What causes global warming? There’s a number of commonly-held theories:
- carbon dioxide
- third-world “kleptocrats” trying to usher in a “New International Economic Order”
- cow farts
- Marxism
- meat-eating
- Swiss prayers
- sunspots
- the earth’s increasingly-hot molten core
- nothing
- the Industrial Revolution
- government funding for studying global warming
- power-driven financiers and profit-driven corporations and their cartels backed by military might, looking to disguise their influence
And now, noted climatologist Benedict XVI has proposed a new theory: religious disbelief:
In fact, “when ‘human ecology’ is respected in society, environmental ecology also benefits.” Is it not true that inconsiderate use of creation begins where God is marginalized or also where is existence is denied? If the human creature’s relationship with the Creator weakens, matter is reduced to egoistic possession, man becomes the “final authority,” and the objective of existence is reduced to a feverish race to possess the most possible.
Of course, this theory is as nonsensical as all the previous ones. If anything, the non-religious are more environmentally responsible, because they don’t have to participate in earth-destroying religious rituals!
How many greenhouse gases do traditional open-air Hindu funeral pyres emit? Where is Greenpeace standing up against ritual animal sacrifice? Why haven’t Catholics retooled the sacrament of Anointing in order to lessen our dependence on oil? How many resources could be saved if the Hajj was held via teleconference? What about Zoroastrian Fire Temples? All the trees that are chopped down to make Shinto Ema? The precious fertile topsoil eaten by Juche practitioners. The paper wasted by Scientologists to artificially keep Dianetics on the bestseller list?
Not to mention the filthy polluting smoke used as part of every papal election? If that’s not an “inconsiderate use of creation,” I don’t know what is!



Not to mention that a majority of American Christians are convinced that Jesus will be returning any day now (just you wait!) so there’s no reason whatsoever to actually take care of the planet.
I can’t say I’m much of a fan of Ratzinger, the creepy celibate codger and child-molestation cover-upper.