Örvitinn

Umhverfistrúarbrögð

Þó það fari óskaplega í taugarnar á mér þegar hugtakið trúarbrögð er misnotað þótti mér þessi ræða rithöfundarins Michael Chrichton áhugaverð. Ég tek ekki undir allt sem hann segir og eflaust kemur hún við kaunin á mörgum sem flokka sig sem umhverfissinna.

Ræða fyrir Commonwealth Club

Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

...

And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.

....

With so many past failures, you might think that environmental predictions would become more cautious. But not if it's a religion. Remember, the nut on the sidewalk carrying the placard that predicts the end of the world doesn't quit when the world doesn't end on the day he expects. He just changes his placard, sets a new doomsday date, and goes back to walking the streets. One of the defining features of religion is that your beliefs are not troubled by facts, because they have nothing to do with facts.

umhverfið
Athugasemdir

Skúli - 10/12/03 20:08 #

Voðaleg leiðindi eru þetta í manninum.

  1. Náttúruverndarsinnar hafa illu heilli gríðarlegar heimildir fyrir þeim málflutningi sínum að ástand umhverfisins fari hríðversnandi. Nægir þar að nefna ástand skóga, hækkandi hitastig og fækkun dýrategunda.

  2. Nöttin sem standa á götuhornum eru ekki verðugir fulltrúar trúaðra einstaklinga.

  3. Hins vegar fyrirfinnast öfgahópar innan hópa trúaðra og umhverfissinna - sem gera einmitt þau reginmistök að rugla saman tveimur mikilvægum sviðum tilverannar. Önnur heyra undir hagnýta og fræðilega skynsemi og hin fjalla um þá helgidóma sem trúarbrögðin láta sig varða um.