The United Nations has been a notorious enemy of motherhood, financing contraceptives and promoting abortions worldwide for decades. They have tried to redefine the family, to redefine sexuality (refusing to acknowledge that humanity is comprised of males and females) and now may be poised to enshrine motherhood of an entirely different sort:

Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving “Mother Earth” the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country. The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to “dominate and exploit” — to the point that the “well-being and existence of many beings” is now threatened.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia’s Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January. That document speaks of the country’s natural resources as “blessings,” and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities; and the right to be free from pollution.

It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature’s complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state.

It would be humorous if it weren’t so pernicious — and well-funded! The Catholic Church has always stressed good stewardship over the gifts created for our benefit, and that includes the need to conserve those resources, respecting the persons who are so gravely affected by trashing the planet, but the creation cannot have “human rights.”

How bizarre this is, first of all when even many humans don’t have the rights inherent in “human personhood!” Furthermore, this “personification” of creation was strictly enjoined by our Judeo-Christian heritage, which speaks of the Fatherhood of God. He has never “married” the earth, but instead seeks a spousal relationship solely with those in His image and likeness. To illustrate the deeper lie inherent in this attempt at theology, the Church has always steered her children away from this sort of sloppy thinking, for the “maternalization” of creation leads directly to pantheism, which places creation itself on the level of the Creator.

I understand that the United Nations cannot be a Christian body, and I don’t expect it to be. But must the world sign on to this Gaia worship, just because it wants to spiritualize the need to love your neighbor?

The draft of the new law states: “She is sacred, fertile and the source of life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation.”

This is nonsense on stilts, and should be rejected by those who know it’s wrong to worship the earth. If this becomes enshrined in law, beware of losing your own autonomy and ability to worship differently. An ominous sign of things to come.