winter wonderland

Here we go again. Here in the bleak midwinter, as both the snow and temperatures fall across the country, the ice simultaneously seems to build on the minds and mouths of those passionately encamped on either side of the climate change/global warming debate.  There are many people who believe that potentially catastrophic, human-caused global warming is real.  There are also many people who don’t.  And unfortunately, instead of everyone coming together, getting on the same page as to what is true, what is not, and what other aspects and insights may be relevant, too many utilize their influence to either mock or manipulate.

 

Case in point #1:  Business mogul, Donald Trump, tweeting this week after 2 ships were trapped in Antarctica’s ice, “What the hell is going on with GLOBAL WARMING? The planet is freezing, the ice is building and the G.W. scientists are stuck — a total con job.”

 

Case in point #2:  Liberal MSNBC host, Chris Hayes, commenting on persons like Trump & company — those who see the record cold temps as contradicting global warming, and then calling their reasoning “willful stupidity.”

 

Sorry, but the stupidity, name-calling, and rhetorical manipulations do not help us get to the truth.  Even Pres. Obama referred to global warming skeptics last summer as potential members of the “Flat Earth Society” (… uh, sorry, but there actually exists a Flat Earth Society… and well, they believe that human-caused warming is real).  Nonetheless, the name-calling and mocking doesn’t help.

 

I realize that if a lot of really smart people believe something, there is great reason to believe it’s true.  I also realize that just because really smart people believe something, does not make it true.

 

The challenge, however, is that due to the mocking and manipulation of the likeminded above, we now have a society which tends to look at global-warming/climate-change/best-currently-expedient-term as a political issue.  It’s not.  It’s either happening or it’s not.  It’s either caused by man or it’s not.  And whether you hail from a left or right partisan base or camp out somewhere in the middle, it doesn’t affect the reality of what’s true.  Perhaps that reality is the most inconvenient truth of all.

 

Scientists cannot definitively prove global warming.  Please hear me.  I did not say it was not true.  I said that it cannot be completely proven to be true.  I am not a scientist.  And for the record, neither is Donald Trump, Chris Hayes, or Barack Obama.

 

My point is that we need to consider other aspects and insights which may be relevant instead of rhetorically attempting to convince others.  One factual consequence about the politicizing of this issue is that many people stand to profit significantly from an investment in climate change.

 

One key aspect I’d appreciate seeing those really smart people wrestle with is how and if any ancient scriptures apply.  Yes, I realize many of us are willfully challenged to submit to the perceived wisdom of someone else; our wills and stubbornness and sometimes even intelligence often interferes.  But we should at least add to the climate conversation 2 significant aspects included in the ancient scriptures — writings that have more preserved copies than any work by Homer, Plato, or Aristotle — writings which academia teaches to be true.  We should consider (1) scripture’s call to care for the planet, and (2) scripture’s prediction that the planet will not last.

 

Friends, there’s no good reason to mock nor manipulate.  There is valid reason, however, to discuss all potentially relevant aspects of the climate conversation.  In order to best discern what is true, what is not, and who and what bears responsibility, let’s start by depoliticizing the issue.

 

Respectfully,

AR