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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Essays on the Religious Nature
of the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement
VI. Science as Religion
Sci-ence, n. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or
truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws:
the mathematical sciences.
The above American College Dictionary definition has two words I would ask
you to note: "facts" and "truths". These two words are very important to
understand if we are to grasp the use of "science" both nationally and
internationally by the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement over the
past thirty-five years. References to "best science" and "scientific
findings" and "scientific testimony" and "research" pepper the hearings and
laws and regulations that have grown Federal authority over property and
animals and business and so many human activities and pursuits during this
period. "Science" has been a major justification for everything from
eroding property rights (Endangered Species, Wilderness, Roadless, etc.) and using animals to decimate human activities and rural economies (Marine
Mammals, Endangered Species, Invasive Species, Wolves, Bears, Lynx, etc.) to incremental destruction of animal ownership and use (Animal Welfare Act,
animal husbandry and pet surgery like ear clipping and tail bobbing, horse
slaughter, etc.) and most significantly an incredible expansion of Federal
and UN authority at the expense of individual rights and Local and State
authorities established in our US Constitution.
For the sake of this presentation I would like to define "truths" as those
things that conform to reality and "facts" as those things known to have
happened. An example of a scientific "truth" would be a molecule that is
two parts Hydrogen and one part Oxygen is water. So far as we know this
"truth" was, is, and will be. Such a molecule cannot be Sulfuric acid or a
polymer: it can only be water. I submit that much, if not all that we
"know" in the "scientific" fields of mathematics and chemistry and physics
fall into the "truth" category.
"Facts" are, for this purpose, another matter. In the field of biology
there are certainly many "truths". Genetics and molecular biology come to
mind. However, consider that plants and animals and their communities
evolve and change often in unforeseeable and unimaginable ways. Human
history is certainly a prime testimony to this "fact". Just one hundred
years ago Malthusians were "scientifically" forecasting the imminent crash
of human populations and the extirpation of earth's natural resources. They
could not have imagined the abundance of our society or the magnitude and
use of the earth's natural resources today.
Plants and animal also adapt and change dramatically. Thirty-five years
ago, "all Canada geese nested in the 'far North'". Today millions reside
year around in country clubs and parking lots eating bluegrass while
polluting schoolyards and city parks all over the northern US. Thirty-five
years ago wild turkeys could not exist without "extensive virgin forests".
Today they chase suburban postmen and harass children at bus stops.
Thirty-five years ago if I would have bet with any "biologists" that we
would have a 60-day, 15 bird per day limit on snow geese on the Atlantic
coast by now, I would have retired a millionaire. Thirty-five years ago,
Global Cooling was going to eliminate most of Canada's agriculture and
greatly change US agriculture. Today they are growing genetically developed
corn and soybeans in North Dakota (where it was formerly wheat) and anyone
doubting Global Warming is cast as a fool and extreme remedies are put forth with the implication that, like H2O is water, unless the remedies are
adopted X,Y,&Z will follow.
Both "kinds" of "science" are at work all around us. Whether it is the
"research" that says "lynx are vulnerable to vehicle traffic" or that
certain movie star's septic tanks are causing high bacteria levels and
smells in the waters off Malibu: it is not my purpose here to explain which
of these is bogus and which is a simple "truth". Rather I ask you to
consider the pronouncements of "science" over the past thirty-five years
that have been used as the foundation for harmful laws and regulations
engineered by the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement, endorsed and enforced by eager bureaucrats, and enacted by politicians hungry for
reelection and power. A few examples would be:
This flock or that herd is "biologically distinct" therefore should be
"Listed".
Ear cropping or tail-bobbing a dog or declawing a cat violates Animal
Welfare.
Horsemeat is unhealthy to eat or feed to other animals.
All marine mammals are below desirable limits.
Such-and-such valley or wetland or mountain or river is an "ecosystem".
Native species "belong" here.
Non-native or "Invasive" Species should be extirpated wherever we say.
"Endangered", "Native", "Invasive", "Welfare" are defined as.
Restoring this or that species everywhere is "necessary" or "beneficial".
Closing areas to all plant or animal management is justifiable.
Stopping all manner of human resource use or associated activity is
justified.
Logging harms "the environment".
Grazing harms "the environment".
Predators are "necessary" wherever they may be.
Marine Mammals and wolves do not depress and extirpate fisheries and game animals.
Economic returns continue in unmanaged and unused areas.
There is only X amount of oil or gas.
Benign and boundless sources of energy are right around the corner.
Mining coal in Utah or drilling for oil offshore or in ANWR is unmanageable.
Deadly predator attacks are anomalies and the fault of poorly trained
people.
Lead poisoning is a problem for loons and condors.
The foregoing are all pronouncements from scientists and veterinarians and
University professors. While being forwarded as "facts" they are in truth a
mix of personal emotions, good intentions, tunnel vision, and yes even
purposeful deceit. But all-that aside, they have prevailed and are
enshrined in laws, regulations and policies of Federal, State, and Local
government. They are unquestioned because they are unquestionable. They
are a creed if you will, a growing litany of beliefs that describe the
Environmental and Animal Rights Movement. They are taught to our children,
they are utilized by "scientists" and academicians to obtain tax dollars and
power from bureaucrats and politicians who in turn generate power and
funding from acceptance of and enactment of these creeds. The power, like
the funding, comes from you and me as well as from dwindling Local and State jurisdictions and authorities. They are nothing less than religious and
they are indeed being imposed on us as a major means of making us all more beholden to and oppressed by government.
Ask yourself, why should a date (1492 or 1776 or whatever) be THE ONLY basis for what plants or animals belong anywhere? Why should people (through government) cause the presence of wolves or cougars or bears that destroy other people's property and even their lives while evading any responsibility? Do you really believe that property should remain in public control when it generates no income and allows no use and pays no local taxes for roads or schools? We should not be unable to ask these questions
and such assertions should not be blindly accepted and certainly not imposed
by fiat.
"Science", both "facts" and "truths", is a necessary and highly desirable
and beneficial aspect of our lives. It is, and should remain, an important
ingredient in our daily lives and in the conduct of our society. That said
it is but one of many, albeit an important one, considerations in our
decision-making. It should never be an end unto itself as it is becoming.
It is advisory not definitive.
If you accept the idea that man is but another animal without eternal
purpose and only lives and dies like a mouse or a carp then bowing to
whatever "scientific" pronouncement that benefits your self- interest makes
sense. If man is no more than a pretty valley or a fawn in springtime,
sacrificing towns and families and livelihoods and culture and traditions to
the whims of whoever seizes power makes moving to Zimbabwe appear to be a step up.
VI. Science as Religion
Sci-ence, n. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or
truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws:
the mathematical sciences.
The above American College Dictionary definition has two words I would ask
you to note: "facts" and "truths". These two words are very important to
understand if we are to grasp the use of "science" both nationally and
internationally by the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement over the
past thirty-five years. References to "best science" and "scientific
findings" and "scientific testimony" and "research" pepper the hearings and
laws and regulations that have grown Federal authority over property and
animals and business and so many human activities and pursuits during this
period. "Science" has been a major justification for everything from
eroding property rights (Endangered Species, Wilderness, Roadless, etc.) and using animals to decimate human activities and rural economies (Marine
Mammals, Endangered Species, Invasive Species, Wolves, Bears, Lynx, etc.) to incremental destruction of animal ownership and use (Animal Welfare Act,
animal husbandry and pet surgery like ear clipping and tail bobbing, horse
slaughter, etc.) and most significantly an incredible expansion of Federal
and UN authority at the expense of individual rights and Local and State
authorities established in our US Constitution.
For the sake of this presentation I would like to define "truths" as those
things that conform to reality and "facts" as those things known to have
happened. An example of a scientific "truth" would be a molecule that is
two parts Hydrogen and one part Oxygen is water. So far as we know this
"truth" was, is, and will be. Such a molecule cannot be Sulfuric acid or a
polymer: it can only be water. I submit that much, if not all that we
"know" in the "scientific" fields of mathematics and chemistry and physics
fall into the "truth" category.
"Facts" are, for this purpose, another matter. In the field of biology
there are certainly many "truths". Genetics and molecular biology come to
mind. However, consider that plants and animals and their communities
evolve and change often in unforeseeable and unimaginable ways. Human
history is certainly a prime testimony to this "fact". Just one hundred
years ago Malthusians were "scientifically" forecasting the imminent crash
of human populations and the extirpation of earth's natural resources. They
could not have imagined the abundance of our society or the magnitude and
use of the earth's natural resources today.
Plants and animal also adapt and change dramatically. Thirty-five years
ago, "all Canada geese nested in the 'far North'". Today millions reside
year around in country clubs and parking lots eating bluegrass while
polluting schoolyards and city parks all over the northern US. Thirty-five
years ago wild turkeys could not exist without "extensive virgin forests".
Today they chase suburban postmen and harass children at bus stops.
Thirty-five years ago if I would have bet with any "biologists" that we
would have a 60-day, 15 bird per day limit on snow geese on the Atlantic
coast by now, I would have retired a millionaire. Thirty-five years ago,
Global Cooling was going to eliminate most of Canada's agriculture and
greatly change US agriculture. Today they are growing genetically developed
corn and soybeans in North Dakota (where it was formerly wheat) and anyone
doubting Global Warming is cast as a fool and extreme remedies are put forth with the implication that, like H2O is water, unless the remedies are
adopted X,Y,&Z will follow.
Both "kinds" of "science" are at work all around us. Whether it is the
"research" that says "lynx are vulnerable to vehicle traffic" or that
certain movie star's septic tanks are causing high bacteria levels and
smells in the waters off Malibu: it is not my purpose here to explain which
of these is bogus and which is a simple "truth". Rather I ask you to
consider the pronouncements of "science" over the past thirty-five years
that have been used as the foundation for harmful laws and regulations
engineered by the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement, endorsed and enforced by eager bureaucrats, and enacted by politicians hungry for
reelection and power. A few examples would be:
This flock or that herd is "biologically distinct" therefore should be
"Listed".
Ear cropping or tail-bobbing a dog or declawing a cat violates Animal
Welfare.
Horsemeat is unhealthy to eat or feed to other animals.
All marine mammals are below desirable limits.
Such-and-such valley or wetland or mountain or river is an "ecosystem".
Native species "belong" here.
Non-native or "Invasive" Species should be extirpated wherever we say.
"Endangered", "Native", "Invasive", "Welfare" are defined as.
Restoring this or that species everywhere is "necessary" or "beneficial".
Closing areas to all plant or animal management is justifiable.
Stopping all manner of human resource use or associated activity is
justified.
Logging harms "the environment".
Grazing harms "the environment".
Predators are "necessary" wherever they may be.
Marine Mammals and wolves do not depress and extirpate fisheries and game animals.
Economic returns continue in unmanaged and unused areas.
There is only X amount of oil or gas.
Benign and boundless sources of energy are right around the corner.
Mining coal in Utah or drilling for oil offshore or in ANWR is unmanageable.
Deadly predator attacks are anomalies and the fault of poorly trained
people.
Lead poisoning is a problem for loons and condors.
The foregoing are all pronouncements from scientists and veterinarians and
University professors. While being forwarded as "facts" they are in truth a
mix of personal emotions, good intentions, tunnel vision, and yes even
purposeful deceit. But all-that aside, they have prevailed and are
enshrined in laws, regulations and policies of Federal, State, and Local
government. They are unquestioned because they are unquestionable. They
are a creed if you will, a growing litany of beliefs that describe the
Environmental and Animal Rights Movement. They are taught to our children,
they are utilized by "scientists" and academicians to obtain tax dollars and
power from bureaucrats and politicians who in turn generate power and
funding from acceptance of and enactment of these creeds. The power, like
the funding, comes from you and me as well as from dwindling Local and State jurisdictions and authorities. They are nothing less than religious and
they are indeed being imposed on us as a major means of making us all more beholden to and oppressed by government.
Ask yourself, why should a date (1492 or 1776 or whatever) be THE ONLY basis for what plants or animals belong anywhere? Why should people (through government) cause the presence of wolves or cougars or bears that destroy other people's property and even their lives while evading any responsibility? Do you really believe that property should remain in public control when it generates no income and allows no use and pays no local taxes for roads or schools? We should not be unable to ask these questions
and such assertions should not be blindly accepted and certainly not imposed
by fiat.
"Science", both "facts" and "truths", is a necessary and highly desirable
and beneficial aspect of our lives. It is, and should remain, an important
ingredient in our daily lives and in the conduct of our society. That said
it is but one of many, albeit an important one, considerations in our
decision-making. It should never be an end unto itself as it is becoming.
It is advisory not definitive.
If you accept the idea that man is but another animal without eternal
purpose and only lives and dies like a mouse or a carp then bowing to
whatever "scientific" pronouncement that benefits your self- interest makes
sense. If man is no more than a pretty valley or a fawn in springtime,
sacrificing towns and families and livelihoods and culture and traditions to
the whims of whoever seizes power makes moving to Zimbabwe appear to be a step up.
The Movement has very skillfully corrupted "scientists" as they have
politicians and bureaucrats. It is no great trick to view lynx in such a
way that you justify more Wilderness or Roadless or other land control
schemes. Ignoring the depredations of wolves and cougars and bears while
extolling greatly inflated predator "benefits" takes not skill but simple
greed. Justifying land and water area closures (Wilderness, Sanctuary,
Park, Roadless, etc.) while ignoring resource management options and human impacts is really unconscionable. Clothing personal preferences (bans on cockfighting or horse slaughter or rodeos or circuses or tail-bobbing or animal experiments or fur) as "scientific justification" to seize property rights and dictate animal uses by their owners is shameful.
In all of the above examples the veterinarian or animal researcher or
academician or wildlife biologist or forester is free to tell others of his
or her "findings" or beliefs. Tell others you don't slaughter your horse or
bob a dog's tail. Ask others not to fight gamecocks but unless the location
is a nuisance or sight for crime leave others to their traditional use of
their property. Drive slow where you are afraid a lynx might dart out and
attempt seppuku on your grill. Buy some land and enclose it and let no one
enter and let the deer multiply until they die off from disease or hungry
wolves kill the last one and the woods and grass to get so thick that
lightning burns it all down. But today these things are accepted as
articles of a faith and imposed as religious beliefs on society like
inarguable tenets of a dominant religion intent on forcibly converting the
nation, not by the sword but, by government.
Jim Beers
11 October 2006
- If you found this worthwhile, please share it with others. Thanks.
- This article and other recent articles by Jim Beers can be found at
http://jimbeers.blogster.com (Jim Beers Common Sense)
- Jim Beers is available for consulting or to speak. Contact:
jimbeers7@verizon.net
- Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist,
Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow.