Author Topic: Response to: What Commandment Tells us to Recycle? (Read 829 times)

Matthew · « **on:** April 14, 2009, 10:11:23 AM »

What commandment tells us to recycle?

It is the 5th and 7th Commandments. There is more to understanding social justice than rhetoric.This protestant is right in blaming fallen human nature for the ills; but it can't end by just pointing the finger at our fallen nature and just saying Christ "covers our sins" and forget about it while continuing to destroy or let others destroy the world. St Paul says we are to restore all things in Christ. And this is necessary, because as we try to restore original beauty in our souls by grace, we will also strive to restore the beauty of all creation. Think of how the Church supports the arts and how beautiful in all ways were her Churches (the Catholic Church, not the modernist Church).
But if we neglect our soul, we will also neglect the world around us. The Israelites were commanded to wash outwardly so as to be clean inwardly (and it kept them more healthy than their neighbors). Unfortunately we can stop at the external without proceding to the internal, but not vice-versa. Therfore, someone who is conscientious of his soul will also be conscientious of his environment. The mind and soul work together.
This a perfect sign of the moral decay of our youth since they are not conscientious of their environment, but inhabit chaos and anarchy and filth, the perfect reflection of their soul. It is why it is important that
we oppose this negation of good in society and uphold positive ideals: children should only see what should be and not what should not be, realizing that what does not exist does not exist because it should not exist
Therefore, one who does not waste his time and keeps his soul clean will be one who does not waste and keeps his environment clean,--not excusing himself that it is just a consequence of fallen human nature that he can neglect both.
This whole article reminds me of Our Lord talking to the pharisees about how they would take their ass out of a pit, but wouldn't lift a finger for their dying poor friend. Is it the monetary benefit that decides our morality?

--
With God's blessing and my prayers.
In His Service,
Father Courtney Edward Krier

Matthew · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:32:36 PM »

Exactly -- for example, he who is properly mortified (having some self-control and ability to counter his fleshly desires) will be able to turn a light switch off -- even when he doesn't feel like it.

Ditto for setting the A/C too cold or the heat too high -- or wasting food on your plate. If you're mortified, you won't go after selfishness, comfort, etc. as your only objective. You'll consider other factors.

A Catholic with any decent level of mortification should be able to not waste food, for example. EVEN IF there is good dessert at hand, and you have some less-than-favorite food left on your plate. You eat the food so it won't go to waste, taste buds be darned. Or when you're eating out, you will "bother with" bringing the food home, knowing that it has value and shouldn't be wasted.

Being grateful for the material graces you receive and throwing good things away are mutually exclusive. Either you're thankful for God's gifts and you make good use of them, or you waste things and don't value God's gifts. It has to do with the spirit of poverty.

Matthew

Matthew · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2009, 07:39:20 PM »

I think a lot of good people get into a knee-jerk reaction to "environmentalism". Since liberals and environmentalists try to "save the earth", we conclude it must be a bad thing, and strive to do the opposite: we pride ourselves on using incandescent light bulbs, on doing NOTHING to save energy, etc.

But we'd be simply going over to the other extreme!

The true path is this: don't worry about population, carbon dioxide levels, etc. because God will take care of that. He commanded us to "be fruitful and multiply" and He commands us to use Marriage for its proper end.

However, when we waste anything we are being ungrateful to God for His great gifts. If someone threw a gift back in your face, would you be happy? Of course not.

God gives us food, energy, and even a beautiful earth -- we should strive to keep it that way, as long as we worry about our soul first.

The priest in the article was trying to say that a saint won't destroy the earth -- but he won't even have to "try" -- he'll just be himself. But people CAN focus on saving the earth and stop there, neglecting their soul. Then what good does it do them?

Composting your food scraps (to take one example) just makes good sense. God designed vegetables to grow best "organically" -- not in depleted soil soaked in pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

And conserving water, electricity, and gasoline is just being frugal -- it helps me to raise my family on one income. That's certainly Catholic and a good thing.

I do things the way God would have me do them -- whether or not the environmentalists would be happy. In some ways they'd love me, in other ways they'd be furious! Let them scratch their head about the apparent "contradiction" and just MAYBE it will make them stop and think about their position.

I can see it now:

"He is overpopulating the earth with his 3 kids under 3. But he doesn't generate much garbage, he grows a lot of his own food, and the electric bill for his family of five is lower than the average person living by himself. ARRGH! I don't get it!"

Matthew