Echoes in Eternity

This is an interesting piece in the Weekly Standard on the growing "childfree" trend among liberals (particularly those in the upper class). It seems all a bit drastic and peculiar, yet I know many people with larger families (like more than 3 kids!) who routinely face disdain and verbal attacks from other people in their communities. The white liberal intelligentsia may think up these ideas, but they eventually (and more quickly than you might imagine) trickle down into the minds of the masses. And you wonder why they love abortion so much. Just one more thing (along with the ENTIRE environmentalism movement) for Christians to speak truth into.

The New York Times has a sad article about mainline (read: theologically liberal) churches in the American Northwest that have turned to environmentalism as a last ditch attempt to stave off the impending closure of their doors. It makes sense that they would turn to another religion to postpone the end; they abandoned Christianity long ago, but they've finally found a new god to worship: Gaia. This sentence says it all:

“I’ve never been good at door-to-door evangelism,” said Deb Conklin, the pastor {emphasis mine} at Liberty Park United Methodist Church in Spokane, Wash., where an aging and shrinking congregation of about 20 people worships on Sundays. “But this has been so fun. Everybody wants to talk to you. It’s exciting. It’s ministry.”

Thank God that only through Christ can a church remain alive. These churches will die, and good riddance.

It seems there is no end to the totalitarian project over in California.

Bay Area air pollution inspectors found 47 violators burning wood fires illegally during Christmas Day's Spare the Air alert — which was declared because cold, unhealthful air had been forecast.

The tally was more than double the 22 violators detected on Thanksgiving, when the Bay Area Air Quality Management District also called a Spare the Air alert.

Violators get written warnings for a first offense and $400 fines for a second offense.

While critics have bashed the air district for intruding on a holiday burning tradition, a spokesman for the agency defended the Christmas crackdown Monday, saying it was done to protect public health from soot that can trigger asthma attacks, and aggravate other respiratory and heart problems.

"We know a lot of people like to burn on this holiday, but it's our duty to protect public health," said Ralph Borrmann, the spokesman.

The biggest problem here isn't the government. Governments tend to do this sort of nanny-state thing. It's in their blood. What is disconcerting is the behavior of the citizenry. They're reporting people for BURNING A FIRE IN THEIR HOUSE!!! This is the Soviet Union all over again.

(HT: Steve M.)

Ugh.

NBC gives new meaning to the phrase "green screen" next week, spreading a pro-environmental message across five of its prime-time entertainment programs.
...
Trainers on "The Biggest Loser" will instruct their clients to buy organic produce and bring their own mugs to the coffee shop.

This story hasn't seen much national press, but it offers another glimpse into the soul of radical environmentalism... and it isn't pretty. In short, the government has diverted water shipments from farms in California to fish reservoirs to help increase the population of smelt. So, thousands of farmers are losing their crops because of this state-imposed drought. That's what our society has come to, valuing fish over humans. Thank you Darwinism.

It was announced this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that... surprise, surprise... organic food is no healthier than normal conventionally-produced food. Don't ya love it when the science confirms your suspicions?