tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post1879339913038123308..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Worldly-neglect by the worldly: prophecy, disaster and repentanceBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-44648994271626663972011-07-18T08:03:13.864+01:002011-07-18T08:03:13.864+01:00@Bill - I think I understand - is it a version of ...@Bill - I think I understand - is it a version of the (?Oedipus Rex) idea that it is the attempt to evade prophecy in a literal sense that leads to its literal and disaterous fulfillment - but if the prophecy is accepted as a judgement, then its fulfillment will be symbolic (and perhaps beneficial).Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-50536744680985656972011-07-18T00:42:32.376+01:002011-07-18T00:42:32.376+01:00Disasters come from trying to do the impossible. ...Disasters come from trying to do the impossible. Immanentizing the Eschaton is impossible. Since orientation to the Eschaton is built in to us by God, denying a spiritual Eschaton leads us to immanentize it. And that's pretty much it.Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-58565922817097841512011-07-17T18:31:49.774+01:002011-07-17T18:31:49.774+01:00Interesting tack, Daniel.
It would appear that en...Interesting tack, Daniel. <br />It would appear that environmentalists desire only to have a pristine earth in order that they may then go and use it for their own eco-tourism entertainment. <br />As usual, it is not the stated goal that is the real goal. <br />It is not really about the earth, but about them. <br />I wish I were wrong about this. <br /><br />If you would have a perfect picture: remove yourself from it. Leave it be, to be itself.The Crowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04323413604073160469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-88167537792446678952011-07-17T13:27:46.456+01:002011-07-17T13:27:46.456+01:00@Daniel - well said.
When environmentalism comes...@Daniel - well said. <br /><br />When environmentalism comes to mean recycling, 'energy-saving' light bulbs, 'sustainable architecture', Cap and Trade/ carbon markets, and scrapping a perfectly good car to buy a Prius. <br /><br />When - in other words - environmentalism means strategically getting rid of existing old stuff and using more time, effort and energy to re-use, build and buy ever more *new* stuff, then that tells us everything we need to know about it.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-31327008563488263882011-07-17T11:37:04.250+01:002011-07-17T11:37:04.250+01:00The Crow is right of course, as are you, Dr. Charl...The Crow is right of course, as are you, Dr. Charlton. But the atheist this-worlders will respond that they <i>do</i> have long-term concerns about the earth, and that they are desperately worried about environmental destruction — their own kind of Gaia-eschaton. <br /><br />The thing is, they are right to be worried about environmental destruction. It is a serious problem, and a great crime, that modern humans destroy everything lovely and beautiful about the natural world as fast as we can. Perhaps global warming is the scam it seems to me to be (though perhaps not, I'm not 100% convinced there's no "there" there). But even without global warming alarmism, one cannot deny the horrible effects of industrialization and hyper-capitalism on the world that God created. <br /><br />But the very way in which atheist environmentalists (or their New Age Gaia-ist cousins) go about their earth-crusade belies their essentially unserious thought. Because the end goal of extreme environmentalism is a clean environment (which I would certainly welcome)... but <i>then what?</i><br /><br />If every toxic spill was cleaned up tomorrow, and every endangered species returned to full health, we'd be left with the same problem: what is the point of this-worldly existence? There can be none according to their view. In fact, it is the very prevalence of their own this-world-only thinking that made such ugly environmental destruction thinkable in the first place.<br /><br />Plus, and I think it's been mentioned on this blog before, the truly thorough and logical atheist environmentalist can have no other goal than the suicide of all humanity (with no afterlife). This is the logical end-game of committed atheism. All human meaning must end so that the (human-desired) pristine earth can come into existence. What a hopeless confusion!Danielnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-85641737709913541722011-07-17T08:40:13.461+01:002011-07-17T08:40:13.461+01:00It is necessary, not optional, to live asif there ...It is necessary, not optional, to live asif there was eternal consequence. Even were there not, this way of life would be preferable to the one now lived by most.The Crowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04323413604073160469noreply@blogger.com