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Jim Baum of King County, Washington tried recently to sell his
dairy farm but discovered that 13 acres of his 17acre farm
were designated "wetlands." Another problem arose when
he noted that his farm supposedly was home for 350 endangered
species of plants and animals including "Bigfoot." King
County officials say they have no idea how "Sasquatch"
got on the list, but the beast must be rare since no one has ever
managed to catch or kill one. Mythical creatures need government
protection too (Bob Ellison in The New Mexican Cattleman).
Redefining "Life"
What is behind such draconian measures that would hand down mandates
concerning private property from governmental bureaucrats? First,
there is a redefining of biblicalbased American values,
with a specific emphasis upon the "devaluation" of human
life. The Declaration of Independence set forward the notion that
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would be protected
from government incursion. Inclusion of this principle was due
to the American Founding Fathers' biblical ideal of a Godcentered
world. "They celebrated the belief that human life reflected
the image of the creator and that all other life forms are a gift
to be used to sustain and benefit human life" (from Environmental
Conservation Organization, Hollow Rock, TN 38342). "Ant
God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
he him; male and female created he them" (Gen. 1:27). Regarding
man's dominance over creation God said, "and let them [male
and female] have dominion over the fish of the sea ... and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (1:26)
Further, man is to "subdue" the earth in his dominance
over it.
From this Godcentered view, society has now turned to a
"biocentric" world view, denouncing the concept that
man is to use the environment for his benefit.
In a generation, anthropocentrism [mancentered values] has
been denounced as the cause of most of the world's problems, and
life, as a value, has been redefined. The new definition of life,
the first and highest value to be protected, is all life
forms, of which human life is but one strand with no more value
than any other life forms. This belief is described as 'biocentrism,'
or 'naturecentered.'
According to this concept, the cockroach and banana plant
has as much value and right to life as does man. Jesus "cursing"
the figtree thus becomes criminal since it is now a violation
of "Earthfirst" mentality and is no less culpable
than exterminating a person.
In a recent "State of the World Forum" in San Francisco,
a planetary confabulation was sponsored by the Gorbachev Foundation
which was attended by 400 plus elite personalities from around
the world including George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Carl Sagan,
John Denver, Shirley MacLaine, Ted Turner, and the heads of numerous
countries (The New American, Oct. 30, 1995). In a final
session philosopher/author Sam Keen summarized the consensus of
the participants. He noted:
There was a very strong agreement that religious institutions
have to take the primary responsibility for the 'population
explosion' which is the number one crisis per the Forum. Some
even suggest that we need to cut the population of the planet
by 90%. How is this to be accomplished? Barbara Max Hubbard, a
Forum participant proposed in her book The Book of CoCreation,
'Out of the full spectrum of human personality, onefourth
is electing to transcend.... One fourth is destructive [and] they
are defective seeds. In the past they were permitted to die 'natural
death.'... Now as we approach the quantum shift from the creaturehuman
to the cocreative human-the human who is an inheritor of
godlike powers-the destructive onefourth must be eliminated
from the social body.... Fortunately, you are not responsible
for this act. We are. We are in charge of God's selection process
for planet Earth. He selects, we destroy. We are the riders of
the pale horse, Death.'
Billy Graham
In keeping with the new earthreligion, bear in mind the
shift in the thinking of national religious figures such as Billy
Graham. Graham has for a long time been as weak as water on the
abortion issue, saying "no one really knows when life begins"
(Flashpoint, August 1995). Regarding homosexuality,
Graham opined on the Larry King Live program that these
sinners are "just born that way." Later, in an interview
with Cal Thomas, the conservative reporter asked Graham why he
had been reluctant to speak out on abortion. Graham answered,
"I think the top social issue of our time may be ecology
(the environment). I think that's more dangerous ... and I'm going
to start speaking out on that." This is certainly a popular
notion as "ministers" begin to pander to the social
issues of the day, even going so far as to "redefine"
what it means to preach the gospel. I am not here suggesting that
Graham ever did preach the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, but he
certainly reflects the current feeling that preachers ought to
be saving the environment, not saving souls, or teaching the value
of human life.
The Bottom line
Lastly, the mainspring of environmental hype is to revamp not
only the "Christianoriented" foundations of America,
but to replace it with a socialistic world.
Consequently, there has been an explosion of federally mandated
environmental rules resulting in the confiscation, devaluation
and redistribution of private property.... This is not a matter
of those who favor clean air and water versus those who do not.
Few of us endorse breathing dirty air or drinking filthy water.
But we're confronted with a punitive regulatory system run amok"
(Mark Levin, in The Daily Oklahoman, 121594).
Cal Thomas observed that:
Further study and monitoring of environmental concerns is warranted,
as are policies to help us deal with trash. But the United States
ought not to be a part of a movement by the Third World and its
political allies in this country to bring us down to their level
technologically and economically. If we do, the socialists who
just lost the Cold War might be able to declare victory after
all (in St. Louis Dispatch, June 8, 1992).
That Thomas' fears are wellfounded, consider that at the
1992 "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro, Fred Smith addressed
the ecological problems by an attack on the free market system
of America. "The world is moving decisively toward central
planning for ecological rather than economic purposes" (as
reported by The New American, July 27, 1992). The ecoconcerns
that are currently so prominent are largely driven by religious
desires to introduce a new pagansocialism in America.
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