In Reply to: Re: Christian responses to environmental concerns posted by Thinker on December 09, 2009 at 09:33:09:
This is a really nice critique.
In my own journey of late, I've been looking at this issue from the standpoint of geologic time. Civilization and recorded history as we know it only arose in the last 15,000-10,000 years. This corresponds the retreat of the glaciers and an unprecedented warming period that has allowed human civilization to flourish. Climate change, which is certainly a fact regardless how much is occurring due to human activity versus the processes of natural history, is a given. From the standpoint of the natural history of the planet, human civilization as we know it is unsustainable. Maybe our species will survive, but our way of living on the planet surely will not continue much longer. I'm not sure how much we can do to "save" the planet, because what we're often talking about is saving human civilization as we know it.
This doesn't mean I don't try to do what I can to care for the environment and reduce my carbon footprint. It's just that I think human civilization reached the tipping point where the geological history is concerned. In that sense I believe in eschatological prophesy: I think we're doomed.
Not a happy thought, but then, I'm nearing the end of life. I doubt my children or grandchildren think this way. I hope they can come to grips with these issues, but I don't see how that is possible. The forces at work are bigger than any of us.