With today's convergence of the Christian recognition of Good Friday, and the modern pagan celebration of Earth Day, the divergence of reverence could not be more distinct: Those who worship the Creator, and those who worship the creation.
For background, read Evangelicals Warn of Cult of Environmentalism and also read Environmentalist 'christians' Say Man Controls Nature, Not God
-- From "Good Friday and Earth Day: Freedom and Slavery" by Anthony J. Sadar and Susan T. Cammarata, American Thinker 4/22/11
The two occasions could not be more dissimilar.
The message and acts of Jesus focused on people. And, in addition to love and grace, freedom was one of his main evangels. This freedom was from all ungodly yokes, which includes the sacrosanct norms and standards of today's progressive environmentalism.
While familiarity with the structure and strictures of world religions is quite common, familiarity with environmentalism as religion is not as common. Progressive environmentalism from its modern inception in 1962 with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring quickly emerged as a kind of faith that rivals the traditional religions of the world. It has all the trappings of a religion including a god (Mother Earth or Gaia); holy writs (Silent Spring, The Population Bomb); mantras ("Love your Mother," "Save the Planet"); doctrines (capitalism and industrialization are evil; socialism and eating low on the food chain are righteous); dead saints (John Muir, Rachel Carson); and, of course, holidays. Besides Earth Day, there is the U.N. sponsored World Environment Day on June 5 and World Ozone Day on September 5, among others.
No sensible, caring person denies that good stewardship is required for the wise use of natural resources and arable lands. However, what has arisen with progressive environmentalism is a careless denial of the sensible.
To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.
From "Christians reflect on Good Friday/Earth Day concurrence" by ENInews, postd at The Christian Century 4/21/11
[Liberal "christian" Earth Day] Proponents say that planting trees and meditating on ways humanity has wounded the earth can parallel devotions that mark Jesus' sacrifice, but opponents say that a political message, even a pagan one, is being pushed onto sacred territory.
"This year's Earth Day falls on Good Friday. This is a right and appropriate occasion to remember the cross, which was made out of trees, leads us from bondage to liberation, death to life," said the National Council of Churches in India, which groups 30 Orthodox and Protestant churches.
Earth Day has been observed on 22 April since 1970 and is considered one of the seminal events in the modern environmental movement; Good Friday is on a different date each year since it moves according to the observance of Easter.
In the U.S., the Episcopal Church, based in New York, has compiled resources for incorporating earth-care themes into services and celebrations, according to Episcopal News Service.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Episcopal Church: This Good Friday, let’s celebrate Earth Day" by Chris Moody, The Daily Caller 4/7/11
Two of the world’s holiest religious holidays are set to fall on April 22 this year — Good Friday for Christians and Earth Day for environmentalists — and some religious leaders are preparing their flocks to celebrate both.
The Episcopal Church’s office of Economic and Environmental Affairs released a statement urging followers to stay mindful of global warming, recycling and reducing carbon dioxide emissions while celebrating the ancient Christian holiday in 2011.
The church set up a website for the celebration of Earth Day, complete with links to resources on how to best get involved on the extra special day.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Abilene faithful, others discuss Good Friday, Earth Day convergence" by Brian Bethel, Abilene Reporter-News (Texas) 4/21/11
"This year Earth Day falls within Holy Week, specifically on Good Friday, a profound coincidence," said Mike Schut, the economic and environmental affairs officer of the Episcopal Church, in a statement.
To "fully honor Earth Day," he said, Christians must reclaim the theology that "knows Earth is very good."
"On Good Friday, the day we mark the crucifixion of Christ, God in the flesh, might we suggest that when Earth is degraded, when species go extinct, that another part of God's body experiences yet another sort of crucifixion — that another way of seeing and experiencing God is diminished?" Schut said.
"Good Friday is indeed Earth Day, for we of faith realize anew ... the cost of God loving this world," said Cliff Stewart, pastor of First Central Presbyterian Church.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Good Friday: Google Celebrates Earth, Ignores Jesus" by Erin R. Brown, Culture and Media Institute 4/22/11
For nearly 2,000 years, Christians and Catholics around the world have celebrated the day Jesus Christ died upon the cross at Calvary for the sins of the world - but by looking at Google, you wouldn't know that today is that day. Google's homepage, famous for its ever changing logo to reflect important holidays, accomplishments and achievements, is not displaying any acknowledgement of the Christian holiday known as 'Good Friday.'
The company has instead decided to portray its logo hidden in a lush animated garden to commemorate 'Earth Day.' Earth Day, while internationally recognized as a day for the eco-friendly and environmentally conscious, was concocted 41 years ago, born out of the anti-war hippy movement and spawned in part by Rachel Carson's book, 'Silent Spring.'
The Culture and Media Institute found that 65 percent of stories that discussed 'Easter' among network evening news shows in 2010 were negative, and 91 percent of those stories connected the holiday with the pedophilia scandal that surrounded the Catholic Church. Not surprisingly, every Earth Day story that ABC, CBS, and NBC nightly news shows broadcasted were glowingly positive about saving Mother Earth.
To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.
From "Google Doodle celebrates Earth Day" by Relaxnews 4/22/11
Google has frequently added images to its homepage to mark significant events; recent Google Doodles were created to mark the 50th anniversary of the first man in space on April 12 and Charlie Chaplin's birthday on April 16.
Now in its 41st year, Earth Day is an international environmental campaign aimed at raising awareness of climate change. Celebrities, businesses and individuals around the world are supporting the campaign through a series of events.
The organizers behind Earth Day are also encouraging individuals to publically pledge to do an environmentally friendly action, such as recycle more, as part of Earth Day's Billion Acts of Green campaign. The organizers hope they can collect a billion public pledges before the global Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Environmentalism Greatest Threat to Civilization
