The environment gets Rick rolled

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." – Arapaho Proverb

Rick "man on dog" Santorum strongly disagrees with this concept of "environmental stewardship":

Environmental stewardship refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) championed a land ethic "dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it." According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, environmental stewardship is the responsibility for environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment.

Santorum's views on the environment are shaped by his views on religion. Religion and Environment:

What role does religion play in shaping our attitude towards the natural world? One answer was proposed in 1967 by UCLA History Professor Lynn White, Jr., who wrote an article entitled, "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis" (Science 155(3767):1203-1207, 1967). In this article, he said that the Western world's attitudes towards nature were shaped by the Judeo-Christian tradition. This tradition, White wrote, involved the concept of a world created solely for the benefit of man: "God planned all [of creation] explicitly for man's benefit and rule: no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man's purposes." Along with this, Western Christianity separated humans from nature. In older religious traditions, humans were seen as part of nature, rather than the ruler of nature.

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Christianity "not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends" . . . [White] proposed that Christianity, and Western civilization as a whole, held a view of nature that separated humans from the rest of the natural world, and encouraged exploitation of it for our own ends.

Which leads Rick Santorum to question President Obama's Christian faith because he does not subscribe to this concept of dualism of man and nature, and the exploitation of the Earth's resources for man's own purposes. Santorum is indirectly attacking millions of Americans who also do not subscribe to his views. Santorum: Obama 'world view' wrongly places Earth above man :

Rick Santorum on Sunday condemned what he called President Obama's world view that "elevates the Earth above man". . .

A day after telling an Ohio audience that Obama's agenda is based on "some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible," the GOP presidential candidate said he wasn't criticizing the president's Christianity.

Oh yes, he is. And he is questioning the faith of millions of other Americans as well.

"I am talking about his world view, and the way he approaches problems in this country. I think they're different than how most people do in America," he said in the broadcast interview.

The former Pennsylvania senator said Obama's environmental policies promote ideas of "radical environmentalists," who, Santorum argues, oppose greater use of the country's natural resources because they believe "man is here to serve the Earth." He said that was the reference he was making Saturday in his Ohio campaign appearance when he denounced a "phony theology."

"I think that is a phony ideal. I don't believe that is what we're here to do," Santorum said. "We're not here to serve the Earth. The Earth is not the objective. Man is the objective."

Part of the problem is the apocalyptic end-times beliefs of Rick Santorum. It is OK to rape, pillage and plunder the land because the Apocalypse is coming tomorrow, and God will recreate the world anew in a perfect paradise.

Which is surprising coming from a Catholic. Santorum rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church. From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/FCStatement.pdf:

We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of God’s creation. Care for the earth is a duty of our faith and a sign of our concern for all people. We should strive to live simply to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We have a moral obligation to protect the planet on which we live—to respect God’s creation and to ensure a safe and hospitable environment for human beings, especially children at their most vulnerable stages of development. As stewards called by God to share the responsibility for the future of the earth, we should work for a world in which people respect and protect all of creation and seek to live simply in harmony with it for the sake of future generations.

Reporters ought to ask Rick Santorum why he rejects the teachings of his own "radical environmentalists" Catholic Church to question the faith of President Obama, and millions of other Americans, who share the Church's view on stewardship of God's Creation.

P.S.

Perhaps Rick Santorum rejects the teachings of his Catholic faith because he was a member of the secretive "Fellowship Foundation" (aka "The Family") at the C Street House in Washington, D.C. He was directly involved in the Sen. John Ensign affair, who was also a member of C Street. There needs to be more reporting on the activities of The Family and Rick Santorum's role at C Street House.