Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.
I believe in Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.
As long as you live in this universe, and have a modest talent for mathematics, sooner or later you'll find it. It's already here. It's inside everything. You don't have to leave your planet to find it. In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the artist's signature.
Exploiting the Earth—using the raw materials of nature for one’s life-serving purposes—is a basic requirement of human life. Either man takes the Earth’s raw materials—such as trees, petroleum, aluminum, and atoms—and transforms them into the requirements of his life, or he dies.
To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must produce homes, automobiles, computers, electricity, and the like; he must seize nature and use it to his advantage. There is no escaping this fact. Even the allegedly “noble” savage must pick or perish. Indeed, even if a person produces nothing, insofar as he remains alive he indirectly exploits the Earth by parasitically surviving off the exploitative efforts of others.
Environmentalism, of course, does not and cannot advocate capitalism, because if people are free to act on their judgment, they will strive to produce and prosper; they will transform the raw materials of nature into the requirements of human life; they will exploit the Earth and live.
The basic principle of environmentalism is that nature (i.e., “the environment”) has intrinsic value—value in and of itself, value apart from and irrespective of the requirements of human life—and that this value must be protected from its only adversary: man. Rivers must be left free to flow unimpeded by human dams, which divert natural flows, alter natural landscapes, and disrupt wildlife habitats. Glaciers must be left free to grow or shrink according to natural causes, but any human activity that might affect their size must be prohibited.
In short, according to environmentalism, if nature affects nature, the effect is good; if man affects nature, the effect is evil.
Everyone on the left and right cares about the environment. But caring about the environment is not the same as environmentalism. Environmentalism, for most of its adherents, is a secular religion. These people, many of whom refer to, and truly regard, the Earth as a goddess (Gaia, the name of the ancient Greek Earth goddess) worship the environment.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat described the 2009 James Cameron blockbuster film, “Avatar,” as “Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism, a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world.” That equation of God with nature was a major reason for the film’s popularity.
Douthat, one of the only religious (as in believing in and practicing a religion) columnists at The New York Times, added, “The threat of global warming, meanwhile, has lent the cult of Nature qualities that every successful religion needs: a crusading spirit, a rigorous set of ‘thou shalt nots,’ and a piping-hot apocalypse.”
When you ask atheists, as I have for decades, what they believe in, the most common answer is “science.” There was a young man, an atheist, at the gym where I work out, who responded, “Science!” (in place of “God bless you”) whenever someone sneezed. There is nothing higher than science for an atheist because the natural world is all there is. So, worship of the Earth, the environment or nature is almost inevitable in a secular world.
From the point of view of the secular, Gaia-worshipping world, Genesis gets even worse when, 27 verses later, God tells human beings to, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” Both instructions infuriate Earth-worshippers. Regarding being fruitful, they oppose people having more than one child, and many advocate having no children so as to have minimal human impact on Mother Earth. But the second part — ruling over nature — is what really angers them.
Maybe the coronavirus will awaken young people, who have been taught by nature-worshipping teachers and raised by nature-worshipping parents, to the idiocy of worshipping nature rather than subduing it. Nature, it turns out, is not our friend, let alone a god. If it were up to nature, we’d all be dead: Animals would eat us; weather would freeze us to death; disease would wipe out the rest of us. If we don’t subdue nature, nature will subdue us. It’s that simple.
Nature is beautiful and awe-inspiring. It’s also brutal and merciless. “Nature, red in tooth and claw,” as Alfred Tennyson aptly describes it. Nature follows no moral rules and shows no compassion. The basic law of all biological life is “survival of the fittest,” while the basic law of Judaism and Christianity is the opposite: the survival of the weakest with the help of the fittest. Nature wants the weakest eaten by the strongest. Hospitals are as anti-natural an entity as exists.
Nature to be commanded must be obeyed.
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
"it seems to me that to be human is to be capable of the most heinous crimes in nature." ~ Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West"
If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.
My hope is to give encouragement when life seems especially difficult and uncertain. For some of you, that time is now. If not, such a time will come. That is not a gloomy view. It is realistic—yet optimistic—because of God’s purpose in the Creation of this world. That purpose was to give His children the opportunity to prove themselves able and willing to choose the right when it is hard. In so doing, their natures would be changed and they could become more like Him. He knew that would require unshakable faith in Him.
The greatest blessing that will come when we prove ourselves faithful to our covenants during our trials will be a change in our natures.
There is but one nature. All things, visible or invisible, belong to the one universe.
Each and all of the numerous forces in the universe may be subjected to the will of man.
The holy spirit fills all things, and by its means the thoughts and minds of these increasing intelligent beings re everywhere felt. Intelligence permeates the universe.
It seems to be well established that the earth as a whole, is a living organism.
If the earth is a living organism, it seems more than likely that all things on earth possess a measure of life and intelligence.
Nevertheless, rocks and trees and beasts, are for the use of man, to be used by him in moderation and with wisdom. Man is at the head of the creations on earth. It is his duty to make proper use of them all. Whoever teaches that any part of the universe is not for the benefit of man, is in error.
...nothing is more certain than that the greatest mystery of nature may at some time be understood.
Even in that happy day he shall not be able to change one law of nature; only by intelligent control may he apply nature's laws to desired ends.
Man is of limited power; whatever he can not understand or duplicate may be called miraculous; and only in that sense can miracles be allowed. The miracles of the Savior were done only by superior knowledge. Nothing is unnatural.
The Church possessing the truth, always fosters, encourages and respects all honest investigation of nature.
He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.
Selection and combination are learned from nature herself, who constantly presents us with compositions of her own, far more beautiful than the happiest arranged by human skill.
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."
"There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother love showing itself whether recognized or no..."
In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.
“Conservation today means far more than just preserving our natural resources….It means their wise use and full protection so that more and more people may enjoy and benefit by them.”
Nature is existence regarded as a system of interconnected entities governed by law; it is the universe of entities acting and interacting in accordance with their identities.
If Nature had been comfortable, mankind would never have invented architecture...In a house, we all feel of the proper proportions. Everything is subordinated to us, fashioned for our use and our pleasure.
Every movement in nature is orderly, one thing the outcome of another, a matter of constructive, growing force. We live our lives in tune with nature when we are happy, and all our misery is the result of our effort to dictate against nature.
Once the extinction of humans occurs “there (will) be no one left to rape nature, but neither(will) there be anyone to praise her handiwork. ~ Monica Raines
Science (gives) each human animal the presumption to act like a little god. The Earth just can’t take it….I’ll bet the whole structure (will collapse) under its own weight, leaving the rapists at the mercy of their victim – nature….Moving into space just postpone(s) the debacle a few decades. ~ Monica Raines
There's always music amongst the trees, but our hearts have to be real quiet to hear it.
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you, If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows Where you are. You must let it find you.
But here on the stream...Nature, who is superior to all styles and ages, is now, with pensive face, composing her poem autumn.
Nature is a greater and more perfect art, the art of God; Referred to herself, she is genius...Our art leaves its shavings and its dust about; her art exhibits itself even in the shavings and the dust which we make.
No cheating or bargaining will ever get a single thing out of Nature's "establishment" at half price.
THIRD FISHERMAN: Master I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. FIRST FISHERMAN: Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat up the little ones. Pericles Act II Sc. 1
"A great truth comes over him: Trees fall with spectacular crashes. But planting is silent and growth is invisible."
Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.
Missing Reference