Why the negativity from some conservatives? All truth is Catholic truth and the ecology movement makes good points about the stewardship of the world\u2019s resources. It\u2019s common sense that we should\u2019t rape the planet. It\u2019s common sense that we should not be wasteful. It\u2019s common sense that we should not pollute. It\u2019s common sense that we should work for the common good. It\u2019s common sense that we should be aware of all these issues and it\u2019s common sense that a civilized government enacts safeguards and environmental protection legislation.<\/p>\n
The hypocrisy of some American conservatives over these issues is astounding. They don\u2019t seem to have problems with zoning laws that prevent their neighbor opening a junk yard in their suburb. They don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad thing for the local city council to prohibit a landfill from being started next to their kid\u2019s school. They don\u2019t mind that the law fines people for littering, but they get all huffy at the idea that the government should enact environmental safeguards.<\/p>\n
I also wonder why there is such a American conservative phobia about \u201csocialism\u201d whenever it is suggested that tax money be used for environmental safeguards. We don\u2019t mind tax money being used to pay for the fire service or the state parks or national parks, but we think it\u2019s government interference if legislation goes through to protect the environment from industries and processes that would destroy the environment.<\/p>\n
I have also been bemused and annoyed by the liberal reactions to the encyclical. There is a self righteous subtext in their commentary that reads, \u201cWell, at LAST the Catholic church is getting with the real issues of the day!\u201d It\u2019s like they think the gospel has been preached for the first time and this is going to change the world. One Catholic website had a huffy headline suggesting that most priests didn\u2019t preach about\u00a0Laudato Si\u00a0<\/em>last Sunday, with the subtext being, \u201cWe know the awful priests don\u2019t really care about the environment. I expect most of them will ignore the encyclical and the only ones who will\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>appreciate it are the nuns on the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n I expect most priests didn\u2019t have the time to read the whole thing and wished Fr Lombardi would have issued some Cliff Notes.<\/p>\n I preached on it on Sunday even though I had just arrived back from Italy on Thursday, went to Rhode Island to speak on Saturday and \u00a0had a serious does of jet lag\u2026.<\/p>\n \u2026.but I\u2019m lucky because I have Mrs Longenecker to write my homilies for me\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why the negativity from some conservatives? All truth is Catholic truth and the ecology movement makes good points about the stewardship of the world\u2019s resources. It\u2019s common sense that we should\u2019t rape the planet. It\u2019s common sense that we should not be wasteful. It\u2019s common sense that we should not pollute. It\u2019s common sense that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19311","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n