470 Global Warming, Part 3
For all those who have asked me since my hell columns in December and now this series on global warming, no I am not going through a mid-life crisis. No, I’m not trying to call attention to myself or wishing I was young again. Although, how about that new retro-styled Mustang convertible? Undo those top shirt buttons, show some bling and floor it, dude.
I’ve always had this inexplicable desire to know truth first hand. I’ve never liked believing something just because so-and-so said so. Thus, when the media began pumping out daily reports about the global warming controversy I wanted to read source documents and form my own first hand opinion.
I first knew how tough that would be when I tried to read the highly touted summary of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change released in February 2007. Holy molly, the “summary” is 18 pages long and written in a language that looks to be a blend of English, mathematics and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Great if you’re a scientist. Bad if you’re Clothman.
I’ve since reviewed a mountain of information and talked to several experts. For what it’s worth, I found that the data which support the assumption that humans are contributing significantly to global warming is much more extensive and credible than that which rejects it. I’m not panicking, but not all of the global warming hype is hot air. We really do have a serious situation on our hands with the potential for major global complications if we don’t act - soon.
However, by the time I formed my opinion about global warming it didn’t really matter which “side” I came down on because it turns out that a lesson I learned from my mom and dad when I was five years old is what guided me through the controversy. My parents taught me that I should always leave a place cleaner than I found it.
This remarkably simple principle of leaving things better than we find them is a mandate to all people. Regardless your view of global warming, it should come as no surprise that God expects us to leave the earth for our children in better condition than we got it from our parents.
“God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of the Earth” (Genesis 1:26).
From the opening chapter of Genesis and woven into the whole of Scripture, human beings, acting as God’s stewards, are to provide care for creation, remembering that it does not belong to us.
Every generation since the Industrial Revolution has failed miserably at this and we’re now paying the price. Someone must turn things around. We must turn things around.
Yes, that might make us bedfellows with some folks with whom we’re not used to siding but that sure beats taking dogmatic stands that make it look as though we don’t believe that God created this awesome planet and assigned us to be stewards of it. To be Christian is to be an environmentalist.
Hmmm, would getting a tattoo affect the global climate?
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