July 2023 was the hottest month on record. It is hard to predict all the long-term effects will come as a result of this, but we do know many of its immediate effects such as those felt in Greenland, where we can see a significant portion of its natural ice has been melted. Similarly, this had made the world’s oceans are dangerously hot, making things worse for the world, as Tim Meko and Dan Stillman reported in The Washington Post (7-28-2023): “The exceptionally warm oceans are making heat waves worse, disrupting marine life and destroying coral reefs. They are also intensifying fires and flooding by increasing land temperatures, and could make hurricanes stronger.” We would expect, with what the world is experiencing as a result of climate change, everyone would understand why we should be concerned about it and try to find a way to fix it before our last chance to do so is gone. Even if we can’t heal all the harm we have already done to our planet, we should try to do what we can; certainly, we should make sure we don’t make things worse. The future of humanity, the future of the world, is at stake. We should not lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with an existential threat and become distracted with minor issues or concerns if they would get in the way of dealing with the fundamental issue of our time. Just as Christians in ecumenical dialogues have discovered, we must follow the hierarchy of truths, dealing with most important concerns first. We must not become detracted by culture war narratives when, doing so, we focus on them instead of dealing with the imminent threat to our existence.
We must pay attention not only to what our political (and religious) leaders are saying, but what they are doing, for they often say one thing to the public, and do something else when people are not keeping track of their record. We must also take care to listen to what they say and do when they are amongst themselves, where they are more likely to explain their plans for the future. Then we will discover if they are promoting the common good, and the future of humanity, or if they are acting selfishly, seeking only their own immediate gain at the expense of that future. We cannot ignore the crisis at hand, and that means, we cannot let them ignore it either.
If we are diligent, and notice what is being proposed, we will find that there is a Republican plan we can read which makes it clear what they plan to do if they gain more power: they want to remove all significant environmental regulation and promote practices which will only hasten the destruction of the earth. Dharna Noor wrote in The Guardian (7-27-2023) that there is a significant interest by Republican right-wing political groups to undermine environmental regulations: “An alliance of rightwing groups has crafted an extensive presidential proposal to bolster the planet-heating oil and gas industry and hamstring the energy transition, it has emerged.” Scott Waldman, in Politico (7-28-2023), explained further what the Republican plan is, called Project 2025:
Called Project 2025, it would block the expansion of the electrical grid for wind and solar energy; slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice office; shutter the Energy Department’s renewable energy offices; prevent states from adopting California’s car pollution standards; and delegate more regulation of polluting industries to Republican state officials.
If enacted, it could decimate the federal government’s climate work, stymie the transition to clean energy and shift agencies toward nurturing the fossil fuel industry rather than regulating it. It’s designed to be implemented on the first day of a Republican presidency.
It is, as Waldman also indicated, a plan to entirely transform the United States so that they can and will enforce their will upon everyone: “The comprehensive plan covers virtually all operations of the federal government, not just energy and climate programs.”
It is vital we see what is going on. We have a Republican plan which shows that those promoting it want to do a complete takeover of the system. They have no interest in the common good; their interest lies only with the fulfillment of their inordinate desires. They do not care who gets hurt so long as all their desires are fulfilled. They know to do this they have to gain absolute power and control. They cannot allow anyone stand against them. This is why they have put together, and presented to each other, a far-reaching plan, one which, even if it didn’t involve harming the environment, would still destroy liberty in the United States. Only those with money or power would have the freedom to do as they wish, while everyone else, insofar as they have neither, will find their ability to do as they choose repressed. They will claim they are promoting freedom, because they are promoting their own freedom, hoping that we will not see that such freedom is had only for a chosen few. This desire is not new, but what is new they think they have the power to put their plan in place. They have been working for it for a long time. They have been putting people into positions of power, such as judges, who they think will ignore precedent when necessary, in order to defend the system they want to put in place.
We have with this Republican plan a prime example of what Pope Francis described in Laudato si’ (#123) as the “culture of relativism.” While many of them will echo those words, all they mean is that their own objectives should be enforced instead of saying objectives based upon the common good should be protected. That is, they confuse their desires for objective truths, and then they show themselves willing to use and undermine anyone and everything to have their objectives fulfilled. hus, as Pope Francis said:
The culture of relativism is the same disorder which drives one person to take advantage of another, to treat others as mere objects, imposing forced labour on them or enslaving them to pay their debts. The same kind of thinking leads to the sexual exploitation of children and abandonment of the elderly who no longer serve our interests. It is also the mindset of those who say: Let us allow the invisible forces of the market to regulate the economy, and consider their impact on society and nature as collateral damage. In the absence of objective truths or sound principles other than the satisfaction of our own desires and immediate needs, what limits can be placed on human trafficking, organized crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood diamonds and the fur of endangered species? Is it not the same relativistic logic which justifies buying the organs of the poor for resale or use in experimentation, or eliminating children because they are not what their parents wanted? This same “use and throw away” logic generates so much waste, because of the disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary. We should not think that political efforts or the force of law will be sufficient to prevent actions which affect the environment because, when the culture itself is corrupt and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer upheld, then laws can only be seen as arbitrary impositions or obstacles to be avoided.
Sexual abuse and exploitation of the earth often come from the same nihilistic, and therefore, relativistic, foundation. It is not, of course, necessary that those who engage in one will engage the other. But the mentality which leads someone to do one or the other is the same. They have no concern for the good of those they abuse. Their interest lies only in themselves and their own inordinate pleasures. They feel everything and anyone can and should be sacrificed in order to get what they want. Obviously, there are many who are concerned about the future of the earth who do all kinds of evil things, including exploit others, because they understand that the continued exploitation of the earth will cause themselves much pain and suffering. There are others who have no problem ravaging the earth because they do not see it as having any value of its own, who, nonetheless, would stop themselves from abusing someone else in a sexual relationship, because they find such behavior disgusting. The point is that what would have someone do one or the other, or both, is the same: a selfishness which is willing to objectify and so destroy others for the sake one their own personal pleasure. That is, they are willing to turn the other, be it a person, or the whole of the world, into a mere object of their will. They ignore the good of the other, the good which must be sustained and protected, and they do so by finding a way to relativize that good away. This is how those who hold some standard, such as one given them by their religious faith, are able find a way to ignore that standard for the sake of their own personal gain. Even if they agree, in principle, with the moral standard, they whittle away at it until it is meaningless in practice. Many elements of modern society has helped this problem further along because those elements have reinforced the notion that concern for the common good is bad (showing how they invert everything in the process). We are told everyone should stand up for themselves without caring for others. We are trained to think and act this way. We habitually those actions, making it difficult for us to combat such selfishness. Some have turned selfishness into the ultimate good. Sadly, many religious leaders have hurt the potential moral voice they should have because they have taken on and accepted, this cultural shift, promoting it within their faith. This is how and why so many of them can try to ignore the consequences of sexual abuse, always trying to find a way to not pay back to those who are hurt, or society as a whole, what is due to them.
Climate change and the problems it brings is a massive, imminent threat. Christians must work with the rest of the world to protect it. We have a duty to it and to everyone living on it, and so, we must embrace the common good as Pope Francis also said in Laudato si’ (#157):
Underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person as such, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development. It has also to do with the overall welfare of society and the development of a variety of intermediate groups, applying the principle of subsidiarity. Outstanding among those groups is the family, as the basic cell of society. Finally, the common good calls for social peace, the stability and security provided by a certain order which cannot be achieved without particular concern for distributive justice; whenever this is violated, violence always ensues. Society as a whole, and the state in particular, are obliged to defend and promote the common good.
The duty to preserve and protect the common good means we must keep what we share in common, the earth, in good shape. Sadly, we have seen many reject the notion that we should work for or protect the common good. Republican after Republican try to undermine our duty by saying it is some sort of communist plot. Of course, such a claim indicates little to no understanding of what communism, is, and it follows the absurd notion that anything and everything that communists believed must be rejected. Since communists knew people had to eat, should we all starve ourselves to death to prove we are not communists? Republican politicians fighting the common good want us fighting each other instead of coming together, for they know, divided we are conquered, while united we can prevail. They are not interested in helping anyone but themselves. This is why they seek for, and find, all kinds of excuses to ignore the common good. This is why they like to distract us from it by turning our attention to minor issues, like films they want us to see or ignore. We must not let them do so. We must understand the time we live in and deal with imminent threat of climate change; anyone who would stand in our way stands for nihilistic destruction, and should have no power to enforce their will.
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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.
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