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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 15201
[Environmental]
Date Posted:
3/25/2006
10:23:11 am EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 13,909
RSS: 18,621
Comments: 33
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The New Paganism
Author: Upper Valley Free Press Source: Upper Valley Free Press
Title: THE NEW PAGANISM
  There is a new Paganism taking root around the world and it manifests itself as environmentalism or more explicitly, Pantheism, a doctrine identifying the Deity with the universe and its phenomena, Fundamentalist Environmentalism, if you will.
Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position, it is the view that "God is everything and everything is God, the world is either identical with God or in some way a self-expression of his nature” Similarly, it is the view that everything that exists constitutes a "unity" and this all-inclusive unity is in some sense divine.
Dr. Michael S. Coffman President of Environmental Perspectives said: “Diametrically opposite to Christianity, Judaism and Islam pantheistic beliefs make no allowance for a one true God who created all things of nature. Instead, pantheism holds that all earth and all of nature is god, comprised of many gods and goddesses, all of whom demand total worship and obedience from every human. Failure to do so will evoke the wrath of these gods. Over the past 30 years, these pantheistic beliefs have gradually dominated the environmental policies of both the United States and the United Nations. And, they are interwoven into every environmental international treaty, especially the Convention on Biological Diversity.”
Submitted by and Thanks to: Christina
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Community Thoughts: There are 33 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Pure Bull Fertilizer!!! | Mar 26th. at 9:00:29 pm EST
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Richard Brownbear (North Wilkesboro, North Carolina) - Email Me
This statement made by a supposed Doctor shows just who is doing the lying / fabricating................
....."Dr. Michael S. Coffman President of Environmental Perspectives said: “Diametrically opposite to Christianity, Judaism and Islam pantheistic beliefs make no allowance for a one true God who created all things of nature. Instead, pantheism holds that all earth and all of nature is god, comprised of many gods and goddesses, all of whom demand total worship and obedience from every human. Failure to do so will evoke the wrath of these gods.".............
.....total worship and obedience?
.....evoke the wrath of these Gods?
Never, in all my studies of Wicca, Paganism or even Witchcraft have I ever read those terms, or even anything resembling them! MY God, Goddess, and Great Spirit are caring, loving, honest deities who treat me as an equal and help to teach me and guide me to grow as a person, both intellectually and spiritually. Yes they are tough sometimes, but there are things to learn that can't be learned any other way.
As far as the authors rebuttable posted here, stating that Environmetalists are (paraphrasing) "just a buch of liers!".........I just have to say ....Yeah, that's an intelligent rebuttal! That really showed them! (*drips in sarcasm*)
Only an idiot (by birth or by choice) can say the Earth is not going through a radical environmetal change that can be directly linked to humans since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. And only an idiot would attack environmentalists trying to save this planet.................That is, unless the attacker has something to gain politically, monetarily, or looking good in the eyes of his fellow idiots.
Earth is humanities only home, ONLY place we know of in this great universe where humans can live. If we let the idiots kill this planet, just where will the idiots tell us to go live then?
By then it won't matter though because humans will go the way of the dinosaur, and money, profits, and environmentalism will be non-existent.
But hey, an idiot doesn't care about then, as long as they get their money NOW, who cares what future generations will have to deal with because of idiot greed?
Who is the real lier now?
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| What The...? | Mar 26th. at 11:50:45 am EST
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Winddragon (anderson, South Carolina) - Email Me
Yes, whacked is a good description of the author and of the 'Upper Valley Free Press'. I think that "Free" means that any idiot can write and get published in it. Read about environmental issues from Carl Sagan's writings. He had nothing to lose from being honest. Nothing has changed since his death.
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| I AGREE.... | Mar 26th. at 4:50:29 am EST
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Whitewolf (Schenectady, New York) - Email Me
With what everyone else has been saying here - the author is wacked.
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| Letter To Editor Protesting Article | Mar 26th. at 3:40:45 am EST
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Shannon & Richard (couple) (San Jose, California) - Email Me
Here is the letter to the editor I wrote to the paper that published this article.
Dear Editor:
The individual who wrote the "New Paganism" article must be blind, deaf, dumb and just plain stupid. The signs of severe environmental degradation are all around us. I walked a supposedly scenic Mediterranean beach in the mid-1980's, only to see garbage floating on top of the ocean and smell some unpleasant, non-ocean like odors. I hiked the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington in the mid-1970's but now 80% of the trees I saw have been cut down. I read articles about the ozone layer is so damaged, Australian children must wear hats and sun screen before going outdoors or they will get skin cancer. The air in L.A. is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Tribes living near the Artic circle are fearful their livelihood is being gradually destroyed by the melting ice. Of the wild fish in American streams and rivers, 80% have unsafe mercury levels.
Sticking your head in the sand will not make the reality of environmental degradation go away. It only assures that we will all have a greatly reduced quality of life soon.
It will be expensive to clean up the environment and it will require a movement away from materialistic live styles. Both of these courses of actions will reduce corporate profits.
So which large corporation is sponsoring you, Mr. Hunter? Would you care to share this information with the innocent lambs following you, err-I mean your readers!
Sincerely,
Shannon Wallace
Druid
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| Isn't It Funny . . . | Mar 26th. at 3:25:54 am EST
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
how a shift in perspective can catch you off guard. I saw the article title, 'The New Paganism, and I'm like, oh cool, that should be interesting, what's going on that I haven't heard about, and where is it happening. Then to read the article, realize you're dealing with a total idiot, and that the title is designed as a horrific cattle call, to alert fundamentalists that very soon pagan hordes will be taking over the world. Look out brother Christian, Satan is alive and well! Before you know it, those nasty godless pagans will be copulating in public and throwing unwanted children onto garbage heaps. Never underestimate the stupidity and inherent danger of these types of people. In the end, it is not very funny at all.
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| More Information On Coffman | Mar 26th. at 12:10:02 am EST
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J & V Enterprises (Sweetwater, Tennessee) - Email Me
I have included a summary biography of the Dr. Michael S. Coffman mentioned in the article. The commmon thread that runs through all of the research is that this individual is a radical fundie that views everything through end times glasses. This is one very frightening individual that moves in very high circles and works with organizations that have the ear of the current Bush administration.
1. Until 1992
1.1 Worked as a manager for Champion International (a leading forest and paper products company in the United States) .
1.2 During employment by Champion International, became Chairman of the Forest Health Group within NCASI (National Council for the Paper Industry for Air and Stream Improvement) , a respected scientific research group for the Paper Industry. In this, and other related responsibilities, he was responsible for millions of dollars of research and became intimately involved in such national and international issues as acid rain, global climate change, wetlands, cumulative effects and biological diversity.
1.3. During this period he was a spokesperson for the Paper Industry for the media.
2. Current Affiliations
2.1 President, Environmental Perspectives, Inc. ( [Web LINK] ) - A fundemantalist christian ministry that opposes sustainable development, protection of the environment, and protection of endangered species
2.2 Chief Exective Director, Sovereignty International ( [Web LINK] ) , Inc. - An organization with strong fundamentalist christian ties that seemingly devoted to promoting the idea that global warming does not exist and that no international treaty applies if it interferes with the rights of the United States to do what it pleases
2.3 Executive Director, Local Environment and Resource Network (LEARN) (Website Cannot Be Found, all current links lead to removed page that had been hosted by Plesk) - A group advocating local override of state and federal laws that limit the use of land for environmental reasons
2.4 Member, The Council for National Policy ( [Web LINK] ) - A fundimentalist christian lobbying group responsible for much of the current Bush administration policy
3. Books Published
3.1 The Birth of World Government, Saviors of the Earth?
3.2 The Politics and Religion of Environmentalism
3.3 Environmentalism! The Dawn of Aquarius or the Twilight of a new Dark Age?
4. Political Actions
4.1 Instrumental in stopping the ratification of Convention on Biological Diversity in the US Senate
4.2 Advocacy for limiting government involvement in protecting the evironment
4.3 Works toward allowing corporations to exploit reserved areas as well as allowing unrestricted access to environementally sensitive lands for off road motor vehicles, hunting, logging, and development
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| Am NOT | Mar 25th. at 11:28:23 pm EST
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David Eagan (Cleveland, Wisconsin) - Email Me
I'm not a pantheist, I'm a monist.
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| Save Me Mothra! | Mar 25th. at 9:17:39 pm EST
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Sphinxring (Olympia, Washington) - Email Me
And eat these idiots!
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| Galloping Galaxies! What Planet Did I Land On? | Mar 25th. at 3:48:00 pm EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I wish these people knew how to write-- or at least keep coherent. Pantheism is merely a hierarchy of many Dieties and an adherence to such. Only Fundamentalism requires unquestioned obedience to dogma. And there seems to be a lot of that going around. Just because I love my world doesn't make me a terrorist even if I am Pagan. Those who have the power to pollute and alter have done so for the sake of greed and power leaving others to clean up after them. And it is not a terrorist act to demand they be more responsible for their actions since those actions affect others-- many far flung from where they live. If they had been- we wouldn't be complaining of global warming now- or at least- it would have another cause not nearly as connected to them. Concerns about the environment are not nearly as evil as a complete lack of concern for the single planet we exist on. After all- if this one becomes too dangerous on which to live- we have not yet discovered any other to which we can go. And even if we did- how long would that last- before it became just as ruined.
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| Must Have Missed The Memo! | Mar 25th. at 3:41:14 pm EST
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Ursyl (Murrysville, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
"Instead, pantheism holds that all earth and all of nature is god, comprised of many gods and goddesses, all of whom demand total worship and obedience from every human. Failure to do so will evoke the wrath of these gods."
Hope all those gods aren't too angry, don't know, they might send a tsunami to Pennsylvania!!!
This twit obvious didn't think through what the concept of Pantheism is. Many individual mutliple deites isn't Pantheism, it's Polytheism. Pantheism as such doesn't do deities as individuals.
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| Smear Pieces Are Too Easy | Mar 25th. at 1:03:42 pm EST
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Sphinxring (Olympia, Washington) - Email Me
Here's how it works:
Take some half-truths, connect them with loaded words, imply iclusion with something discredited, and trumpet some feel god slogan.
Hidden withing the retoric you punch in your message to exclude and persecute the *others* you want to demonize.
Example: "pagan gods, each that demands total obedience"???
Hmm somebody acting on orders from a plethora of strange voices? They're crazy!
That's the conclusion you are supposed to reach.
Of course the education of cooler heads is the only brake on people who believe that are being hunted by mobs of psychotics.
The real danger is the lame brains who actually swallow this poison. Somebody can get hurt.
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| Sorry About The Typos | Mar 25th. at 12:52:32 pm EST
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WitchPoet (Claremont, California) - Email Me - Web
That is what you get when you try to type too fast to get it all said before yohave to run out the door! : - )
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| Putting On Flame-proof Underwear | Mar 25th. at 12:46:42 pm EST
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WitchPoet (Claremont, California) - Email Me - Web
Well, I am going to get bashed for this but it needs to be said.
Given the article is written itself frm a fundamentalist perspective, and so has a rather too black and white view of things.
Regarding environmentalism and pantheism, well he is RIGHT. these beliefs ARE permeating society and esp in the evironmentalist movement. BECAUSE IT IS A BELIEF WITH EVIDENCE TO BACK IT UP! The best understanding we have about the nature of reality seems to DEMAND that God must be PART of the universe. I won't get into it hear, check out my website for more.
So it is not surpriseing that more and more of these ideas are seeping into secular society.
HOWEVER, environmentalists are NOT immune to fundamentalism to say the least!
SO much time and energy wasted and so little done by some groups. Eco "action" groups that simply react to stimuli rather than tHINKING about each issue.
I have sad news for the hard-core enviro folks out there.. Sustainability is a myth!! Unles you wish to accept draconian control and REDUCTION of population by about 2/3 then the Earth can't be all "natural" and feed us. Of course a lot of you hate yourselves so much you see humans and the only unnatural creature and wish we would all just go away. Well you go first and check it out for us ok? The rest of us will try ot solve the problems. Malthus was RIGHT! The only reason that the world is not already starving EVERYWHERE, is because of advances in agro and food science! We are not un-natural, we are simply too powerful for us to be less than aware of the consequences of our actions. I get sick of hearing how NATURE this and NATURE that. Most of these armchair ecofreaks would starve of die of thirst or dehydration in two days in the wilderness without half the L.L. Bean catilogue. Other animals ravage their enviroments all the time when things get out of balance. There is no "natural" instincet that we somehow lack in other animals to make them stop at certain limits..oh wait there is..it is called DEATH. Why are environmentalists so down on hunting all the time? From the ones I have talked to they REALLY DO NOT BELIEVE that unchecked herds can destroy the environment. And they do not live near these areas where some winter a cougar or wolfmight decide little 3 year old Joanie looks tasty. Ten you come to fur. OH MY. I wish they would go and throw paint on some leather clad bikers. Now THAT would show their conviction
The fact is unless you are a vegatarian and wear no leather or other products an animal had to die to produce you are a hypocrite and mysigyist for your trageting and harrasing of WOMEN in fur. Go harass some 250lb meat pakers! I would never buy a rabbit coat and NEVER seal but mink and ermine are nasty critters that are in no danger of vanishing. They are raised in farms and here is the kicker. In the meat industry it is a fact that not just healthy but happy animals produce better quality meat and healtier, but it is not an in your face kind of thing, In fur it IS, a stressed out animal has crummy fur. Those litle nippers are well treated and would not even have been born unless it was for fur. noless you are dedicated against ANY killing of ANY animal then your loud, obnoxious behavious toward traditional victims in this trendy "fashionable" movement are just hypocrites and mysogynists.
Now lets get to the biggie! Technology!!!
Why do eco-freaks insist on seeing technology as evil by nature? Are they really so ignorant of how techology advances are the only reason there still IS a civilisation at all? They do not want anyone to touch a hair on the head of any mouse. Yet also protest against all sorts of tech that could SAVE their preciousM.E. Energy and resources from space is the ONLY answer to Earth's main issue in the long run. There are already detailed PLANS and blueprints drawn up for missions that would , three years after first launch, bring to Earth EVERY YEAR metal equal to ALL of Earth's mines!!! Imagine shutting down ALL Mines? There are enviro groups blocking any attempt to develop slar power satilites that beam energy, (at no greater density than sunliight but 24/7/365.25) WHY? They also protest oil companies. WHAT IS THEIR SOLUTION? Other than a 2/3 of the Eath suicide pact?
Just as this fundie fool who wrote the aritcle can ony talk about what he is against and offers no solutions, so do the radical enviros offer no solutions and even take solutions out of your hands as fast as youcan come up with them. They wold ot be happy until the wole wolrd is like some '70s post appocolyse world of nothng but villages.
Look Up
Love spaceship Earth they prattle and bray, And have not the wit to know what they say.
The Earth is our mother these other ones say, While hiding in womb, not conceiving of day.
We grow and we grow within this small shell, But the egg that we live in will soon be called hell.
We fly spaceship Earth and never reach out to land, Never open our hatches, scoop up what we can
And carry it back to feed our Mom’s breasts. We cling to Her womb not much better than pests.
Life is insatiable, it always will grow, yet fools talk of Spaceships and Mom’s like they know
that the end cannot come, no need for more fuel. Say that eggs are for hatching and they call you a tool
of mean nasty male pride, tell you to not rock the ship, they don’t seem to realize there’s no end to THIS trip.
Our Mother conceived us, She nourished our life, but now we must reach out with heart and with strife.
To bring what She needs to grow and be strong, so that She may feed us, Her life to prolong.
“On this ship no passengers, on Her only crew”. Yet they always imagine they will be one of the few
Who manage to struggle and cling to their life, in a World empty of resource, filled only with strife.
The chicks in our Egg will eat their own kin, till one just is left, who then will die from within.
The fetus grows large, not in body but need, we say we are children but instead cancer breeds.
We squawk and we squabble and fight over sand, The armies go this way and that on the land.
But down here is not where the real treasure lies. Look up all you fools look up to the skies!!
The trees overhead are heavy with fruit and with wood, while we fight to eat insects and build the mud.
Look up you fools from the immature fights, take up the right tools before the last night.
Break open the shell, emerge from the womb, refuel our spaceship before it’s our tomb
I know that some things down here cannot wait, but some time we must find to refuel or our fate
Will be as a derelict Ship, a cancer filled Womb, an Egg that has died, that’s the future that looms.
The Egg of our life will be rotten and smell, of more pain and more death than any can tell.
We betray our Mother, fill Her with dread growths, more like violent cancer than children of hopes
Look up I beg you before it’s too late. There’s still time, She still breathes but the time now is late.
Copyright 2002 Guy Whitney
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| The Stupid Git Can't Even Use The Right Word | Mar 25th. at 12:36:06 pm EST
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Opus the Poet (Garland, Texas) - Email Me
The word he/she/it was looking for is "Panentheism", which my spell checker throws a holy snit over. Panenteisim says God is in everything while Pantheism merely says there are many gods. Add that to the many, many , many mistakes, half-truths, and outright lies in the article.
Opus
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| Garbled Logic | Mar 25th. at 11:39:21 am EST
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Cynthia (Miami, Florida) - Email Me - Web
The Artic has melted 50% in the last 4 years and what has melted has not frozen back and environmentalists say this because they are Pagan?
The author of the article does not understand at all what he reads. He has to thrust everything into his distorted view. I never met a Pagan who claimed every God claimed total worship OR ELSE.
I always wonder why a person like this does not first look into the facts before spouting off.
Find More info -- HERE
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