Critical Thinking about Climate Change

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Everybody has a right to his own opinion . . . unless, of course, the opinion endangers the rest of us. The dangers of religiocentricism: it excludes critical thinking. 

Global Warming

TUESDAY, NOV 9, 2010 18:10 ET

And God said to Noah: Don't fret about global warming

A Republican seeking to chair the House Energy committee explains why devastating climate is impossible VIDEO

BY ANDREW LEONARD

Back in March 2009, when Nancy Pelosi ruled the House of Representatives with an iron fist, one could chuckle at Republicans who came to committee hearings quoting scripture as the rationale for their positions on energy policy.

But now, when one of those very same Republicans is in the running for the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce committee, it just doesn't seem so funny.

Juan Cole does us the unpleasant service of bringing back to life the comments of John Shimkus, R-Ill., a year and a half ago.

Shimkus starts by quoting Genesis 8, Verses 21 and 22, in which God makes Noah a promise.

Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though all inclinations of his heart are evil from childhood and never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.

Shimkus continues: "I believe that is the infallible word of god, and that's the way it is going to be for his creation... The earth will end only when God declares its time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth. This earth will not be destroyed by a flood."

I'm glad that John Shimkus can sleep at night, faithful that that God's word is "infallible, unchanging, perfect." But for those of us who are less confident in humanity's ability to keep from massively screwing up, the thought that the Bible will be determining government energy policy is massively ulcer-inducing.

 

Comments

[Ax Dillingham]

This reminds me of the point several people brought up when discussing evolution. The Bible is not a science book. It is a religious text. When we are discussing climate change, we need to focus on scientific evidence. Climate change isn't an issue of God destroying us. It's an issue of us destroying ourselves.

[Chris Caldwell]

Like Ax said, the bible is not discussing the possibility of God destroying the planet. It is about us, Gods stewards, destroying our planet. God has nothing to do with the situation.

[Daniel Prohaska]

Here is my breakdown of this Congressman's presentation (no pun intended):

* Yes we do have the right to free speech, but our individual rights only extend as far as to not encroach on another's rights. When what one is saying and calling for inflicts great harm on our ecosystem and therefore affects all those living on our planet their rights have violated others and they must be stopped.
* “And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done." Global warming does not say ALL living creatures will be destroyed. There is every reason to believe that some form of life will survive the destruction we are bringing on our planet and will inherit the Earth when we are gone. Also, God says He will never destroy the Earth, he never says that humans cannot destroy the Earth. Big difference!
* "As long as the Earth endures seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Once again global warming does not say that our planet will heat up, it says that temperatures will go to both ends of the extreme spectrum. We will still have winters and summers, but they will get progressively colder and hotter and more difficult to endure. This will also affect the seedtime and harvest which will be cut down extraordinarily and it will likely become much harder if not impossible to grow food. Global warming also does not say that day and night will cease, this is completely irrelevant.
* If you believe that this is the infallible word of God that is completely fine and acceptable. However, if you will refer to my comment above, God says He will not destroy the Earth, not that man cannot destroy the Earth. This point alone proves that you can accept every word of this scripture as literally true and still accept that we MUST act on global warming. WE are responsible for this planet and our actions DO affect our environment. Anyone who does not believe this needs to go back to high school biology when you learn about the interworking of our ecosystem.
* “This world will end only when God says it will end." This once again does not say that humans cannot control the destruction of the Earth by their actions. There is no evidence that contradicts the idea that God will wait for us to destroy ourselves before coming and declaring the end of the world.
* “This earth will not be destroyed by a flood?" Someone obviously does not have a clue what global warming really means. Yes there will be a rise in sea levels, but not to the likes of which Noah's flood extended. There will be many other contributing factors to our earth's destruction that will affect other areas of our climate and geography.
* On the note of PPM - if you're interpreting the Bible literally there is no mention of dinosaurs. If you're accepting the physical evidence we have that contradicts that then you're accepting science and you should not be arguing about global warming you should be doing something about it! If you look up the numbers for PPM during that prehistoric time period you will see that the CO2 PPM dropped SIGNIFICANTLY before the end of the Paleozoic area to an amount nearly identical to today's standards. You will also notice a HUGE estimate of uncertainty for this entire time period. In other words WE DON'T KNOW! (see the source for this argument here: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Carboniferous_climate.html)
* Jobs: someone has not done their research. The jobs created by clean energy alternatives have reached nearly 40,000 with the ability to grow to at least 100,000 with further investments (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/10/clean_energy_jobs.html.) The jobs lost by coal miners: 500 (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15946280.) Even if that number was soft or even if it was per mine, that would only reach 2000 jobs for four mines which is FAR outweighed by the jobs gained by clean energy alternatives. Clean energy jobs will also be in healthier environments than coal mines or oil rigs.

Well, if I'm not mistaken that nullifies every aspect of Mr. Shimkus' argument. Illinois needs to wake up and do something about this guy, as does every educated member of the House who is interested in helping the American people. The appointment of Shimkus to the House Energy Commission signals a deadly turn back from the productive path we need to take on the global climate crisis facing our country. To those who vote on this matter: a vote on Shimkus is a vote for the death of this planet and the human race as we know it. We can no longer afford to ignore this issue, it must be addressed NOW!

[Nicole Shannon]

As Ax and Chris have already mentioned, this is a scientific discussion, not a religious one, the two should not be intermixed.
To Daniel, I noticed that contradiction with the dinosaurs as well, he cannot argue with the "infallible word of God" and then turn back around and use an argument about the dinosaurs. Mr. Shimkus is a poor example of what may happen if people do not begin to think critically about who they elect. We need to start searching for ways to turn global warming around, not sit and debate whether the problem exists or not.

[Kailagh Powell]

I don't know how Shimkas can say that the pictured men lost their jobs because of the clean air acts, but have nothing to say about the jobs the clean air acts provided in the United States.

He uses the Bible to support his take on global warming but does not even consider what the Bible says about being good stewards of the earth. Last time I checked, coal mining and usage were polluting acts that harm the Earth in which we live.

[Amy Salmond]

I can see where he's coming from, but I agree that we can't sit back and let God take care of the planet alone. We need to help. After all, we're the ones to drink the water and eat the food here, not God.

[Taylor Britain]

This is where religion comes into play obviously. We elected this politician, so we have to deal with his theories and opinions. I for one believe in God. Global warming is not going to flood the earth, it is going to rise sea level. If global warming is true and actually happening in that case. I also think that anything a Republican does is going to be criticized by Liberals, and vice versa. Especially issues on God and Climate Change.

[Cameron Haines]

You cannot base scientific judgement on what the bible says. Science and religion are two different things. Yes, the bible does say that God promised to never flood the Earth and kill a lot of people like that again, but we are killing ourselves this time. Global warming is not something that God put into effect. It is a matter of humans not being good stewards to the Earth like we are supposed to be, as the bible says.

[Megan Ashley]

I agree with Chris and Ax. The bible is about us and our relationship with God but it isn't about God destroying the earth. God put us here to serve him and help take care of the planet. It is our fault.

[Kevin Gaston]

This to me is a load of crap. He is using this argument only to ensure the
economic progression of this country. He isn't denying the fact that what
we are doing is absolutely wrong, but he defends himself by saying that
'He believes'. This, sorry to say, is not good enough. Living in a country
that is a melting pot of religion and faiths, it isn't just to rule this
country based pecifically on the Christian ideals. I just think that we as
a people have a long way to go before we realize the truth. It is hard to
sit hit and watch him have a theological debate over something that has
absolutely nothing to do with theology. The facts are if we continue to
used carbon based substances, the earth will no longer be able to substain
life. But when this day comes, the only thing that can be siad was, oops.
And I dont think that is good enough. We are letting these type of people
do these thngs simply because we are too cowardly to question our belief.
What is the purpose of being a Christian, if you never test it out. Seems
a little naive to say because the bible said so.