The End is Near?—Bill Moyers was recently awarded the fourth annual Global Environment Citizen Award. His acceptance speech centered on the the anti-environmental beliefs of many Americans, as well as many Congressmen.

One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts.

He quotes from The Godly Must Be Crazy: Christian-right views are swaying politicians and threatening the environment by Glenn Scherer at Grist Magazine. This is the first I have heard of Grist:

Grist is an online environmental magazine. Our credo: Pull no punches, take no prisoners, eschew the wealth and fame that so often seduce online environmental journalists. And try to have a better sense of humor than a pack of fur protesters.

It's scary reading that boils down to the belief by many fundamentalists that the end is near so why bother protecting the environment. Everything will be better once we reach the end, so we might as well hasten it along.
posted by Bruce Wright at 1:46 PM #