I have neighbors in Oregon who believe in an anthropocentric worldview, in which humans have been given dominion over creation. They object to proposed federal legislation to withdraw an additional 90,000 acres of Oregon National Forest headwaters from mining access. I also have neighbors who accept a biocentric worldview, in which plants and animals have equal rights as humans. During the past eight years large foundations, such as the Rockefellers, Bloomberg, Gates, etc, have financed organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Earthworks Foundation to hinder the Keystone Pipeline, the coal industry, and the copper industry in Arizona and Alaska, and the lumber industry in the Northwest. Left wing foundations have used the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act to put thousands of coal, mining, and timber people out of work. For each coal miner and timber man out of work, seven men in town are out of work. High taxes and regulations have also driven many manufacturing jobs over seas.
Many environmental foundations are against carbon emissions because of a belief in man caused global warming, and the suppressing of mining, cattle, timber, and energy industries because they believe plants and animals have the same rights as humans. They believe there are too many people and not enough natural wilderness areas. They believe Mother Earth should be worshiped. They decry the destruction of wild habitats, urban sprawl, elimination of polar bears, and encourage a clear recognition of the planet as an ecological totality. Ernst Haeckel, a German Darwinian, coined the term ecology. The West and especially the United States became dominant because they rejected pagan animism, or the worship of animals, and accepted man's God given right to dominion. However, God also told us to be good stewards of creation. We do need listen to all points of view and avoid pollution and trashing the earth. We need a balanced approach to mining. However, schools need to spend less time lecturing on safe sex and how to save the planet, and more emphasis on reading, writing, and how to obtain gainful employment.
Dr. Steve Johnston
