Good question. The lesser beasts can not speak for themselves and Mother Earth has yet to inspire man to pen her holy scriptures. So, if man takes it upon himself to speak for the lesser creatures, he again exalts himself superior to those beasts and breaks the “rat…pig…dog…boy” equality declared by Ingrid Newkirk (PETA).

“& what does it mean for a religious group to declare pollution a sin?”

Another salient point. As you probably know, almost any piece of any religion’s scripture can be used to support nearly any belief system. My background is Christian and I really do not possess much understanding of the other organized religions that I referenced. However, other than a few references to stewardship, The Bible does not make it a point to focus on things like pollution, animal rights, green living, etc. Rather, it focuses on how man can attain a personal relationship with God and outlines statutes for avoiding many enumerated sins. Interestly enough, pollution is not listed.

Let’s start with the sentence just prior to the Greenmandments:

“While Catholics only have a few new sins to steer clear of, I’ve compiled the Green Movement’s 10 “Greenmandments” to make sure the rest of us can also avoid eternal damnation.”

What damnation do you need to avoid? If organized religion is loathsome and there is no God, it would stand to reason that there exists no soul to suffer any sort of eternal damnation. Freedom from an eternal judgment that just might lead to Hell is, after all, the basis of all anti-religious movements. This, by the way, is how such movements have justified the slaughter of millions throughout human history. The term “atheist morality” is a classic oxymoron because an atheist has no basis for morality. A true atheist believes that there is no such thing as sin. Additionally, a morality that can be used to govern a society must originate with a being of greater stature than even the best individual member of that society. Otherwise, what right do I have to impose my morality upon another, or vice versa?

However, if we are to believe that a soul can exist in the absence of God and green (Giaism, pantheism, etc.) is a religion all its own, does Mother Earth assume the role of the angry, white-haired grandparent casting her unjust judgment upon the souls of the deceased? Since Mother Earth is now god and “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy”, is there a heaven and a hell for all animal – or even plant for that matter – life? What must a “lesser” beast do to earn absolution from its sins? Does the lion go to hell for murdering the spring buck, even though his inability to survive on a vegan diet demands he do so? Does the rooster risk eternal damnation for his unrepentant raping of the hens in his flock? Will the hoofed beasts have to answer for the rise in global temperatures that can be traced to their incessant flatulence? What exactly is Mother Earth’s code of moral conduct for all living things?

Now, moving on to the “Greenmandments” themselves, why use ten as the magic number? If you are going to break with Judeo-Christian doctrine and set up an alternate set of rules, why not pick another number taking special care to avoid any of the significant religious numbers (i.e. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 12)? If you truly loathe organized religion, why focus your angst only upon the Catholic Church? Are not the Jews, Protestants, Islamists, Buddhists, etc. “organized”? Where is your anger against them? Surely, they lack perfection.

To close, I must admit that I have no idea why Yahoo! Inc. is included on your list of least favorite things. They are partially to thank for the exponential growth of the internet, which you bloggers so enjoy. However, if they are part of the problem, I would like to offer the 11th Greenmandment:

Thou shalt not blog upon the electronic internet until both thy computer and thy communication network can be powered by thine own body’s neural impulses, and thy body can be nourished without imbibing the beasts of the field or the field itself or the waters which nourisheth the field.

Maybe that is the pathway to heaven…

Why stop at environmentalism?

“In a sermon shortly before his death in May, Falwell criticized “naive Christian leaders” for being “duped” by environmentalism, which he told his congregation at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., was “Satan’s attempt to redirect the church’s primary focus” from evangelism.

Since the re-election of President Bush in 2004, however, and especially in the past two years — as awareness of climate change and disenchantment with the war in Iraq have crystallized — moderate and liberal evangelicals have been willing to step out of the shadows and confront the conservative leaders most Americans identify with evangelicalism.”

Glory glory, greenies are everywhere. That is essential to remember – this movement belongs to everyone.

Simran

- Jeff