The Pope
The money system must be changed if we are to save the planet.
Pope Francis has written extensively about capitalism, the environment and more. I would like to explore a document produced in the Melbourne Catholic Press where the Pope's Encyclical was examined and action points made about what needs to be done to start the process rolling.
The notes are here, and a discussion group is here or here
Let's get to it, and do it!
Clem Clarke, January 8th, 2018
If we are to save the planet for habitation, we must recognise that the profit motive means that profits are placed before any consideration of the environment, clean food and water, and humans in general.
I have also learned that Calvinism is one of the main reasons for this. The Calvinists believe that we humans are born predestined to go to hell or heaven, and that doing good works will not save us. Approximately 50% of Americans believe this. They want to know if they are going to heaven. How do you know? Well, if you are rich, you are liable to be in the group going to heaven, otherwise you are almost cerainly going to hell, particularly if you are black, sick, not working and so on. Read more on the Money pages on this website.
And by putting extraordinary pressures on our daily lives, money stops us thinking. It is a fact that if you are in Fight, Flight or Freeze mode that your thinking or rational part of the brain cannot operate.
I am now in my 70's and I see a world being destroyed in front of my eyes. Mammon, the god of money, has taken almost total control of the planet, and enslaved everyone. This "money" is made from thin air, and used to enslave us. We can't eat it, and yet we have to make more and more of the stuff through "Quantitative Easing", which further enslaves us.
There were a number of things I disliked about the church. For example, the use of fear and guilt to control people (going to hell forever didn't sound attractive then, or now!). And all the talk of a devil was a bit beyond the pale, I used to think. Now I am forced to believe the devil exists.
I was brought up as a Catholic - by the Jesuits. Due to a divorce, I was separated from the Church some 50 years ago and have examined various other religions and systems. I am reluctantly drawn back to the facts that there is most likely a devil, and that he is doing everything he can to destroy the planet, or at least make it uninhabitable for life.The Pope, the Queen and the Dalai Lama seem to be the only major world leaders who want to save it.