The recent encyclical (papal letter) from Pope Francis, Laudato Si', may be the most amazing church pronouncement in recent history. I'm slowly reading and re-reading it, trying to digest the whole.
I majored in religion and philosophy and have read many theological and religious writings, and NOTHING is like this encyclical. This is the writing of a prophet on fire. This is going to go down in history as one of the all-time great papal writings.
Right now I want to focus on just one section, section 49:
49. It needs to be said that, generally speaking, there is little in the way of clear awareness of problems which especially affect the excluded. Yet they are the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people. These days, they are mentioned in international political and economic discussions, but one often has the impression that their problems are brought up as an afterthought, a question which gets added almost out of duty or in a tangential way, if not treated
merely as collateral damage. Indeed, when all is said and done, they frequently remain at the bottom of the pile. This is due partly to the fact that many professionals, opinion makers, communications media and centres of power, being located in affluent urban areas, are far removed from the poor, with little direct contact with their problems. They live and reason from the comfortable position of a high level of development and a quality of life well beyond the reach of the majority of the world’s population. This lack of physical contact and encounter, encouraged at times by the disintegration of our cities, can lead to a numbing of conscience and to tendentious analyses which neglect parts of reality. At times this attitude exists side by side with a “green” rhetoric. Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear
both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
More below.
This pronouncement from the pope is not really mainly about climate change. The main point is a radical attack on free market capitalism as the greatist evil in the world!
I was telling my wife about this this morning, and she said: "Oh my God! I hope he doesn't get assassinated."
His time will come as God wills. But he's already dropped a HUGE world-historical bomb.
Perhaps silly to hope...but I hope Pope Francis meets with Bernie Sanders when he's in the United States this fall.
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I'm going to have more on the encyclical as I slowly read and re-read it. I'm basically trying my best to memorize it. It's important! And it's beautifully written.
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And let me mention that the entire notion of capitalism was invented by Scottish philosopher (later called economist) Adam Smith in his great treatise The Wealth of Nations. Even Smith, from the very beginning, warned that if unchecked and unregulated, capitalism would lead to great evils. You can look it up!
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Oh, here's a link to the official English version: http://w2.vatican.va/...
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It's suggested in the comments that I add these sections from the papal letter:
V. JUSTICE BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS
159. The notion of the common good also extends to future generations. The global economic crises have made painfully obvious the detrimental effects of disregarding our common destiny, which cannot exclude those who come after us. We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world
we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others. Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is noptional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow
us. The Portuguese bishops have called upon us to acknowledge this obligation of justice: “The environment is part of a logic of receptivity. It is on loan to each generation, which must then hand it on to the next”. An integral ecology is marked by this broader vision.
160. What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up? This question not only concerns the environment in isolation; the issue cannot be approached piecemeal. When we ask ourselves what kind of world we want to leave behind, we think in the first place of its general direction, its meaning and its values. Unless we struggle with
these deeper issues, I do not believe that our concern for ecology will produce significant results. But if these issues are courageously faced, we are led inexorably to ask other pointed questions: What is the purpose of our life in this world? Why are we here? What is the goal of our work and all our efforts? What need does the earth have of us? It is no longer enough, then, simply to state
that we should be concerned for future generations. We need to see that what is at stake is our own dignity. Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is, first and foremost, up to us. The issue is one which dramatically affects us, for it has to do with the ultimate meaning of our earthly sojourn.
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