Earth Daze

I've just learned that Sunday was Earth Day and I missed it. I feel bad now. Sorry, Earth. I hope you had a nice day.

While I have the utmost respect for nature and believe we should preserve and protect it, the people who make environmentalism into their religion bug me. The logical end of their arguments seems to be that this would be a great planet if we could just get rid of all the people.

It is no accident that the folks who are so eager to protect the planet are often the same ones who want to restrict population growth, use abortion as birth control, promote euthanasia and encourage gay and lesbian relationships. All have the same end result: fewer people wandering around the planet messing it up.

Of course, they never include themselves in plans to reduce the population. It's always the other guys whose existence is deemed unnecessary. Jen has a great post about an Sierra Club member reacting to a pregnant woman with several kids in tow who came upon his Zero Population Growth display:

The man behind the table was pacing and silently counting heads. He looked at my children like they were sucking his air. As the message his organization was presenting sank in I said, "My goodness! We must be your worst nightmare then, huh?" He didn't say no. In fact what he did say, looking at my belly, was, "It's not to late to stop!" I try not to think of what he was implying.

I think it is clear what he was implying: "Kill that kid before he gets out, lady!" No doubt he would also suggest that handicapped people are also an unnecessary drain on the planet and should be eliminated.

Fortunately it is possible to care for the environment without going to such extremes. The Nature Conservancy has a good strategy: buy the land you want to preserve. Then let nature take its course. Simple, effective, and no one has to be coerced into cooperation.