Michael Crowley has written a very interesting piece for Spiked about climate alarmism. I don’t necessarily go along with all the claims about Christianity, but I think we can all agree that Extinction Rebellion is “effectively an apocalyptic cult”. Here’s an excerpt:
Apocalypticism may have developed hand-in-hand with religion and Christianity in particular. But it has persisted as a mode of thinking among certain sections of society, even as Christianity’s influence has waned. Indeed, as societies have become more secular, so apocalyptic thinking has become more secular, too.
We see this today, above all, in the case of environmentalism. For it’s there that apocalyptic projections and predictions are now most at home. Greenism shares with its Biblical precursor an obsession with days of judgement, with vengeance upon the wicked and the dream of a redeemed world. But there’s a vital difference between the Biblical apocalypse and its green iteration. Those to be judged today are not a portion of sinful humanity. No, they are all of humanity. And the redeemed world dreamt of by climate activists is not the kingdom of God promised by earlier apocalyptic narratives. Instead, it is a kingdom of nature, and it is distinctly opposed to humanity. In short, the green End Times amount to a very anti-human apocalypse.
At the forefront of the arms race in catastrophic prophecies is Extinction Rebellion. Every page on its website itemises the scale of the climate crisis, and the dire impact that human development supposedly has on life on Earth. The extinction referred to in the movement’s title does not just include wildlife, but humanity itself. Activists claim that our extinction is just a generation away.
Here is a literally hopeless creed. XR and its apocalyptic ilk do not seem interested in climate change as a practical challenge – as something that can be addressed with technological and material development, as environmental problems have been mitigated in the past. Instead, they see climate change as a form of necessary punishment. As XR co-founder Roger Hallam puts it in one blog post, XR members must “understand that redemption only comes through suffering and the only honourable life is to move into that suffering in an act of faith that there will be another side to come out of, into a state of grace”.
As these words show, XR is effectively an apocalyptic cult. That’s why XR’s propaganda has more than a touch of the Book of Revelation about it. A 2021 XR video is titled ‘Advice to Young People as they face Annihilation’. One blogpost by Hallam begins “In these End Times…”. Another exclaims: “Only when we admit the utter destitution of our souls at this time of utter annihilation will we begin a journey we can be proud of, regardless of the outcome.” These are not the words of a political campaigner. They are the words of a self-styled prophet.
Climate change poses a challenge to humanity. But green apocalypticism does not help anyone. It inspires panic in those who buy into it, especially young people. They then see it as their job to wake us all up, to make us see what they see, to reveal the coming Armageddon. As far as they are concerned, this righteous mission trumps everything else. And it culminates in ill-thought-out, knee-jerk actions, such as climbing the gantries on the M25 to bring traffic to a halt. After all, we must be made to see the error of our ways. And if we don’t, we deserve the punishment that is surely coming.
Worth reading in full.
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But green apocalypticism does not help anyone.
It helps the billionaires whose foundations promote it, very much. Christianity was once used in the same way, for social control. Church services in Latin conveniently excluded most people from having much of a clue as to what was going on and prevented them from participating except as followers, just as climate policies based on “science” leave most people feeling unqualified to challenge them.
Agree. Like most forms of collectivism, it’s a toxic coalition of people who love to control others and their useful idiots who like to be directed and controlled.
And, like Covid, carbon dioxide, is conveniently invisible, in the air surrounding us.
All solutions to the perils that they allegedly pose for us can, of course, only be provided by ‘expert’ scientists and globalist technocrats.
The fear factor can always be ramped up by images of predictable worldwide extreme weather events, claiming that they are an indicator of the imminent ‘climate catastrophe’.
All things being equal, CO2 may cause a little bit of warming, but all things in earths climate are not equal” —Judith Curry.—- But CO2 is also something else. It is the one gas that can be directly tied to Industrial Capitalism. All human activity involves the release of some CO2. The wealthy emit the most and the poorest emit the least. What better way for the Eco Socialist to redistribute the worlds wealth than by climate policy and control of CO2.—- A lead author at the IPCC was honest enough to admit that is what this is all about when he said “One has to free oneself from the illusion that climate policy is environmental policy anymore. We redistribute the world’s wealth de facto by climate policy.”
Apocalypticism is good business. As in pop bands, merchandising, franchises and image protection are at least as important as creating a catchy song or cult belief. For example, a substantial fraction of US tele-evangelists also market over-priced preppy materials, such as dried food, colloidal silver and similar quack post-apocalyptic must-haves.
The COVID industry is following a similar global business plan, complete with damage limitation following sexual misconduct and collusion with politicians to avoid prosecution and eliminate competitors.
I don’t see a single Blofeld here. It’s just entrepreneurs all competing with slightly different products but similar tactics.
Cults associated with any kind of apocalypse is a normal psychological problem that we observe from time to time. It doesn’t seem to matter exactly what the issue is.
Sometimes the challenge is to identify which topics are purely junk, or those which are half-true, but the cult (or those who act like one) has gone too far, or obsessed with it. Perhaps some of those that pretend to be experts about one thing or another. Some groups are so narrow-minded that they appear to behave like a cult.
Many of us tend to become somewhat obsessed with one thing or another, but there is always a wide range of attitudes, such as “something must be done”, or the emergence of commercial, or political opportunism.
“Climate change poses a challenge to humanity”. Sounds like the author has bought the lie.
“Climate change poses a challenge to humanity.”
Nick Dixon needs to have a long, very long conversation with his colleague Chris Morrison.
Dear oh dear.
I don’t think you have this right. The words you quote are not Nick’s but from the article by Michael Crowley.
I stand corrected.
By chance the video of the Mississippi tornado damaging a primary school shows a wall poster proclaiming “The dinosaurs didn’t react. Look what happened to them”, with a background of what looks like Planet Earth or perhaps aircraft or a massive meteor shower. We had something in our local primary associated with Operation Noah a few years ago. I’m guessing has been produced by an apocalyptic cult for use in schools, but I don’t understand what reaction the dinosaurs supposed to be capable of. Perhaps the marketing strategy of apocalyptic cults is fine-tuned to the attitudes, beliefs and religions of the children they are targeting?
” Climate change poses a challenge to humanity.”
Write 1000 lines:
“There is no climate change; it is just propaganda.”
In science, showing an accepted belief is false is seen as advancement of knowledge, but in religion it is seen as HERESY. Science relies on evidence and reason, but religion relies on faith and authority, and environmentalism has effectively become today’s secular religion. Climate Change dogma is a belief system in support of a political agenda——————-Notice how most of the environmental language is expressed in religious terms rather than scientific ones. We are facing an “apocalypse”, because of our environmental “sins”.—– We are to receive moral guidance on all aspects of our life and like all religions it depends upon us “believing”. —-It is curious that environmentalism, that started out as revolt against authority and against science and technology now claims that science is to worshipped. But not science as we used to know it. It is the post normal science they worship. It is the science of consensus where truth is simply pronounced and decided by a show of hands. Comfort for those following this secular religion is following a path of righteousness. We now see big traditional religious movements preach the environmental message. Popes now preach about the Climate Armageddon. ——But as one Cardinal correctly pointed out—— “The Church has no mandate from the lord to pontificate on matters of science”.
Extinction Rebellion promotes climate myths.
Whereas 25% of the Bible, the worlds best selling book, is prophetic.
Of this, 81% is already fulfilled.
The 19%, inc the apocalypse mentioned here, is yet to come.
Which would you rather believe?
Doomsday adherents and prophecies have been around for thousands of years.
“Climate change poses a challenge to humanity.”
True but the earth’s climate has been changing naturally for hundreds of millions of years and animal and plant life have been constantly adapting to it.
It’s normal and natural.
One theory is that humans have gotten a better brain, more intelligence, because they have been constantly adapting to normal climate change over thousands of years.