To save the planet
(republishing, copying, no restrictions)
By: Father Shay Cullen
We all love a bargain. For many their greatest love is for that which is free. All humankind, it seems, except the wiser conservationists, has been deluded into thinking the resources of this tiny planet are inexhaustible and are there for the strongest, greediest and most brutal to plunder and gorge at will.
Whether they are the minerals buried in the earth, the trees and plants that grow in the soil or the fish that swim in the seas the human species believe that the magnificent bounty of the earth is theirs and theirs alone to exploit in whatever way they want. Some want more than others. Those that get more become more greedy, selfish, dominant and tyrannical.
The planet itself is damaged by this reckless human behaviour and so is every living creature on it. As a living organism, as the Gaia Theory postulates, planet Earth is an awe inspiring biomass of related inter connectedness of all living and non living things. As defined in Wikipedia, Gaia theory looks on the earth as a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet.
Difficult understanding by some people it appeals to the rational mind and spiritual experience of many people. With much scientific research to support it seems that fast occurring natural phenomena brought on by global warming, caused by a massive build up of greenhouse gases is causing climate change on a massive scale. This in turn is affecting all living creatures and driving many plants and creatures to extinction. The entire planet a single connected entity could be changed forever with disastrous result for life on earth.
The human capacity for stupidity despite our big brains, seems to have no limit. It results in activities that exploit Earth's raw materials without restriction and endangers the planet itself and millions of indigenous people. It took ten years for the UN to bring about a recognition of the right of these people to their natural heritage. The western nations with indigenous people, Australia, USA and Canada for example have little interest in recognizing their rights and oppose the UN declaration.
It is shocking to see the near extinction of some Amazonian rain forest people and hundreds of animal species by the intrusion of massive soya bean producing corporations, cattle stations, mining , oil and logging companies. The last great rain forest is gasping for life. It defenders are murdered and driven to despair.
I like to think that it was fish not meat that enabled humans to evolve with bigger brains and intelligence as some believe. But the big brains are not doing us much good nowadays because we have brought thousands of fish to brink of extinction due to over-fishing.
According to Father Sean Mc McDonagh's thought provoking book The Death of Life - The Horror of Extinction, we are told that a total of 210,000 species of marine animals and plants are known to science, but there could be 2 million more yet undiscovered.
The blue fin tuna, that mighty fish, that once filled the oceans is now so rare that one big one can fetch over US$100,000. This outrageous price and an insatiable demand has now doomed it to extinction. They will never stop hunting it. Whaling by Japan, Iceland and Norway will made the whale an endangered species in a few years once again if they don't stop. Most of these magnificent creatures end up as pet food.
Even worse is the barbaric slaughter of the sharks, a magnificent prehistoric wonder of evolution, still with us today. It is caught on kilometres long fishing lines de-finned and thrown back into the sea to die horribly. All that for taste of a bowl of shark-fin soup in a fancy restaurant. Boycott them all I say.
Trawling and stein purse fishing are perhaps the most destructive of all. They coop up everything in their path, plants corals, destroying breeding grounds and every living creature in the hunt for shrimps. Then hundreds of thousands of the unwanted species are thrown back dead. What best we can do is campaign for a total ban on shark and all whale hunting, and restrict trawling, establish many more marine sanctuaries and encourage organic fish farms. We can all do something to save the planet. -End-
