Saving
the Earth
by Anonymous
Numbers 34:35: "You should not defile the land which you inhabit."
"Why
should we care about global warming?" my ex-father-in-law asked
with the kind of intensity that left no room for doubt. "It won't
effect us. We'll be dead and buried by the time it hits."
Just another uncomfortable visit with the
in-laws.
My ex-father-in-law was a self-proclaimed
conservative, one of those small-town Connecticut good-old-boys who disdained
even the sound of the word liberal. He must have sensed my progressive
leanings, and made a habit of discussing political issues whenever I was
around. I was young back then, and refused to argue with him out of respect
for my ex-wife.
He considered himself quite a patriot, proud
to be an American. Nearing retirement age, he owned a successful business,
had a nice home, a wife and several grown children, and felt, no doubt,
that he was blessed by God. He had little patience and certainly no empathy
for people who were less successful than him. This meant, of course, that
his patriotism excluded large segments of the American population, many
of whom he would gladly ship overseas.
On this occasion the topic skipped over
affirmative action or how welfare was destroying the nation. The soap
box tilted toward pollution and global warming.
Why should we care? he asked me.
It won't effect us.
I was horrified by the sentiment, and that
someone related to my ex-wife could even think such a thing, but I bit
my tongue.
What he didn't realize was that he opened
a door to my understanding with those callous words. I started to realized
how shallow his loud patriotism really was. His view of America was not
about us, the actual people of the United States, but about him. One person.
What was good for him alone. Unlike most real conservatives, he didn't
care about preserving the world for his children or grandchildren, or
in respect for God.
At the time I thought his attitude was an
anomaly. As I grow older, I see something similar in the political scene
and the business world. It's frightening.
On one hand we have tobacco CEOs telling
Congress, under oath, that they firmly believed that cigarette smoking
did not cause lung cancer. On the other, we hear some politicians claim
that global warming is a fiction invented by liberals, or is not manmade,
or the scientific results are not conclusive.
Now, my ex-father-in-law didn't blatantly
lie like those people did. His selfishness was simple and direct. All
he cared about was himself, and was proud of it.
These politicians and CEOs care only about power and profit, and are not
above deceiving the American people in order to get more than they obviously
deserve.
The Enron debacle shows the lack of conscience
that some of our top businesspeople have. They reaped incredible, personal
profits while ordinary people lost their retirement funds. They purposely
caused blackouts in California to raise the cost of electricity they sold.
Some decades ago, American car manufacturers (it chills me to call them
American) produced defective parts in order to boost their profits. (If
it wasn't for competition from Japan, they might still be doing it.)
Highly profitable American businesses are
outsourcing middle class jobs despite their undeniable success! They have
the nerve to insist that this is good for our economy, and that those
who are laid off due to outsourcing invariably get better paying jobs—which
is untrue for most of them.
We've seen politicians crusade against abortion
to garner votes, hiding that their real intent is to dismantle such "liberal"
atrocities as Social Security and environment protection standards.
We even have religious leaders who speak
out against environmental protection! They believe that global warming,
along with war, poverty, earthquakes and pandemics, represent a positive
signal that Christ will soon deliver them from the rest of us. Even though
these same leaders have a history of completely wrong predictions (remember
the millennium bug?), their followers still believe them. How easily they
ignore what the bible tells us in Numbers 34:35, "You should not
defile the land which you inhabit."
I wonder if Christ will be pleased with
their loveless disregard for other people. As Jesus said: "Not everyone
who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven… Then
I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil-doers.'"
(Matt. 6:21-23)
The question boils down to this: are we
or are we not a moral nation?
If we are, then we logically need to act
in a moral fashion. We have to start caring more about people than money
or power or just ourselves.
We have to tell the truth, and act quickly
to correct our mistakes.
And yes, we have to stop global warming!
Even if we, as individuals, will not be around for the final destruction
of life on earth.
The scientific conclusions on global warming
are no longer in doubt. Denying the facts while there is still time to
turn things around is surely the most selfish, egregious, and yes, insane
political scandal in all of history. That people have the audacity to
turn their backs on this issue while waving our American flag (as if America
could ever stand for such a thing) should mobilize the rest of us to act.
But where is the outrage? Where is the clamor?
There was a time when the idea of America
included the heroic quality of doing the right thing no matter what the
cost or sacrifice. More and more that seems to be receding. Many of us
feel that the only responsibility we have is to ourselves, our profit,
our image. We are turning Americanism into "me-first-ism." My
ex-father-in-law would be proud.
We cannot claim to be a moral people if
we accept the outright lies of certain business leaders and politicians,
or make believe that nothing is wrong. There is too much at stake! The
environment that the human race depends on is in jeopardy from the disregard
of our own actions.
No other nation can adequately respond to
this problem. We are the only ones who have the wealth and technological
know-how to turn things around. We are the only ones in a position to
reinstate our courage, fairness and resolve. We cannot afford to cling
to that old bottom-line way of thinking that disregards so much of what
makes us human.
It's up to us to take the heroic stance
on global warming and environmental protection.
It is truly is the American thing to do.
