The Pope's Religious Justification for Environmentalism.

The Pope's eloquent language has put down climate change deniers. He said the "creation is a gift" to be protected.  Not only should all religions embrace the Pope's environmentalism, atheists should do the same. Atheists can recognize that the earth is here by the accidents of history and we should all work to extent its life.  

What the Pope is up against is a long-standing mistake by both forced birth operatives and low tax anti regulation Republicans. They wanted, still want, to use each other but for the most part each is a millstone around the other's neck. Forced birth politicians who are needed to lower taxes and cancel regulations are up against resistance by women who want equal opportunities in the workplace. 

Any clear thinking and rational person would see that Christianity is about helping the poor and the underdogs. The Republican Party is about doing the opposite. It is about self-directed ambition and lifting yourself up without aid from government. The Pope wants the old rules followed. The forced birth faction is single issue, wants votes against abortion and cares not-at-all about the poor.

I'm old enough and have lived with many different experiences so the Pope's unsuccessful request to have conservative Christians support the environment is not a surprise. When I was growing up my farming parents attended all kinds of meetings about "soil conservation." My dad had a 1930 degree in agriculture. He was tuned in to all the material published by the Department of Agriculture. "Soil conservation" of that time was about getting rid of trees, draining water off land and pouring on fertilizer. A big objective was covering each fall's spent plants by ploughing. 

This view was lived out by some Christians. When I was a young social science professor my colleague and I would read in student papers that native people were poor because God was punishing them. They were being punished for not "developing the land." This, I assume meant they were not installing drainage tile and pouring on fertilizer and pasticide. 

Now, the Extenson Service advocates leaving plant material above ground ot compost, just the opposite of times past. However, the only way most farmers will embrace environmental science is if they are paid to do so by government. It seems like things could be different if Christianity had embraced good conservation way back when. The faith, however, followed the collection plate. Good business but bad stewardship.