There will be more from me (and clearly and thankfully those to whom I’ll link) on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si but I wanted to put something up quickly after hearing Rush Limbaugh’s initial reference to it in his opening monologue heard moments ago where he wondered aloud if il Papa had thrown environmentalists and leftists a huge curve-ball. He cited this National Journal piece:
For Pope Francis, caring about the environment goes hand in hand with taking a strong stand against
abortion. “Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion,” the encyclical says. “How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?”
Francis suggests that efforts to slow population growth are misguided and a distraction from the underlying cause of the world’s environmental crisis—the hoarding of the Earth’s resources by the rich and powerful. “To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues,” the encyclical says.
Mr. Limbaugh has been a strong critic, unfairly in my view, of this Pope but as I listened to his opening moments ago, and subsequent comments he’s since made, he seems to be praising the Pope for “setting up the Left” by strongly tying abortion to climate change.
I’m sure he’ll go on to slam the climate change aspects of the Pope’s encyclical but, he must also know, that by slamming those pieces, he too is setup, in essence.
It’s an interesting and intriguing take on things and once again makes me proud to be a fan of Pope Francis.
More to come.
Crossposted at Brutally Honest.
