Reflections on Laudato Si - Continued

All of this block quoting of the Pope is pretty convenient. I mean, it shortens up what I have to write considerably. I promise you I’m not being lazy though. Pope Francis has some important things to say, so here’s your next quote (emphasis again my own).

“Men and women have constantly intervened in nature, but for a long time this meant being in tune with and respecting the possibilities offered by the things themselves. It was a matter of receiving what nature itself allowed, as if from its own hand. Now, by contrast, we are the ones to lay our hands on things, attempting to extract everything possible from them while frequently ignoring or forgetting the reality in front of us. Human beings and material objects no longer extend a friendly hand to one another; the relationship has become confrontational. This has made it easy to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology. It is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of earth’s goods, and this leads to the planet being squeezed dry beyond every limit.”

Pope Francis, Laudato Si, Chapter 3, Paragraph 106

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