this IS the nub of the matter, isn't it? So what exactly is wrong with putting the entire matter in these blunt, but truthful, terms? In that way, the issue simply cannot get hijacked by all the world's social engineers, with the tacit cooperation of governments in every corner of the globe.
Carbon credits? The most massive, monstrously huge transfer of wealth from producers to consumers that could possibly have been conceived (I'm including 90 years worth of global experiments in communism; communism will have NUTHIN' on carbon credits when it comes to redistributing money from those who make it to those who don't).
Did anyone watch those links to Bob Carter, posted above? It's stuff like THAT is what should be flashed around the internet, along with items like this: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=7819184350661384634 (Michael Crichton - "Fear, Complexity, and Environmental Management in the 21ST Century", Google Video).
Let's worry about the things that we SHOULD be worrying about, rather than comsume precious time and resources on things like global warming/climate change/CO2 emissions. What a waste.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 08:41:00 AM:
"Not saying I don't agree with him"
But you do. Remember, you're on record as claiming there will be "rapid" climate change and "mass extinctions", so I'd say it's obvious that you disagree with anyone claiming it's a hoax or 'scare-mongering'.
No?
Nor is there any particular irony in a Catholic leader promoting science. Possibly the greatest discovery in the history of mankind was made by an Italian cardinal:
Our sun is star.
Or maybe the guy was a biship. Either way, he invented the first light wave analysis and discovered that the light waves coming from our sun were the same as those coming from the stars.
Consider the ramifications from such a discovery:
- If something as massive as our sun is the same size as those tiny twinkling lights in the nighttime sky, then imagine how that snaps the size of the universe into perspective.
- If we're living on a planet circling the sun, and there are zillions of other suns out there, then wouldn't it stand to reason that man isn't alone in the universe?
- And what about all that horseshit that had been handed down through the ages about man being "the center of the universe", when it's now clear we're just another dot in the nighttime sky?
Granted, the good cardinal probably didn't pursue that last one too much.
Also, while I can appreciate the irony of a dogmatic religious figure accusing others of practicing dogma, I would point out that there's a difference between dogma and faith. The Pope doesn't believe in God because someone told him to.
If, on the other hand, you're now preaching "rapid" climate change and "mass extinctions", then I would suggest that it's precisely because someone told you to.
So who's being dogmatic now?
You like irony? There's enough here for everyone. :)
By Mystery Meat, at
Wed Dec 12, 11:51:00 AM:
If anyone, the Pope should know the cause of global warming is all those people burning in hell.
By David M, at
Wed Dec 12, 02:02:00 PM:
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 12/12/2007 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
By , at
Wed Dec 12, 02:12:00 PM:
Hey, stranger things have happened...for example, I actually have a friend who is a Democratic politician who thinks we need lower taxes!
Of course, he's an entreprenuer too.
Andrew
By davod, at
Wed Dec 12, 05:03:00 PM:
"just to cut back a little on carbon."
The suggested cut backs by GW fanatics is in the range of 30 percent. If we did we this then we could possibly achieve a reduction of point nine percent.
This could well lead to the equivelent of living in a cave, unless of course you have the money to continue to buy your energy and material.
If you want to take an extreme view you might want to consider that we are going back to a time before Christianity. The current weather tribe stems from the Earth Day people of some years ago. Global Warming/Claimate Change is just a convenient tag.
Essentially we have gone back to paganism, the worship of mother earth or Gaia over everything else. The movement has transcended government and Christian Churches (Priests are including the doctrine in their sermons). The Pope is only responding to a direct threat to the authority of the church.
