how dare this crazy loon use the Lord to push her snake oil crap! I hope normal people tune her out and see her for the flake she is. And people call Harper dangerous! People like Gore, Suzuki, Dion and May are more dangerous than climate change could ever be.

Not the sharpest tool in the shed by the sounds of it, but I wouldn't hold her christianity against her.

Nor would the Vatican, come to think of it.

Introduced by Glen Pearson as God's prophet! What if any Conservative MP had claimed to be speaking God's word on such a political issue. Here I am in Glen's riding - should I vote lib or green? Not.

Watch the silent hypocrisy of the liberal-left on this. These are the same people who expressed alarm that Harper ends his speeches with "God bless Canada".

Frankly, she has the same mindset as Islamic fascism.

Both are utopian, preaching apocalpytic futures unless one 'returns to purity'; both operate within the hysteria of emotion and ultimate catastrophe; both require full obedience and submission; both locate ultimate causality within a supreme metaphysical force; manipulating people via accusations of guilt and sin.

Exactly like Islamic fascism.

God Bless a Buddist temple?

interesting words. sounds more of a Gaia type.

I dont think a Christian would endorse letting 20% of the world starve in the next two years like the Suzuki-ites and their substandard sustainable agriculture proposal.

It's exactly because of crap like this that our family no longer attends or supports the United Church!

The place is FULL of idiots like May!

Andrew Coyne's blog this morning has an interesting report on sunblock--and the use of it may cause cancer etc. It blocks the God given sunlight from giving us the Vitamin D we need.
All these supposed 'Christians' only invoke God's name to promote their own cause. They are to be avoided at all cost.
Scientists led us astray with sunblock and now some of them, along with May etc. are now assuring us, that with God's help, they will save us from ourselves. Poor God, poor us.

"The delicate balance God created is under assault as people increased exponentially their use of fossil fuels, unleashing carbon dioxide and destroying the forests that can return carbon to the Earth, she said."

And so let's stop all the God-created humans and animals from breathing out the naturally-occurring, harmless God-created carbon dioxide.

Kate appears to have the same reaction I did to this.  The "default" position of most leftists is one of contempt for the Christian faith in any of its more "muscular" forms (though they have little problem with sanitized, whitewashed versions, which merely sound vaguely "spiritual" to their ears).  May's version appears to be somewhat more muscular than most leftists would otherwise put up with, though I suspect they'll just hold their noses as long as Giggles continues to weld her faith with environmentalism, producing a sort of weird, ungainly ecoChristianity.

Ah, I hope they let her into the next series of leaders' debates.  I'm gonna make a huge bowl of popcorn to watch 'em, that's for sure.

That is absolutely terrible, yes, we need to take care of our planet, but to stand behind a pulpit and try to say its a moral issue??? GO AWAY!
Well, Ms. May, if Global Warming is such a moral issue and you know your Bible so well what do you say about Genesis 8:22?

Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

I dont see any conditions on that promise such as "as long as man leaves no carbon footprint then ..."

Notice that, once again, this is not a stance based on science but morals.

"The delicate balance God created is under assault as people increased exponentially their use of fossil fuels, unleashing carbon dioxide and destroying the forests that can return carbon to the Earth, she said."

And so let's stop all the God-created humans and animals from breathing out the naturally-occurring, harmless God-created carbon dioxide.

Modern prophets of doom may dress up their shtick with the trappings of science (Y2K, global warming, El Nino, etc.), but it's still the same old song and dance routine: "the end is coming, the end is coming!!!," which can easily be reduced to: "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!"

But would this "life force" Ms May talks about be at all related to the one Jedi Master Yoda used to be so eloquent about?

It's a ruse. Nothing more. Nothing less. Lizzie May's invoking the name of God to widen the demographic appeal of her message. She's pulling a "chicken-fried-Hillary" in order to show folks that she's one of them...

Am not a Green but I find May a bit less offensive than bloviating hypocrite Al Gore and his Canadian mini-me, Potty-Mouth-Fruit-Fly-Guy. Both of whom love to fling spitballs from the sidelines whilst not running for any office (in Canada, anyway).

May apparently lives in a small house, drives a small car, and exhibits at least a couple of other walk-the-talk attributes. And for good or for ill, she has the ovaries to link her political views to her Christian faith.

Most importantly, she has cut a shrewd deal for her party that will siphon votes from the Liberals.

That woman couldn't stand for intelligent anything.

Actually, Liz is probably more of a danger to the left with her Christian belief system and personal angst about abortion.

Reinforcing what we've known all along, that a large number of idiots have gone full circle back to the Druids as their replacement for Christanity, this poor tearful fool doesn't even realize her conversion.

Climate change has hit Mars too. Who is God mad at there?

Jay-mo "Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

I dont see any conditions on that promise such as "as long as man leaves no carbon footprint then ..."

Give her a break. She's not the messiah, she's a very naughty girl.

Though it was predicted that the glowtard movement would become a religious cult, I am amazed at how quickly that has happened. They could have just made up their own god, called it Oprah or King, but they know that is not where the money and power are. Take too long to introduce a new god. They are just going to recycle jesus, have him smoking herb riding in a rickshaw, and wearing a roll of one-ply as his crown.

Well I am firmly of the opinion that HOPE floats.

So instead of listening to the "Goracle" and their acolytes calling for 20' rises in the sea levels due to excess CO2; I can only suggest that:

NOAH and his ARK have got that one all covered!!

And when the animals were marching two by two, they did not have GOOSESTEPPING DUCKS.

This harks back to the quaint notion of Mother Earth being "Mother Goose"; or in short augurs towards a pantheistic notion of creation.

As suggested by the MIT climatologist in the National Post recently we should learn to stop this idiocy by learning more math and physics.

So far the "Goracle" has failed to present a solution to the Navier Stokes equations which would describe the formation and dispersion of clouds and explain the production and disipation of green house gas CO2.

For a brief introduction to Navier Stokes see the following web page and links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navier-Stokes_equations

http://www.navier-stokes.net/

Stop trying to use incomplete and pseudo-science to inflate artificially ones travelling road show stock portfolio. If any one is going to go around hurling the epitaph of "FRAUD" the Goracle and acolytes should examine themselves in the mirror.

If you have an incomplete grasp of the subject matter at hand why not just shut your yawning abyss and listen to those who make it their life's calling.

Jesus may be coming, but he also had a warning about being sucked in by false prophets.

Or in the case of the "Goracle" it may be one of "false profits".

The following may be instructive:

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:15-23 NIV).

What the green cabal are propositioning is the use of religion for purpose of supporting a questionable pseudo science position.

This almost as good as saying "Well the Lord" is on our side in a coming battle.

My response to such proclamations is that it is somewhat arrogant to suggest to the Lord:

"Hey your sitting in my seat!"

Maybe the the Lord can speak for himself, or alternately remain silent.

While planting seeds may be a good thing and one may be asked to be good stewards, of the riches bestowed upon us, the last time I checked, the Lord did not say:

"Go and make arborists among all nations."

Perhaps ms. may is onto something here. We might be able to kill two birds with one stone if we only stop and listen to her. If we reduce our consumption of petroleum products here in the West we will expotentialy reduce our ability to feed the millions of undernourished in developing countries. These people, who have been existing for the better part of the last hundred years on Western largesse, will have to provide for themselves. The result will be a massive die-off of tribes and peoples that are unable to adapt to the changing conditions. So we all win in this scenario, the West consumes less energy and the developing world will produce less people depended on the west for their handouts. We should have thought of this a hundred or so years ago and we wouldn't be in this position. In fact we should carry it one step further and have the UN outlaw all petroleum exploration and products worldwide in this way we can all get back to the "natural way of life". We'll all sit around the dung fires at night and sing Kum-By-Ah while we share whatever we've been able to scavange during the day. "Can someone pass me another rat's *ss." Pardon me Ms. May, been there, done that, I don't want a repeat.

In contrast to the serial homeowners Gore and Suzuki Elizabeth May and her partner own only one house. It's an old one (reasonably modest in a good neighourhood though very leaky and inefficient) that was caulked up about two years ago thanks to the EnerGuide For Houses subsidy program.

It was such a big deal at the time that there was a local TV news story all about it.

In contrast to the serial homeowners Gore and Suzuki Elizabeth May and her partner own only one house. It's an old one (reasonably modest in a good neighourhood though very leaky and inefficient) that was caulked up about two years ago thanks to the EnerGuide For Houses subsidy program.

It was such a big deal at the time that there was a local TV news story all about it.

In contrast to the serial homeowners Gore and Suzuki Elizabeth May and her partner own only one house. It's an old one (reasonably modest in a good neighourhood though very leaky and inefficient) that was caulked up about two years ago thanks to the EnerGuide For Houses subsidy program.

It was such a big deal at the time that there was a local TV news story all about it.

Lizzy May = David Koresh (sp?) but green?

Elizabeth May is a fool. Every true Christian knows God’s will. It encourages hate and financial asperity, judging by his most ardent adherents.

The United Church is hardly a Christian Church. In the late 60's the leaders made official the evolved tenets of their faith. They do not believe that Christ is the Son of God. Neither do they believe that he died for the sins of mankind. It goes on from there, to denial of Christ's miracles, etc. In fact, Christ seems to be an inconvenient obstacle.

Now it's gotten to the point where they interpret the Bible any which way they want. Leaving out what doesn't go along with their ideology and liberally changing the meaning of the rest.

Hence, its the fastest declining Church in Canada. Stand for nothing nobody will stand with you and nobody will stand against you, I guess.

Now its certainly not much of a leap for them to add CO2 and carbon trading to their faith. Because, afterall, they're rewriting God in their own post modern image.

Still, considering the outright bigotry, discrimination and insults directed by Liberals towards Stockwell Day and other Christian Conservatives - the Chrisitan May and Liberal association angle should be played to the fullest.

Tommy Douglas attended one meeting in 1899; felt the pull of the Lawrd. Founded Saskasocialist Party in 1933; said his Kingdom would last 1000 years. It was naught but propaganda from the preying socialist christians. Say goodnight, Lorne.
...-

[...]

On 10th April, 1848, a group of Christians who supported Chartism held a meeting in London. People who attended the meeting included Frederick Denison Maurice, Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes. The meeting was a response to the decision by the House of Commons to reject the recent Chartist Petition. The men, who became known as Christian Socialists, discussed how the Church could help to prevent revolution by tackling what they considered were the reasonable grievances of the working class. ...-
(spartacus)

honey pot...you mentioned you are surprised how quickly the cult is taking shape. If you have followed the Maurice Strong, New Age ,Kyoto madness you would have noticed the 'evolution' of this madness. And you can connect the dots from Mo to Gore and Suzuki...just google 'Maurice Strong'.
Lizzie is doing what the evolutionists have done...try to fit God into their cult. He doesn't need them, they need Him.
And if Lizzie really had faith in the Creator she would recognize that He is in control. We are called to be good stewards, but the line is drawn when they begin to 'worship the creation and not the Creator'.And they want Harper to 'control the climate'???
If the earth seems like it is getting old we can't say He didn't warn us...Ps 102:25-26.
Now if I was standing at a mike at the CPC local convention and just said all this over the PA system wouldn't the media be bashing the local CPC candidate and Harper as the religious right with a hidden agenda?

If I understand her sermon correctly, Prime Minister Harper's government's environmental policy is worse than decisions that brought on WW2, George Bush gleefully awaits the end of the world, and Elizabeth May, Kyoto and God are battling against them.

Elizabeth May's sermon has demonstrated that she is taking her political enviro-crusade into the realm of a religious hysteria.

Science no longer matters, it is all about belief, and according to Liberal shill MP Glen Pearson, she is our prophet.

I think her green tomatoes are fried.

I'm glad May is a Christian. That doesn't make her a prophet. She is invoking the authority of God to justify HER beliefs and agenda. Many others have done this, some with catastrophic results, like Bin Laden. We all have a personal realtionship with God, available to us anytime we choose to love God and our fellow man. There are few real phophets, none of whom of boastful who advertise their special relationship with God. I see no evidence she is a phophet of any kind.

Hans, great words, hit hail on head. Moral suasion has its place, though I don't think it applies to the climate change debate. Besides, the "repent thee sinner" from the pulpit approach is usually ineffective.

What a nutbar. No wonder she gets along with Citoyen Dion.

Interesting. Now I get the Abortion remarks. There is a strong tradition of religon on the left, social justice and all, as there is on the "right", social mores.

It makes perfect sense to me that she would go after this part politically. We will see how well she continues to work and play with the Libs.

She is still in the mode of picking up nche votes so bringing the CHP under her wing would garner her more votes. For Pearson to speak like that though.....my goodness.

Interesting

How many of the 10 Commandments of GOD, do you think Ms. May violated by invoking the politics of Climate Change they consider their god ? I can count at least 4 (1,3,9,10), but I will let your readers decide...

The 10 Commandments - God's Revelation in the Old Testament
The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible's Old Testament at Exodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

May sounds more Pantheistic than Christian.

She was once a part of Tom MacMillan's Environment Ministry (Mulroney Cabinet) where she fed info to the activists blockading loggers on Moresby Island (not unlike many E-ministry folks).

She obviously has never worked in a green house or she is dishonest. Forest species (all photosynthetic life) thrive under enhanced CO2.

Obviously Ms. May has not read scripture properly.

http://puzzlist.blogspot.com/2007/04/book-of-creation.html

"This is a time for Christians to say we do believe in miracles, in the life-giving force,"

Hmmmmm and they cry for separation of church and state...how about separating church and junk science hysteria?

Liz; Methinks you are confusing Gaia nature worship with the hamanitarian teachings of Jesus and his worship of a forgiving God who will always prevail over evil inspite of our petty fears.

I'm not sure who is wispering these blasphemous things into your ear but it certainly isn't God.

God forgives many things but worshiping false idols/gods is not one of them. He is rumored to have destroyed many a civilization for doing it...don't temp fate Liz. Keep God in your heart and keep GW/cabon phobia in the false divinities bin where it belongs. ;-)

I can only speak for myself but this Global Warming thing is insane, people have gone nuts.
It's some sort of rallying call for the left or something.

How did they get so convinced,and so rapidly, I have yet to hear a compelling argument from a single individual on this. All this from Al Gores movie? It's madness.

I think when it comes time to actually implement changes in thier personal life people will back down.

Any comments? Do people find this thing a wierd as I do? Where's the scientific inquiry? Where is the tolerance for different viewpoints?

Bob,

It is a way to generate anti captialism. It is anti material, and anti consumerist....essentially the arguments are that we need to consume less, make room for poorer nations "arent we rich enough"

Thats why the left jumps on it.

There are some conservatives who move to it because of waste arguments...ie we waste too much and arent productive enough, but that falls apart as you move past productivity to absolute use.

It has generally been a left wing argument for wealth and opportunity redistribution under the guise of saving the planet.....whcih anthropormorphizes earth into Gaia....it started out as seeing the Earth as a big system, which it is. But the enviro guys keep removing man from the system and want us to return to some state of balance....this is why the garden of eden speak that May was using isnt out of place in their mythos and ethos....

as i said...interesting

Global warming is not a Christian issue, it is a political movement, which has been joined with religious fervour by atheists and anti-Christians.

Our stewardship of the earth is a different matter, and I think Christians have every reason to think that our God would not be pleased! I don't beleive we can seriously claim that our present development trends are sustainable. There are hundreds of real environmental catastrophes in the world today. These are real: measuable; visible.

Unfortunately, it seems that Elizabeth May has chosen to take up arms and tilt against the climate change windmills. Climate change is only a theory and one which won't be proved right or wrong for about a century! Too bad.

Stephen

"It is a way to generate anti captialism. It is anti material, and anti consumerist....essentially the arguments are that we need to consume less, make room for poorer nations "arent we rich enough"

Well said , and I agree 100% --Question? If we head down this path will we be able to keep all the sacred cows of the left, CBC,healthcare,public education,etc? -Are these not a direct result of wealth and capitalism.

Will the left not be left confused when it comes time to pony up.

Actually, mary, global warming and climate change are two different things.

Climate change is not a theory but a fact; the earth's climate has, since its emergence some 4.5 million years ago, contantly changed. It has gone through cycles of warming and cooling. That has all been scientifically documented, and the major cause is usually solar cycles, but there were other early causes such as volcanic emissions, gases from the oceans..

Global warming, viewed as a linear rather than cyclic heating, due to human industrialism, is only a theory, not a fact. It rests on computer simulation models, not factual evidence. For example, 20,000 years ago, Canada was completely covered in a thick ice sheet. Five thousand years later, it was gone. And that was before there were humans; and before industrialism.

Pollution is a different issue, and we can do a great deal to deal with that - and that includes the average citizen, throwing their litter by the roadside.

I've no idea if the Kyoto cultists are atheists or anti-Christians; I'd be cautious, if I were you, about attributing such descriptions to them.

honey pot...your question is indeed interesting as was vf's response.

I would add the curious case of Jonestown and the 1978 mass suicide of almost 900 followers of Rev. Jones; including children too young to be aware of where Jones was leading them.

Those followers that would lead their children to death were truly the most despicable of misguided fools.

Religious zealotry and blind faith have walked hand in hand many times in history.

2006's carbon shtick is just another version of the lost children looking for direction in their otherwise empty lives and buying into the demands of the false prophets .

Boy, I'm sure glad it's only those rotten evil jesus-loving gun-waving republican-wannabe conservatives that are christian bible-thumping fanatics! I'd hate to think that god would sully the morally pure ecoterrorists!

True faith is not blind, and religious zealotry is only a problem if the religion has problems.

ROFLMAO. That's worthy of the Christian onion.

We have just witnessed the end of Elizabeth May's political career.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2007/04/30/4141314-sun.html

'Borrowing a quote she said was made by a foreign dignitary about Prime Minister Stephen Harper, May said his stance on climate change "represents a grievance worse than Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis."'

This statement seems a little strange as Prime Minister Harper hasn't promised to, nuke the planet, and seems inconsistent with the foreign policy statements recently expressed by PM Ehud Olmert of Israel in respect of Canada.

Moreover,Prime Minister Stephen Harper hasn't met any mustachioed men of short stature from Austria recently; although I understand Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is coming to Canada on a visit to discuss environmental technology soon. We'll have to wait to see if the "Governator" sports a mustache soon.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2007/30/c2688.html

But we will have to be careful as this man has been trained on tanks, goes by the name Governator and has a middle name of Alois just like Alois Schickelgruber. :)

Finally, Prime Minister Harper and his wife seem to be the keepers of cats, and have no german shepherd dogs known as 'Blondi'. Thus far we have not seen any cats in the Harper family that look like Hitler.

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl

I think Ms. May has violated Godwin's law.

Well said Hans Ruprecht. One can only hope that the followers of these false prophets will soon see them for what they really are.
Don't know how widespread this is, but I am aware of three churches (United) in the rural area where I live that will be showing Gore's "truth".

Early Global climate changes predicted and retirement for snowbirds, this is amazing.

Acts 27:9-14

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast.[a] So Paul warned them, 10"Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." 11But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

The Storm
13When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island.

Tenibris,

if a religion has zelots the religion has problems...

Tom says: "We have just witnessed the end of Elizabeth May's political career."

Yep.

Do not underestimate the pulling power of Elizabeth May, especially in London, Ontario.

London is serviced by a mushy left of centre media via the Free press and CHUM owned TV - they call themselves the "A" channel.

London is the home of silkstocking socialist University Professors also municipal leaders locally are the same breed.
More than than you can "shake a stick at."

One ND and the rest LIb MP's are the voters favourite flavour in London.

London you might say is the epitome of GREEN.

Green - watermelon green on the outside and Red inside.

Amen to that sister kate.

:)

somehow i think god would care more about abortion than carbon creditz.

How about calling her a member of the Christian Wrong, instead of Left. Hey, Mt Etna erupted again today. Will that have any effect on gores message. Maybe gores attempt to save the world comes from a guilty conscience from being part of the govt that ordered the destruction of a cultist and his followers in Texas. How many children were killed in that fire? Is that why he refuses to debate or take questions. Someone might ask him how many cult leaders have led their flock to death. Wacko, Jonestown, and that group that committed suicide in Que waiting for their seat on Haley's Comet. Where are the deprogrammers when we need them. Any one remember them.

What we need to get rid of this whole Kyoto Krap is a good old fashioned recession.

Nothing like a recession to put people's priorities in order...

Protect God's creation: Vatican issues new green message for world's Catholics

//environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2066713,00.html

"Watch the silent hypocrisy of the liberal-left on this. These are the same people who expressed alarm that Harper ends his speeches with "God bless Canada".

In Harper's case it's alarming because he is so obviously parroting the odious Republican sanctimony, while May is a total non-entity whose pronouncements are largely irrelevant.

Ah, Liza May was using God talk because she was in a UNITED CHURCH, where they haven't believed in God for years.

'Nothing to see here, folks, just move along.

Ms. May must be sensing the end times are near when she's bringing God into the picture.
What has God got to do with the Green Movement?
Looking at some of the players it's a sacrilege.

It's certainly not true to Lefty ideology to be driven to tears when speaking of the Master.

(Re-posted since the link seems to have gotten stuck in the filter.)

Protect God's creation: Vatican issues new green message for world's Catholics

· Pope addresses climate change conference
· US church leaders lobby Bush on global warming

John Vidal and Tom Kington in Rome
Friday April 27, 2007
The Guardian

The Vatican yesterday added its voice to a rising chorus of warnings from churches around the world that climate change and abuse of the environment is against God's will, and that the one billion-strong Catholic church must become far greener.
At a Vatican conference on climate change, Pope Benedict urged bishops, scientists and politicians - including UK environment secretary David Miliband - to "respect creation" while "focusing on the needs of sustainable development".

Protect God's creation: Vatican issues new green message for world's Catholics

· Pope addresses climate change conference
· US church leaders lobby Bush on global warming

John Vidal and Tom Kington in Rome
Friday April 27, 2007
The Guardian

An Arctic coastline yesterday where the sea is usually still frozen at this time of year. The Vatican has added its voice to concerns over global warming. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

The Vatican yesterday added its voice to a rising chorus of warnings from churches around the world that climate change and abuse of the environment is against God's will, and that the one billion-strong Catholic church must become far greener.
At a Vatican conference on climate change, Pope Benedict urged bishops, scientists and politicians - including UK environment secretary David Miliband - to "respect creation" while "focusing on the needs of sustainable development".

Article continues

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The Pope's message follows a series of increasingly strong statements about climate change and the environment, including a warning earlier this year that "disregard for the environment always harms human coexistence, and vice versa".
Observers said yesterday that the Catholic church is no longer split between those who advocate development and those who say the environment is the priority. Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, head of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, said: "For environment ... read Creation. The mastery of man over Creation must not be despotic or senseless. Man must cultivate and safeguard God's Creation."

According to Vatican sources, the present Pope is far more engaged in the green debate than John Paul. In the past year Benedict has spoken strongly on the need to preserve rainforests. In the next few weeks he visits Brazil.

"There is no longer a schism. The new interest in climate change and the environment is not surprising really. Benedict comes out of 1960s Germany, where environment and disarmament were major issues. It's conceivable that his ministry could even culminate in a papal encyclical on the environment," said one analyst. This would be the most powerful signal to the world's Catholics about the need for environmental awareness at every level.

The Catholic church is just one major faith group now rapidly moving environment to the fore of its social teachings. "Climate change, biotechnology, trade justice and pollution are all now being debated at a far higher level by the world's major religions," said Martin Palmer, secretary general of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (Arc).

In some cases the debate is dividing traditionalists from younger congregations. In the US the diverse 50m-strong conservative evangelical churches are increasingly at war about the human contribution to global warming.

Many evangelical leaders say they are still not convinced that global warming is human-induced and have argued that the collapse of the world is inevitable and will herald the second coming of Christ.

But most younger leaders have broken ranks. About four years ago the progressives began to argue strongly that man had a responsibility to steward the earth. Redefining environmentalism as "creation care", they are now lobbying President Bush and the US administration to take global warming far more seriously.

"They are the most effective lobby," said one observer yesterday. "They represent the conservative vote so Bush has to listen to them."

Although the World Council of Churches in Geneva has had a department to investigate climate change since 1990, churches have come late to the debate. "The [environment and religion] is a no-brainer, but we are all only now realising it", said Claire Foster, environmental policy adviser to the Church of England.

Many faiths also realise their potential to influence politicians and financiers. A survey by US bank Citigroup found that the 11 major faiths now embrace 85% of the world's population and are the world's third largest group of financial investors. In the US the United methodist church pension fund alone is worth $12bn-$15bn (£6bn-£7bn). Total investment of US churches is nearly $70bn. Switching to ethical investments would be hugely significant.

One Catholic priest impatient for change is Seán McDonagh, a Columban missionary and author of books on ecology and religion. "The Catholic church's social teaching on human rights and justice has been good, but there has been little concern about the impact on the planet. The church has been caught up on its emphasis on development and on resisting population control, but if we are pro-life we should be banging the drum now about climate change."

Backstory

Most of the world's mainstream faiths have at their core a deep respect for nature, but over hundreds of years many have developed an ambivalent attitude towards ecology and the pressures put on the earth by humans. Church leaders have largely stayed silent on the extinction of species and natural capital and have concentrated their ethical teachings on the need to relieve human poverty. But the reality of impending climate change and the effects it will have on the poor is concentrating minds and causing many to fundamentally reassess their understanding of man's place in the world.

I think I read somewhere that Elizabeth May is at present studying to get her degree in Theology.

She was on a talk show about this and said she has chosen the Abortion issue as her thesis.

So, when she gets her Theology degree I suppose then she will reside as some kind of Priestess over the Gaia Druids arranging marriages between Greens and Liberals.

Bob asks: "Do people find this thing a weird as I do" -- you bet! And scary too. I cannot recall another issue on which SOO many people appear to have been taken in. Some of this is the fault of the press, which (with a few exceptions) refuses now to be at all critical. I think the Ottawa Citizen has even begun to censor letters to the editor that question the GW agenda. But it is also clever, clever maniupulation. The Globe, CTV and CBC have all lined up behind the cause. Someone recently said that the CBC had a program with Suzuki and Stephen Lewis pushing global warming and Kyoto -- I was surprised that Lewis was promoting this. Then I realized that his support had probably been solicited -- possibly by Suzuki. One tactic is to get respected people on board and use their credibility to persuade a gullible public. I am guessing that without knowing a lot about this issue Lewis was duped into becoming a spokesperson for this issue. Well meaning foundations are recruited in the same fashion. The people behind Kyoto are masters at moulding public opinion -- shooting to be masters of the world.

Jesus loves you! (Now, all you have to do, is:
go to the church of your choice, and wait).
Make more babies- then pope Benny will love you, too!

The God of Kyoto and Carbon Cap & Trade Elizabeth.?
Hmmmm - maybe not huh:

http://littleoldlady.btblogs.ca/

Stephen Lewis was with the United Nations. That is all you need to say to explain his bowing to the GHG Kyoto Gods.

You know former Liberal Cab. Minister Alan Rock was appointed as Canada's Ambassador to the United nations by Paul Martin.

I heard him say when he was replaced that "The United nations was very corrupt" and that there are a lot of serious problems.

I don't know if he was ever pressed or gave details . Anybody else know if Alan has spoken out?

Good post 2:51p, Hans R.

Yep to the lunatic breaking Godwin's law. Does she not realize what an ass she's making of herself?

What. A. Complete. Dolt.

Ahh, well. Guess the greenies didn't really want those seats in Ottawa, eh

mhb23re

at gmail d0t calm

It is now May 1st, so shouldn't we all be crying mayday, mayday, mayday. Isn't that the universal language for DISASTER. That is what may is, a disaster in the making.

Joe has it right, London Ontario is a breeding ground for glowtards. We have an over abundance of people who make their living off of sucking grant money out of the governemnt to study everything from the mating rituals of the fruitfly to the uses of pubic hair. They don't understand when the economy goes there will be no more tax money for them to ask for. It would be good to perhaps introduce economics into every university course. I think it is important that lazy, so called intellectual people, who are living off our tax money, get at least half an idea where that money is coming from.

I see May is now comparing the PM's green plan to the appeasment of the NAZIS, incredible.

My comparison of Ms. May is the Cookoo or the engine that misfires, operating on one less cylinder & finaly my personal favorite, Has a few light bulb's burned out on the Old Marquis.

Liberal wacks are always making some rediclous claim i mean they already still tell us that chimps are our next of kin what a load of bull kaka i mean these global warming wackos are as crazy as those darwinist wackos and CARL SAGAN was a wacky nutcase

cli·mac·ter·ic (kl-mktr-k, klmk-trk)
n.
1.
a. A period of life characterized by physiological and psychic change that marks the end of the reproductive capacity of women and terminates with the completion of menopause.

Catastrophic Climacteric Change (keekee-Christ-it's-kkkold-today)
m.j. (mumble-jumble)

a. A period of Elizabeth May's ife characterized by physiological and psychic stresses that mark the end of her productive capacity to comment on anything beyond today's temperature outside her front door and terminates with the completion of GreenPartyPause.

Ditzy Dion and Dizzy Lizzy {DUMM AND DUMMER},cOMPARING PM GREEN PLAN TO THE APPEASMENT OF THE NAZIS!!!HOW LOW CAN YOU GO ??? DISCUSTING KYOTO CULTISTS!!!WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE SCIENTEST THAT PREDICTED THE NEXT ICE AGE OR THE DEPLETION OF THE OZON LAYER, REMEMBER THE BIG HOLE IN THE OZON LAYER THAT WAS GETTING BIGGER AND WAS GOING TO SCORCH THE EARTH,HAVENT HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THIS FOR AGES

"CARL SAGAN was a wacky nutcase"

What do you expect from a man who thought the universe was billions of years old. The insanity!

I was brought up Christian and consider myself Buddhist. I don't believe in God, but I know we share all our resources from the Earth which is where we live and we should be responsible wardens. Can someone please tell me how this is NOT a moral issue given the scientific data to back Elizabeth May's argument?? This is a complex issue that goes beyond partisan politics and elections. The simple answer: stop smearing and talking, collaborate and ACT, goddamit!

Word is Lizzie May is going to study the ministry, Anglican Church I believe. Now last I heard that church is having a tough go with lots of controversy, losing parishoners etc.
Hate to break it to them but she'll clear the church right out.
Talk about poop from the pulpit!