Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
All talk.
This morning NPR ran a segment on global warming, focusing on how Texas, if it were an independent nation, would be the world's 7th-worst carbon-producing culprit. The whole piece was interesting, as it goes through and looks at the culture which has contributed to this problem, and how industry has stymied efforts to even raise awareness.
But what caught my ear was one bit where they were talking to a Baptist preacher who addressed the issue of climate change in a sermon. Here it is:
But efforts are being made, even by religious leaders, to try to minimize consumption. In a sermon one Sunday by Rev. Raymond Bailey, pastor of Seventh & James Baptist Church in Waco, he suggested that his flock consider reducing so many trips in their cars. His message was not received too favorably by a few members of his church.
"They said to me, 'Now preacher, now don't mess with our cars, I'm not going to give up my car.' And that's just human nature," Bailey says. "We are willing to call for sacrifice on the part of others, but not on self. And this global warming is a very good example of that."
"Just human nature"? Yes. And demonstrates amply how many Christians are willing to mouth the words to stay right with their religion while completely betraying what is arguably the best message it has to offer: that mutual sacrifice and support is the road to salvation. I mean, isn't the whole thing predicated on the sacrifice of Christ, and aren't Christians supposed to emulate Him? Yet ask them to limit use of their SUVs . . .
Jim Downey
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The beach will be so much closer!
If we have worst case global warming my near NW condo will be a short drive to the downtown Houston seawall. Baytown and League City will be a tropical lagoon protected from the harsh waves of the Gulf of Mexico by the Galveston Barrier Reef. I fully expect Galveston will become a major coral reef as the Gulf Dead Zone will no longer threaten the Flower Gardens coral reef once the lower Mississippi becomes unnavigable. Galveston's buildings will be the perfect substrate for opportunistic corals.
But what about the gators? They'll have to move up the Brazos up north of Waco, and they may move up the Trinity even as far as Dallas,
I want my SUV
Reminds me of a talk I heard given by Michael Crichton on how seriously we should take the global warming crowd. He said those who seem to take the lead in this can't seem to give up their private jets. All in all, the message to us in third world countries is: Reduce your consumption of the earth's resources so there'll be enough for us rich countries to waste.
Point taken about Christians not willing to take the lead in this, Jim. There's a part in the Bible where God is pissed at the "destroyers of the earth". But from where I sit, one's religion is irrelevant to the problem. The richer countries just dont want to give up their SUVs.
You better hope reason prevails.
Jeg-
Good observation. You have noticed another contradictory message our country is sending to the world and it's something that drives me crazy. Our energy policy makes me embarrassed to be an American sometimes. I hate it when our leaders don't understand that people like you are not falling for the lies Fox News channel sells to the American people. President Bush and the Republicans always think it's a PR problem, when in reality, global climate change is a problem, problem.
You should know that many of us actually do give a damn about the environment and want our next president to be aware of the problems and ready to do something about it. I would bet that most of the skeptics that frequent UTI feel the same way I do. One of the big problems we have is getting everyone on board. Many people in this country deny that global warming even exists. Or they deny that global warming is man made and therefore, there is nothing we can do about it. Most of the global warming deniers are Christians like you!
In all fairness, I am detecting a split within religious circles about the environment. Many are becoming more conscientious about environmentalism. On the other hand you still have too many Evangelical's who think the Rapture will happen sometime soon and therefore see no need to worry about the environment.
Since you are a Christian, I would have assumed you have heard of Dominion Theology?
Anyway, judging from your post, I would say that you have more in common with us atheists than the religious right, at least as far as the environment is concerned. It's just another one of those areas where we trust scientists more than the bible. You've said before that you find our struggle interesting. That's great, but maybe now you understand a little better why our struggle is so important? Your very life, and the future of your family, might depend on the fight Americans are having between faith and reason right now. You better hope reason prevails!
Stewards
That frustrates me, too. Even granting global warming is a natural occurrence...to do nothing? That's crazy. Global warming or not, we should be taking care of our planet if we care about our children and their children. The attitude that "there is no global warming so we can go ahead and live as we've been living, using up resources as if they won't run out" is dangerous.
I havent heard of Dominion Theology. Thanks for the link. And I do interpret the passage to mean humans should act as stewards of the earth. A few years ago, I was part of a team that studied a small lake in one of the provinces here that was deteriorating due to overexploitation and environmental damage and this old man told us a story that before World War II, the people there believed in spirits that inhabited the lake and they offered to them and basically prayed to them. The people understood that the lake didnt belong to them and so didnt to anything to offend the spirits, by not treating the lake as a dump, for example. Later people from the city came who didnt have that sense of stewardship and put up fishpens and such and exploited the lake, and now it is dying. The first group of people were stewards, taking care of someone else's property. The second group acted as if they owned the lake. Ironic that Christians are supposed to be in the first group and yet... But Im glad more and more of them are recognizing their responsibilities to the planet.
Michael Crichton, esteemed climatologist...
He makes a lot of hay over John Travolta's jets and yeah, that IS stupid but so is John Travolta. The man believes in Scientology, for cryin' out loud.
The daily commute from suburbia to any major US city probably sucks up as much fuel every day as Travolta's jets will ever use. The waste of our culture is in its scale. It isn't one SUV or one commute, it's 16-lane highways full of them over a whole continent. It's McMansions on the prairie. It's the unwillingness to recycle a damn aluminum can. It's giant offices where we have to wear neckties with the air-conditioning set so low that secretaries hide space heaters under their desks. It's imported bottled water.
We can't live close to where we work, we can't walk, we can't sweat, we can't wear last year's clothes or drive a car for more than three years. We're on a treadmill fueled by advertising and antidepressants. Our culture is thoroughly messed up and any attempts to point that fact out are hooted down.
Well said.
Perzactly, DOF.
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
An interesting blog article I heard of about.
http://www.energybulletin.net/37091.html (apologies if you need cut and paste -- I'm a lousy HTMLer).
"Economic and planetary collapse: Is it a therapeutic issue? | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse"
This would pretty clearly fall under her definition of 'nascarism'.
Chi Trib had a cover story on suburbia yesterday
...which examined the creation of a new suburb 45 miles from the Chicago loop. It was titled; Leaps of faith drive ever-expanding 'burbs.
I didn't think they meant literal, religious faith but maybe they did. Certainly they meant an unfounded belief in the future of cheap gas, in an environment that can recover from unlimited insults, and in their own ability to find meaning in life while spending more than two hours every day of their lives, in a car.
Nobody's going to be exempt from the effects of environmental catastrophe.
Also look here
http://whoisioz.blogspot.com/2007/11/your-miserable-preview-of-failure-f...
That was the one article i had in mind, gets interesting from this paragraph onwards.
IOZ wrote up a post about
IOZ wrote up a post about car addiction here
http://whoisioz.blogspot.com/2006/11/change-it-more.html