paul brake writes:
<< By the way, when did we collectively decide that now that we have
reached this point in our evolution, that we should now intervene in
our natural lifestyles and halt
the process, with the goal of causing natural resources to last
forever! >>

I don't think we've ever collectively decided that. some folks,
however, realize that we now have a situation where an unprecedentedly
huge number of people is plowing through natural resources at an
unprecedented rate: Versailles was, after all, only a few hundred
people. And although the extreme that you mentioned may be impossible
and, as you point out, not necessarily even desirable, one must admit
that a responsible habit of living *is* desirable.


<< To those who say the end is in sight, I would say As Advertised!
The Biblical mandate to be good stewards
in all things doesn't have as its end the perpetual existence of us or
the earth. >>

Well, to say that Jesus is all coming to get us, so we may as well --
for instance -- create tons and tons of a toxic and dangerous plastic
like styrofoam, with the expressed purpose of making millions of cups
and plates with them to be used *only once,* before burying them in
the earth, is to be guilty of the same thing the lazy Thessalonians
were (if not Caligula). St Paul urged them to be responsible even
though the end is near, realizing that the end may not come for
thousands of years.

The Biblical mandate to be good stewards in all things *does* have as
its end good stewardship, which most Americans are pitifully
insensitive to. Can we really justify our extreme use of disposables?
Not to mention the *real* culprits, the industrial polluters, our
support of whom is seemingly inextricable from our participation in
society. A quandary indeed.


<< I'll look for eiswein in Deutchland. >>

I'll say Ja to that!
--

barry
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .