Crichton: Environmentalism is "religion of choice for urban atheists"
Hat tip: Viking Pundit
You may know Micheal Crichton (CRY-ton) as the author of Jurassic Park, Congo, The Sphere, et al., and, of course, Timeline. This excerpt is from his speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francsico on Sept. 15, 2003 (EFL!):Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say itâs a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.
Thereâs an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, thereâs a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.
Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsdaythese are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative beliefs. They may even be hard-wired in the brain, for all I know. I certainly donât want to talk anybody out of them, as I donât want to talk anybody out of a belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God who rose from the dead. But the reason I donât want to talk anybody out of these beliefs is that I know that I canât talk anybody out of them. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith.
And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts arenât necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. Itâs about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.
Posted by: Dar 2003-12-03 |