With the de facto abandonment of Christianity as the UK’s established religion we are faced with the emergence of a plethora of secular quasi-religions pursuing their own fundamentalist visions of the perfect society and warning us of an imminent Apocalypse unless we embrace their faith. Utterly convinced of the reasonableness of their position, they can only see things in black and white. Nuance and the possibility that there might be some validity in other viewpoints never enter their consciousness. Opponents are not merely wrong but wicked, virtue resides with them alone. We are confronted with self-appointed priestly castes who can sacralise any foolish act as beyond question, and demand the rest of us unhesitatingly accept it as dogma.
Chief amongst the progressive zealots are the catastrophising millenarian sect of eco-warriors known as Just Stop Oil, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, who have become the spearhead of the environmental movement. Whilst Extinction Rebellion practised civil disobedience, Just Stop Oil devotees have moved on to what they term “Civil Resistance” to the “harmful politics and our criminal government”. One activist said, “No one seems to be doing anything, no one seems to be listening to us. We’ve done protests, tried to talk to our MPs – the only thing we can do now is direct action.”
Highly damaging actions
Since their launch in February, Just Stop Oil’s direct action has included throwing soup onto Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, spraying paint on the windows of Harrods, tipping gallons of milk onto supermarket floors, super-gluing their hands to much loved works of art and blocking the Dartford Crossing for two days.
We are faced with the emergence of a plethora of secular quasi-religions pursuing their own fundamentalist visions of the perfect society and warning us of an imminent Apocalypse unless we embrace their faith.
The UK is facing a time of financial stringency due to the war in Ukraine, a looming global recession and general political mismanagement. As a result, most people are tightening their belts and looking forward to winter with apprehension at the prospect of significantly higher energy and food bills. Yet, such is their total faith in their cause, the Just Stop Oil protesters have chosen to add to our misery by earlier this year blocking oil refineries and cutting the delivery of essential fuels, and are demanding that we stop using fossil fuels altogether.
A blinkered narrow view
Just Stop Oil’s manifesto makes it apparent how blinkered it is. The group states that in order to end fossil fuel use by 2030, it “will require massive investment in clean technology, renewables and energy storage”. Renewable energy is never going to be able to replace fossil fuels by 2030 and wind farms, whether on land or sea, bring their own environmental hazards. Solar power farms use up a vast acreage of arable land in order to be effective and will cause an increase in food miles as we import even more of our food. Yet, the suggestion that we turn to nuclear power is met with horror as the ultimate blasphemy.
Just Stop Oil have no actual concern for, and clearly little contact with, the lives of ordinary people and the problems we face. This is clear from their tactic of blocking roads. Ordinary people have to get to work, keep appointments and generally go about their daily business. Ambulances have to take ill people to hospital, food has to be delivered to supermarkets, fire engines have to rush to emergencies. All these are disrupted when self-righteous eco-warriors park themselves in the middle of the roadway. It should come as no surprise that there is growing evidence of drivers getting out of their cars and physically dragging the zealots off the highway, in effect doing the job of the police who often stand by observing.
It is true that we could live without using fossil fuels. Throughout the world many do just that. We call this lifestyle ‘abject poverty’.
It is true that we could live without using fossil fuels. Throughout the world many do just that. We call this lifestyle ‘abject poverty’. Life without fossil fuels, especially in northern latitudes, is cold, nasty and short. Fossil fuels do more than heat our buildings and cook our food, they provide the power without which industry and transport would grind to a halt. Much of our clothing, household utensils and everyday necessities, from electrical wiring to spectacles, come from oil. Until we develop realistic alternatives, there is no possibility of us just stopping oil – and those alternatives are simply not going to miraculously arrive before Just Stop Oil’s 2030 cut-off date.
Subversive underlying agenda
Naturally the Just Stop Oil zealots are supported by what Home Secretary Suella Braverman described as, “the coalition of chaos, it's the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati – dare I say, the anti-growth coalition”. Stuart Basden eco-warrior and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has argued that the movement “isn’t about the climate”, but is concerned with many issues such as overturning white supremacy, the patriarchy, Eurocentrism, heteronormativity, cultural identity and class hierarchy. He states, “To focus on the climate’s breakdown (the symptom) without focusing attention on these toxic delusions (the causes) is a form a denialism.”
They see Western culture as a cancer which must be excised and wish to change the structure of the entire world.
These are more than environmental activist groups concerned with saving the rainforest, and protecting pandas. What they see as the environmental catastrophe is a mere symptom of a greater sickness. They see Western culture as a cancer which must be excised and wish to change the structure of the entire world – “If we only talk about the climate, we’re missing the deeper problems plaguing our culture. And if we don’t excise the cause of the infection, we can never hope to heal from it.”
Our environmental zealots illustrate the truth that when you abandon Christ you abandon more than Christ, and what fills the void is never good.
