Clueless bishops

New Zealand Bishops are whining about climate change.
Now, you can believe or not believe in climate change (hint: Global cooling destroyed Greenland and probably was behind the black death...climate cycles have been going on for millions of years). But the bishops have no expertise in meterology, nor in history, nor in economics, nor in demographics.....the statement is merely a routine "ain't it awful" type statement.

My favorite line? " It is predicted that in the Pacific alone, there may be a million environmental refugees before the end of this century."

Ummm...bishops. There were a million people killed by Sadam Hussein's war against Iran, not to mention the quarter million Kurds and one hundred thousand Shiites he massacred. There were 20 million starved by China in the Great leap forward. There were over a million boat people from VietNam. And there were four million refugees from the Taliban in Afghanistan (most of whom have returned after those infidel cowboys helped the Norther alliance overthrow the government).

Did you bother your asses over any of these people?
What about the one million people at risk in Dafur right now? The four million killed in the Congo? The five million refugees from Zimbabwe's economic collapse? Dafur?

Hello? Hello?

my second favorite line:

Protecting the environment involves moderating our desires to consume and own more, which creates lifestyles that bring death to millions of other people. Consumerism, global environmental change and suffering in the developing world are inextricably linked.

Actually, not really. It is consumerism that leads to call centers in Makati and women in Santa Rosa making extra money for school fees by making high priced Christmas balls. We are marketing high priced "brown rice" to upscale markets in Manila, so our local farmers can get twice the price for their efforts.

Actually, the answer to environmental change is wealth. If peasants were poor and had another source of income, they wouldn't allow the trees to be cut that causes the landslides that kill people. And if propane is cheap, locals won't cut down trees to cook food---another major cause of deforestation.

And if people are richer, they can afford to send kids to school. School fees cost money, so you have four kids not eight...(in farms, you have eight to help with the farm work).

Hey bishops: ever hear of Birth control?

My third favorite item is this:
But individual Catholics, parishes, Catholic schools, religious communities and church organizations can play a big part by making different choices, such as using less energy or buying locally made goods which require less transportation.

Ah yes. But trade allows Pinoys to buy New Zealand milk (We use water buffalo milk, but it costs just as much as imported NZ milk). You start only buying "locally made goods" and you are putting Pinoys and Chinese out of work, and then we can't afford to buy your milk...

They continue: "The world needs to reduce its carbon output by 80%, and some New Zealand households could achieve that overnight by simply changing the kind of car they drive. Avoiding water waste and excess packaging are two simple steps which can be acted upon by individuals and households. "

So goodbye daily bath, hello lice.
Put down your thermostats, and the heck with babies and elderly getting sick...ever hear of Chilblains?.....ditto for Air conditioning...

Hey bishops: Did you know more people died in Belgium in August from the heat (i.e. no airconditioning) than died in the US from Hurricane Katrina? NO? WHY NOT?

drive small cars...(and get killed in fender benders).
Stop excess packaging (and increase overhead of businesses, because the "excess" packaging is there to stop shoplifting...the alternative is a security guard in every aisle, like we have here in Philippine supermakets).

Did you know much of the poverty in Africa is caused by corruption and war? That the "Asian Tigers" were just as poor as Africa and poorer than Arab countries fifty years ago? What happened? Globalism, a morality that working hard and being honest is good.
Maybe if Catholic bishops started preaching this "Calvinistic/Confusian/Islamic work ethic" there would be a lot less poverty...ah, but preaching the ten commandments is not a priority...preaching socialism, whoops I mean social justice, is....

Ah, but the bishops answer: "But vulnerable members of our own society -- such as the elderly -- have suffered previously during power crises by going without necessities such as warmth and light, and we have to work to ensure that the costs of any changes to our lifestyles are borne by those who can best afford them. "

This is the "Why I'm fat" argument.
Comedian Alan Sherman, who was pudgy, used to have a monologue that explained why he was fat: because when he was a young boy, his mother told him to eat "because children in Europe were starving"...therefore, when you see a fat person, don't make fun of him, Sherman concludes, you should go up to him and say: Hail to thee, fat person, for you kept us out of war.

Similarly, exactly how does my keeping on an Airconditioning unit cause poverty? Hello?
I pay for the electricity, which gives local people jobs working for the electric company..and if they are working, they won't join the NPA. And the AirCon is made in China... so I am helping defeat communism...

So hail to thee, cool person using Airconditioning. You stopped communism...

But it's easy for bishops to make absurd statements. When it is 37 degrees outside, do THEY turn off their aircons?

But by doing so they overlook their REAL job: Teaching people to serve God in their daily lives. To work hard, to run businesses not for profit and power alone, but recognizing that you enable your employees to raise families. To praise farmers who supply meat and milk to Asia and improve nutrition. To say children are a gift of God, not a burden. To say that a person caring for children, or an elderly parent, or a sick spouse, is doing God's work, and that family and neighbors should help them...and to enable them means encouraging government policies to do so....but also to stress real values rather than materialistic ones.

Yes, I know: That is what you are saying. But you are saying it wrong. You are preaching environmentalism as god....You are saying we should do so to save the earth, without proof that it will actually do so. You are saying we should stop poverty, when what you suggest might actually increase poverty. And you are making people guilty about their small everyday pleasures, instead of showing them the nobility and even saintliness of family life...

Hey bishops: THAT is an area where you actually should be working. If you bothered to spend time preaching caring for those around you, maybe your parishoners would take care of grandmom at home rather than putting her in a nursing home so they can go to parish meetings and demonstrations on global warming. Maybe they could do like the Baptists in Oklahoma do: take care of each other, and watch out for family, friends, and neighbors. Maybe they should do like Pinoys do: Help each other out, and sacrifice to help one's family.

Imagine if a Bishop wrote something like this:
Well, stop wasting time getting fancy things. Use what you need, and don't waste things. Take care of family and friends and neighbors in little ways. And do the duties of your daily life.
And remember, we are all God's children, so don't forget to support those helping the poor get out of poverty. Buy Dell. (just joking---Dell has a call center in Makati).

Nah. better to write highfalutin statements like: Our understanding that we are stewards of God's creation, our solidarity with the poor, and our respect for the common good make the issue of environmental justice the responsibility of every person.

MEGO.... MEGO...my eyes gaze over...ZZZZZ....