Pope Benedict XVI: we must all go green to save the planet

U.K. Telegraph ^ | 1-1-10 | Nick Squires

[TitansAFC]

He said people needed to change how they live their lives and called for "ecological responsibility" to be taught in schools.....

[gunnyg]

Dere be some politiks that do overlap into da church—like free rubbers, abortions, etc.—but he best not be stirring up the out-and-out nwo issues!

[mlizzy]

What could be wrong with the pope interjecting that we should take care of our earth? Look at the mess the dems left after the inauguration of our leader. And look how nicely the same grounds were taken care of by the tea party folks. Of course, we should be going green. Recycle, compost heaps, dump the chemicals and bring on a more organic way of raising crops is good as well ... (my brother-in-law runs an organic farm ... the food is absolutely incredible and the land isn't hampered by chemicals).

pope = good great man!

[tractorman]

The pope should preach Christ crucifixion and resurrection instead of the green hoax.

[Siena Dreaming]

Many on this forum were ecstatic when this Pope came into office. I didn't see why.

The minute I heard that he was opposed to the War in Iraq I had him pegged.

This is further proof that he leans pretty far left. Very poor choice to base his New Year's Speech on the environment. Should have spoken about individual freedom instead.

[EBH]

The Pope is often misunderstood by the common newspaper reporter.

Example one is when the Pope called for the consideration of Natural Law. http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2007/schall_benxvinatlaw_oct07.asp

Benedict especially lamented the failure to “recognize that the innate dignity of every individual rests on his or her deepest identity — as image of the Creator — and therefore that human rights are universal, based on the natural law.”

Just as you work to protect the natural world from exploitation, Benedict told the young, you also must defend the dignity of the unborn, elderly and poor from those who fail to recognize the human person as the pinnacle of the created world.

[GinaLolaB]

For example, I remember a conversation that I once had with a guy who worked in Ticonderoga, NY at a factory. The factory was on the the beautiful Niagara River. The guy actually said to me that "he just lets the chemical waste RIP into the Niagara River because it is cheaper to pay the fines than to dispose of the waste." This is a true story.

[EBH]

Ooops! The next entry was Example 2.

The Pope is very clear, it is the media who distorts.

[kingu]

An objective shared by all, an indispensable condition for peace, is that of overseeing the earth's natural resources with justice and wisdom.

I'm all for not grossly wasting the resources that we've identified and started exploiting, but when someone starts talking about justice in relation to someone else's resources, it typically means the next idea will be a calling to give said resources to others who had no part of discovering and exploiting said resources.

Perhaps I'm just being picky here.

[vaudine]

How about the world going Godly to save the planet--works for me.

vaudine

[steve86]

I'll be waiting for the PM from you when, in fact, the Pope tells us to "give said resources to others who had no part of discovering and exploiting said resources".

Not gonna hold my breath, though.

[Jeff Chandler]

Recycle

Some recycling is economical and some is not. To endorse "recycling" as a general concept is senseless.

compost heaps, dump the chemicals and bring on a more organic way of raising crops is good as well

Of course, chemicals must be used responsibly, but to disparage their use is to ignore economic reality. Periodic starvation has been the norm since the beginning of humanity, yet modern agricultural techniques have completely eliminated starvation for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Feel-good wishful thinking has not.

[Steve Van Doorn]

The only thing out of the Vatican web site today was this:
from the Vatican
Did a web translation... don't see anything.

[GinaLolaB]

Maybe the Pope does not want black soot on his beautiful white outfit. Viva il Papa!!!

[Jeff Chandler]

give said resources to others who had no part of discovering and exploiting said resources.

And once that happens, people stop discovering and exploiting resources, retarding human progress.

[mosesdapoet]

The Pope is distinguishing the differences between “polution” and “glpbal warming”...Lest everyone jump off to the wrong conclusion there is a link to his 07 new years message message printed in the same paper in this article dubunking CO2 causing global warming in http://www.theusmat.com/

[Cicero]

The Bible teachers that God has put humanity in charge of the earth with the role of stewards. That means that it is our job to look after the animals and other creatures that God made.

We have permission, since the Flood, to kill and eat animals. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t treat them fairly and treat God’s whole creation as true stewards should.

In other words, I doubt very much whether the Pope gave some sort of politically correct Green speech. I imagine he simply repeated what Christianity—both Catholic and Protestant—has alwauys taught. That God has given us the responsibility of caring for the other creatures of this world.

[Steve Van Doorn]

yeah but the news is reporting we need to change our lives for the environment.. bla bla The pope didn't say that.
I posted what he said... which is more in the line of what you said.

[Secret Agent Man]

Being “good stewards” in the biblical sense does not mean embracing econut junk science fraud theories. I fear the pope has fallen for the latter while believing it is the former.

[mlizzy]

I absolutely think organic gardening and recycling are two great ways to help save the earth. The pope didn't really elaborate on his message, and I realize chemicals have produced more food, albeit lower quality in regard to nutritional positives, which in turn causes dis-ease, which in turn ... and so on, and so on ...

Christ didn't mean for us to dump a bunch of chemicals on His earth and expect wonderful pluses to come from it. If that's feel good wishful thinking, you'll have to bring it up with Our Creator. I've always felt a greener existence is a more Godly existence. Eaten both ways for numerous years, organic foodstuffs are tastier, more nutritious, and (if you're knowledgeable in organic gardening, which can easily be taught) easy to produce, even on a big scale.

[tiki]

And what is your excuse? You are just accepting that a British tabloid is actually repeating what the pope said without researching his actual words and meaning.
Since when do the liberal media report fairly?