RFFM.org Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director
You couldn't have missed it, if you tried. There were TV specials on National Geographic, CNN, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, among many others. Oprah commemorated the event and every newscast seemingly reminded viewers of the day's significance.
It was Earth Day, a holiday meant to celebrate the Earth, but something just didn't feel right about it. Perhaps it's because Earth Day seems to be transforming into a religious celebration. The day now has an overtone reminiscent of paganism.
Earth Day has its high priest in Al Gore. It has an apocalyptic vision held within claims the World will be doomed because of global warming. It has places of worship which are represented by institutions of higher learning and science. And it offers a way to penance for past sins with carbon credits that can bring redemption to sinners.
Believe it or not, there is an online website where one can go to receive a carbon emissions number which represents your particular footprint on the environment. If this sounds a bit extreme, think about the following. PBS now has a series which depicts how the planet Earth would look if man were removed form the scene. With pride, scientists explain every sign of man could be wiped away in just a few hundred years. Narrators in the series almost sound hopeful that such a day will not be far in the future. "This will not be a quiet place because man is gone," the narrator tells viewers. "There will be the sound of the wind and the water. Earth will be full of sounds."
The documentary goes on to describe the Earth devoid of any remnant of man. With pride, announcing, in a thousand years it would be hard to find evidence that human beings walked the planet.
What a wonderful picture this paints, doesn't it? The wilderness will reclaim our cities, our monuments and man's greatest triumphs of art and culture. But it really wouldn't be a great loss because, after all, the Earth would survive--at least that's what they seemed to be telling us.
In this vision, the planet is deified. And, in reality, this is not a new vision. For years, scientists have been telling everyone who would listen that the planet is simply a result of natural processes. The plants and animals which inhabit it are there due to natural selection and man is more of a blight on nature than a part of it.
If you don't believe Earth Day is a new religious holy day, a comparison might convince you of the fact.
Easter, perhaps the most holy day in Christendom, recently passed with barely a notice by the media. Certainly the day was celebrated with reverence in Christian churches and among people of the faith. But it is apparent the culture--and those who drive it--are doing everything possible to remove its significance from our society. Could you imagine a movie like "Easter Parade" being made today?
In Judaism, Passover is one of the most important days of that faith. It also received barely a mention, earlier this month, by those in the media. Were these days slighted because we have a population which no longer believes in God or are there forces directing society away from faith?
Polling indicates over 80% of Americans refer to themselves as Christians. Yet a small minority has systematically removed--or attempted to remove--all mention of faith and religion from the public square. However, a society cannot remove such social underpinnings without repercussions. Indeed, history has shown when civilizations undergo such change, they soon fall to conquering forces. Therefore, Earth Day is a product of necessity for those who have lost purpose in our culture. They do not worship a higher power or, at least, a traditional god-like force. So, they revert to something that held sway over men thousands of years ago, but today they call it something new...environmentalism.
Should mankind respect the world we live in? Answering "no" to that question would be foolish. But worshipping the land and the planet itself is folly and it gives short shrift to the Creator. In every civilization where man has cast tradition aside, chaos and destruction soon followed.
Since Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, it cannot be said we have learned to treat our fellow man any better than we had before the day was conceived. Perhaps we are missing the message when nature takes prominence over the welfare of man. In the near future, Earth Day may be the biggest holiday of the year. But, as the PBS series notes, there may be no one around to celebrate it.
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