Bambi read the news from Montreal this evening in both languages:
English:
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/nuns-pray-that-leaders-truly-tackle-climate-change-1.4574145
French:
Bambi had wished that our English-speaking and French-speaking Catholic nuns would have come together to denouncing child abuse cases by some priests around the world.
Instead, they chose to go public for other reasons, promoting divestment from fossil fuels, the forthcoming UN climate meeting, and the Paris Accord.
How odd Bambi finds. In her mind, nuns usually pray and do good deeds from time to time. Not politics or economics usually (she is saying this whilst also being concerned about the quality of our environment and the impact of changing/warming climate conditions).
The only good part of their call to action was perhaps seeing them sharing some actions which they take for the sake of the environment. For this, we do not need to look as far as congregations in Québec or elsewhere in Canada. Across her street, Bambi can see her conscious neighborhood equipped with solar systems and with energy-efficient ideas. This is likely the good influence of some genuine environmental local initiatives that she salutes.
Bambi was made particularly curious by the last paragraph of the French article above (in which there is a video to the news from the TVA channel). She had the idea of searching the net about the pope. This is how she googled the website of the Communist party of Québec (whose former leader, Mr. André Parizeau, is now running in the federal election with the Bloc Québécois). She discovered an interesting post about the communist ideology of the Pope signed by Mr. Parizeau himself (http://www.pcq.qc.ca/Dossiers//Autres/Archives/page_article.php?article_id=2625), entitled “Even the Pope calls for the fight against capitalism”.
In the text by Mr. Parizeau, we can read the following (translated) paragraph: “… In a gesture that contrasts with all his predecessors, the new Pope Francis has outright called on the peoples of the world to mobilize and unite to fight against capitalism and to work for the establishment of a new world order, which is no longer based on the constant search for more profits by some, against others; but rather based on the search for the common good.”
To come back to the article/video in the Journal of Montreal, signed jointly by the “Agence QMI et Agence France-Presse”, it is written: “…. François salutes the young activists of the climate cause, saying that they deserve concrete action rather than “neglected commitments for partisan interests and convenience”. The pope added that all eyes should be on the UN climate summit scheduled for September 23, calling on governments to “significantly accelerate action” to contain global warming, in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015. “May God (…) give us the courage to do good without waiting for others to start, without waiting until it is too late,” he pleaded”.
Interesting all this. No clue what it means precisely. In her mind, all this Paris Accord matter seems to be a globalist form of communism.
It reminds her of an interesting article written by Dr. Bruce Pardy, a Professor of Law at Queen’s University, in the Financial Post in May, 2018 (https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/let-the-paris-climate-deal-die-it-was-never-good-for-anything-anyway). The article is worth reading as food for thought. Perhaps today more than ever. It is entitled: “Let the Paris climate deal die. It was never good for anything, anyway. Opinion: Paris is a climate fairy tale. It has always been more about money and politics than the environment”.
Without being an expert in environmental studies or economics, Bambi can appreciate the intelligent piece by Dr. Pardy.
She is sure the Holy Father is well-meaning, so are the nuns for sure. However, we must think with our rational brains and not our idealistic ideology. Communism has not worked. History has demonstrated it. Why is it still so appealing in 2019?
As a conclusion to this post, Bambi would like to borrow Professor Pardy’s own words: “If human action is not causing the climate to change, Paris is irrelevant. If it is, then Paris is an obstacle to actual solutions. If there is a crisis, it will be solved when someone develops a low-carbon energy source as useful and cheap as fossil fuels. A transition will then occur without government interventions and international declarations. Until then, Paris will fix nothing. It serves interests that have little to do with atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases”.
Sorry if this comment is late to the game, but I just found your blog.
Critiques of capitalism were first articulated by the church, prior to any articulation of communist ideology. The history of catholic social teaching in regards to the economy should not in any way be conflated with communism, although I understand why certain groups would promote it in that way. The prosperity gospel promoted by evangelicals in America is completely at odds with traditional teachings just like the communitarian cults “Branch Davidians” etc.
If you are interested in radical (but not extremist) criticism of present day capitalism I highly recommend the book “Barren Metal” by E michael jones or anything by John Medaille on Distributism
A quick overview https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2014/06/what-is-distributism.html
– an mta alumni
Thank you for your comment and for the book recommendation.