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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (23545)	7/12/1998 11:58:00 AM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Well, Michael, first of all I don't think that Greenpeace kinds of people abandoned Christianity or God in droves or anything and decided to become environmentalists to take away anyone's personal freedoms, or to fill up the emptiness they felt inside. I suspect that people who revere the earth have always leaned more towards the pagan religions, or very mild forms of Christianity which do show concern towards animal and plant species, and a cooperative sprit, and do not stress quite so much getting to the next world at the expense of the lives we have here. This all comes from very ancient beliefs by pagans that earth is the mother of all life, and must be sustained if we are to continue to thrive. Many Christians seem unconcerned about polluting the planet, but the planet is what is sacred in paganism. So in that way environmentalism is a religion of sorts. However, it is also backed up by science, and as the science on any particular aspect of damage to the earth becomes conclusive, I would think that all objective and concerned people would support environmental policies. Environmentalists act not simply selfishly, but for all people everywhere. Then I think we need to examine the whole concept of personal freedoms. No one is totally free, unless you live on an island where there are no other beings of any sort. Anything you do has some consequence on the environment around you, so even in fairly free societies, there are laws setting up how much personal freedom you can have without infringing on the personal freedoms of someone else. When you jet ski, you definitely disturb the peace of land and sea animals, birds, and the people who live along the shore. God didn't create jet skis--they are a very recent invention and not part of nature. The other personal crafts I was referring to as potentially damaging to the environment are dirt bikes in pristine areas like national parks, and snow ski mobiles in crowded areas. Certainly, in almost deserted areas like rural Alaska, where they are extremely helpful for survival and are not just used for joy riding, the snow mobiles in particular have very practical and defensible uses. But to me, your personal freedoms are not paramount over mine. You do not have the inherent right to stink up the air I breathe with your cigarette smoke, disturb my peace at two in the morning with loud music, or ruin my tranquility by zooming past my property, terrifying all life above and below sea level simply for your personal pleasure of doing so. That is why we have laws--because most of us acknowledge that some compromise on personal freedoms is necessary so that everyone has reasonable freedom to go about their daily lives unaccosted. I would definitely agree that there are places where ski mobiles should be allowed. Recreational areas should be set aside for them just as they are for dirt biking, skate boarding, and all the other sports activities that are wonderful for the people doing them, but create hardship or actual danger for the hapless citizens around them. The Christian right is attempting to alter the daily lives of many Americans with their insistence that science be abandoned to teach creation theory in the schools. They are trying to take Halloween and Valentine's Day away as publicly celebrated holidays. They destroy actual lives and cause immense pain to millions of people with their hateful and ignorant policies on homosexuals. They are not saying, well, yes, this is a diverse society and we should do our thing over here and let everyone else do theirs, and it is wrong to cause pain and destruction. They are actively pursuing their course, which is very, very damaging to others!!! This is very, very different from taking an activity like jet skiing, which does infringe on the rights of others, and the environment, and simply trying to work out some compromises so that there are a reasonable number of places to jet ski. Is there some environmental reason Honda scooters should be banned? If so, I am unaware of it, and it has never occurred to me that they cause anyone any problems at all.