My parents are on holiday in the north of Germany,
by the North Sea. Today they called me to tell me that they saw a bunch of signs spaced evenly along the beach. On the signs, there was printed the following gem of wisdom:
"God promised mankind that there would never be another Great Flood."
So, I guess that's all right then. We don't really need to change our lifestyle or our culture and society. As long as we put enough signs on the beach to remind the sea that God doesn't *want* it to rise...
(I wonder... did God also promise us that there would never be another drought? Because actually, droughts are probably going to be the main problem, at least in the immediate future... Well, droughts, and torrential rains.)
* Note to religious people from my flist, re: the tag I'm filing this under. This refers not to religion as such. It just refers to the idea that we needn't ever worry about the results of our collective behaviour biting our collective behinds. I'm not a believer (in any religion), but even if I were a Christian, I don't think God's promise to Noah means: "Even if you humans manage to screw up natural balances so badly that things on this planet are getting seriously out of whack, I'm going to sway the laws of nature for you, I'm going to prevent the ice from melting and prevent the thermal expansion of the water of the oceans etc., so you can just continue to behave like idiots forever and ever." And, well, even if I *did* believe in a God *that* lenient and merciful, I don't think he'd really *want* us to behave like immature children who don't want to keep their room in order (or clean up the messes they've made) - and we sure as hell shouldn't *strive* to behave like that, or defend that kind of behaviour. No matter if he's going to punish us or not.
"God promised mankind that there would never be another Great Flood."
So, I guess that's all right then. We don't really need to change our lifestyle or our culture and society. As long as we put enough signs on the beach to remind the sea that God doesn't *want* it to rise...
(I wonder... did God also promise us that there would never be another drought? Because actually, droughts are probably going to be the main problem, at least in the immediate future... Well, droughts, and torrential rains.)
* Note to religious people from my flist, re: the tag I'm filing this under. This refers not to religion as such. It just refers to the idea that we needn't ever worry about the results of our collective behaviour biting our collective behinds. I'm not a believer (in any religion), but even if I were a Christian, I don't think God's promise to Noah means: "Even if you humans manage to screw up natural balances so badly that things on this planet are getting seriously out of whack, I'm going to sway the laws of nature for you, I'm going to prevent the ice from melting and prevent the thermal expansion of the water of the oceans etc., so you can just continue to behave like idiots forever and ever." And, well, even if I *did* believe in a God *that* lenient and merciful, I don't think he'd really *want* us to behave like immature children who don't want to keep their room in order (or clean up the messes they've made) - and we sure as hell shouldn't *strive* to behave like that, or defend that kind of behaviour. No matter if he's going to punish us or not.