What kind of Pagan are you?


The kind who doesn't believe in human caused global warming
Continuing my reply to Wadard who commented on this post.

The simple answer is that I am a Pagan who doesn't accept that "global warming" is unusual or human caused. I am a human who believes that he has learned the difference between dogma and practicality.

Imagine for a moment that there were two people, both of whom lived in Phoenix. For reasons that aren't important right now, one of them only remembers the weather back to about January 1st. The other remembers weather over his entire life.

"Man oh man," says the first guy. "We HAVE to do something about this weather! It just keeps getting hotter and hotter. We just had 35 days with triple digit temperatures. We gotta fix this. Something is wrong, and I know that it is our fault. It didn't used to be like this."

"It was like this last year," says the second guy. "It was even hotter last year. But it will get cooler again, just like it did last year and the year before."

Now, who is right? It's really a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Even without the benefit of my Pagan beliefs, I can recognize that the planet is a marvelous collection of integrated adaptive systems. We have to make sure that anything we do has a stronger positive impact than the negative impact. Sure, you could save on your power bill by unplugging your refrigerator, but then you won't have a cool place to store your food. Not to mention increasing the chances of food poisoning.

Do you know if our temperature right now is usual or unusual?

Do you know if higher carbon levels in the atmosphere increase global temperature or could it be a reaction to increased temperature?

Can you rule out everything except human action that causes temperature change?

These are simple questions, but they are central to the debate.

Without the assumption of human guilt, we would have to assume that whatever changes we see in global climate are natural and temporary states.

*sighs*

I have this theory, and it doesn't make me very popular. With some few exceptions, most of the Neopagans I know were originally raised in one of the Big Three monotheistic faiths and converted. A central myth shared by the Big Three is the Fall of Man from a state of grace with the Divine and the natural world. One of the currents that has shaped Western scientific thought (particularly since the rise of Christianity) is the assumption that man is separate from the world. In the Victorian era this often translated as "Nature good and pure, Man and industry evil."

My theory, supported by observation so far, is that some Neopagans don't want to let go of that concept of human guilt because Man is Fallen and imperfect. That is fine as a belief, but it is not necessarily a Pagan belief. Redemption is a personal journey, only you can decide if that is your path.

Before you can do, you have to Be. Then you can Know.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - July 7, 2006 at 06:10 PM  Tag


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