Mood:
incredulousTopic: globalWarming
By email ccmedia@sydney.catholic.org.au
Open letter to Cardinal George Pell
Dear Cardinal Pell,
You sir are a menace to the Catholic, Christian, and general, community not to mention God's creation your vocation is supposed to protect: I note your scurrilous pontifications in the Sunday Telegraph p7 18th February 2007 “News in review” section, “Keeping a cool head amid warming hysteria” (which I notice continues to remain offline).
Recently I attended an Environmental Law conference hosted by Sydney University and others and wrote a report below in which your article and sorry record is mentioned in passing and contrasted with admirable Catholic conferences on climate change in 2005 and 2006 solidly informed by science:
"Chief Judge of environment court exhorts lawyers to imperial expansion of the sector
index.blog?topic_id=1085209
But in your piece last Sunday you write (laughably, tragically) :
“I’m deeply sceptical about man-made catastrophic global warming, but still open to evidence.”
Well big deal. In my judgement this is the approach of a vain, moral and intellectual pygmy. How dare I speak to someone so eminent in such terms? Because as an innocent child of St Joesphs Warrnambool primary school, of Christian Brothers College senior school there too, who swallowed the gospels whole as only a child can, who once contemplated the priesthood, I speak with God’s voice as much as you ever will, as God is my witness.
My father told me, an Irish Australian with the typical alcoholic problems, to “look after your sisters" (all 6 of them). But here’s the thing Cardinal. What about all the other sisters? All the other brothers? What indeed about the 100 million people in low lying areas of Bangladesh, Shanghai, Pacific Islands, India, our own people here in Australia. And the ecology around them?
You call my vocational activism “semi religious” and “dangerously close to superstition”.
But I say it’s listening to “the doctor” as per An Inconvenient Truth. The likes of eminent world leading scientists like Dr Chris West of the UK Govt climate impacts programme, Dr James Hansen of NASA, Professor Tim Flannery here, and yes such as Al Gore, and Robyn Williams of Radio National Science Show in its 32nd year.
All of your misleading and deceptive ‘science reporting’ in your column is the tired old red herrings of the political/economic vested interests and no doubt in some cases paid off claque of intellectual prostitutes.
How dare you lead people into such danger and risk?
You are right “enough is enough”: Begone from our midst Satan. Your vanity has endangered God’s Creation and it's 6 billion year long story on this planet for too long. Get thee behind me.
Indeed I have a clear eyed view of your twisting of ecological realities to a deeply right wing conservative view of society in support of the warmongering of PM John Howard against Muslims.
2 weeks ago it was your flimsy justifications of nuclear reactors across the East Coast of Australia. This weekend denial of dangerous climate change bearing down on western civilisation according to the great weight of (ironically also) very conservative global science community.
You sir are a political fraud using your high religious office to play election politics as PM Howard’s polls go south at a great rate and to your obvious dismay. An anecdote suffices: Overheard in Sydney I am told, recently 3 Catholic priests debating the billboard in front of a local Baptist Church “Jesus loves Osama” creating a great deal of discussion here recently:
The priests reportedly decided “I don’t. That’s all right for Jesus but Muslims are our enemy” when Jesus actually said "love your enemy".
That’s the kind of bogus intolerant mindless false Christianity that your leadership of the Church has led us to here in Sydney and no doubt why the Anglican cleric Jensen on 7.30 Report last night repudiated any real merging of the Anglican Church with such as yours.
So I say with all my heart, hold your false tongue priest.
Yours truly,
Tom McLoughlin Bsc Llb hon, principal ecology action Sydney
http://cpppcltrust.com/ecologyactionsydney
Solicitor in NSW, Editor sydneyalternativemedia/blog http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/
Postscript #1
We received this email from a climatologist and very experienced retired academic this morning:
From: xxxxxx
To: ecology action australia
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 7:50 AM
Subject: Re: George Pell the vain conservative menace to Christian society, 'deeply sceptical of catastrophic climate change'
Great letter, Tom & here,here, here,
I hope he sees it, but there's every chance it will be intercepted and destroyed by his 'minders'. I'll try to send him a letter, too, expressing my objections (as a climatologist) to his ignorant and irresponsible scepticism. It will have to sound as if it comes from a scientist, though, so my anger will need to be more restrained than yours (may be difficult and, as a mathematician who thinks in terms of precise objects, quantitative symbols and deterministic cause-effect relationships, 'words don't come easy' for me).
Regards & best wishes,
xxxxxxx
----- Original Message -----
From: ecology action australia
To: xxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 9:01 AM
Subject: thanks for that xxxxx
They confirm when I rang that it's gone to the Cardinal's office. I told the guy in communications office it has gone to nsw and federal parliament, melbourne independent media, abc, and alternative media as well.
He will have to read it, is my guess/hope. Someone may lose their job or I will be sued for calling him Satan.
It's pretty strong stuff but "a political fight I want to have" as I said to the guy.
Thanks xxxxx, appreciate the moral support from someone like you of Milo [Dunphy's] level of wisdom. Your moderate scientific approach is most justified. It only takes a tip of anger like the proverbial iceberg to evidence a much greater concern. That's my job bruises and all.
Kind regards, Tom
................................
Then I notice this web based back up in the Sydney Morning Herald today 21st Feb 2007, obviously more "semi religous superstitious" types, you know from
"The group, which includes executives from a range of industries including air transport, energy, and technology, called on governments to set targets for greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
"The agreement urged governments to place a price on the carbon emissions released by power plants, factories and other sectors to discourage emissions.
"Of course, addressing climate change involves risks and costs. But much greater is the risk of failing to act," said Alain Belda, chairman and CEO of the world's top aluminum producer Alcoa, who signed the pact.
The group includes General Electric, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor North America, investment bank Goldman Sachs, and Wal-Mart among its major corporations."
in International group sets plan to curb global warming 7:34am | More than 100 corporate heads, international organisations and experts call on governments to place a price on carbon emissions to discourage them.
and especially this
"If we delay too long in beginning the changeover to increasingly de-carbonised energy systems, the eventual costs will only rise and the impact of climate change will only become more severe," the group wrote in its agreement, warning that poorer nations would see the worst impact from climate change." [bold added]
Poorer nations. That's the folks clerics like Pell are supposed to care about and help defend, like Jesus Christ did.
