Dear Editor: John Calvin was a terrible theologian. His primary idea, that God chooses to condemn millions of people to eternal damnation, regardless of any efforts they might make to the contrary, is by far the worst idea of the Reformation. This obsession with power believes in a God who would be infinitely more evil than all the world’s dictators combined, but in this worldview, power matters and victims do not. From this worldview evolved our capitalist economy, based on domination and power, granting the vast majority of benefits to a few and disregarding the suffering of millions.
Somehow, in the mind of many Catholics, this economic view has become infallible doctrine, and anyone who disagrees with it is a godless, anti-American abortion-loving commie ready to round up every property-owning citizen into a Stalin-style gulag. The idea that our economic system has put us at war with creation, that our corporations and our consumption are causing Armageddon-level heating to the planet, backed by basically every bit of scientific data on the topic, cannot be accepted or prevented by these people stuck in a greed and dominance-based worldview.
Luckily, Pope Francis has cut through the political divide, referring to those who throw out the unborn, as well as those who waste our life-sustaining resources, as part of a ”throwaway culture.” Catholics need to defend life on both ends of the political spectrum, and preventing global warming is a necessary part of making life livable for future generations.
As our diocese embarks on our Annual Catholic Appeal, what if we used it as a way to live Laudato Si, fundraising to cover every square inch of our churches, rectories, convents, and schools with solar panels? Imagine if our Church led its people off our fossil fuel addiction, showed them that we can be pro-life in more than one way, and proved ourselves to not only be the Church of their ancestors, but also the Church of their descendants!
Yes, it makes financial sense, of course it would make our institutions and our planet more sustainable (preventing wars, drought, famine, and extreme weather, to the extent it catches on), but also it would teach the young and old a spirituality focused on their future, and in love with the creation of our Creator.
Joe Muller
JOE MULLER
Glendale