Hippie Catholics

Today, I’m proud to be a Catholic. \nWhile the governments of the world are busy pointing fingers and charlatans like Al Gore are imploring everyone else to save the world, the Vatican is putting its money where its mouth is in the fight against environmental degradation. Plans are already in motion for it to become the word’s first carbon-neutral state by developing a 37-acre climate forest in Hungary, calculated and designed to directly offset the Vatican’s carbon emissions.\nThe development of a climate forest is largely a symbolic move, as the Vatican is a tiny state whose contribution to the global carbon crisis is minimal. In the long run, it would take major industrialized states following the Vatican’s example to honestly help undo all the hurt we’ve caused to our planet. However, as one of the most influential entities on the planet, the Vatican can do nothing but boost environmental awareness within the Christian community by taking such a firm stance on eco-consciousness.\nIn this case, it is a true possibility that the natural evangelism of Christianity could do some good for people of all creeds. By making environmental concerns Catholics’ Christian duty, as Pope Benedict XVI has by reminding Catholics of God’s call to environmental stewardship in the book of Genesis, the world’s billion Catholics are put in a position to pressure their governments and to choose charitable causes that support a healthier world for all, regardless of creed. And wasn’t that Christ’s message, anyway, to make the world better for humanity as a whole? That’s always been my interpretation.\nThe Catholic Church can also be looked at as a beacon of hope for changing times. My church has never really been associated with traditionally liberal values, like saving the globe from certain destruction. In fact, its prevailing concern for centuries has been saving souls for the next world. This major shift to a concerted effort to save the physical world and the people of today proves that the times are indeed a-changin’. \nIt is time for the people of all faiths to embrace the notion that selfish consumption is not only unnecessary, but morally unjustifiable. The fact that we as individuals can live perfectly full lives with lower levels of consumption and mindful living makes it our moral duty to do so in the face of the great good such a global shift could achieve. It’s true that each of us is only one person and that what we do on that level does not account for much. However, the exponential power of billions of individuals living mindfully and pressuring their governments to develop morally just policies for the environment is phenomenal. All lobbying entities, secular or religious, must continue to be committed to this wellspring of power in their quest to achieve the moral responsibility of sustainability.\nWell done, church of mine. Now can we please have condoms and acceptance for gays? One step at a time, I suppose.