Is it getting warmer?
October 27, 2004 6:35 PM   Subscribe

Christian-right views are swaying politicians and threatening the environment. Maybe that's why the Bush administration is trying to stifle scientific evidence of global warming. Meanwhile, some experts think global warming may cause stronger hurricanes. [Via Disinformation and the Intersection.]
posted by homunculus (19 comments total)
 
Good God.
posted by inksyndicate at 6:58 PM on October 27, 2004


No, Bad. Bad God! Bad, bad God!
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:13 PM on October 27, 2004


...protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. "God gave us these things to use. After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back,"...
And to think I grew up with parents who share this view.....
posted by protocool at 7:31 PM on October 27, 2004


If I Had a Hummer
posted by jaronson at 7:35 PM on October 27, 2004


...you'd hummer in the morning? all over this land?
posted by zpousman at 7:37 PM on October 27, 2004


It is not necessarily the most accepted (but neither has it been really discredited) theory but some have suggested that one cause of the many mass-extinctions in the past have been hypercanes. One possible culprit? Global Warming
posted by edgeways at 7:48 PM on October 27, 2004


mutant hebrew kayakers are beaming death rays at me from satellites. but nobody listens.
posted by quonsar at 8:14 PM on October 27, 2004


I listen, q. they are also responsible for that fish in your pants, correct?
posted by mr.marx at 8:29 PM on October 27, 2004


If I had a rocket launcher, I'd make somebody pay.
I'm not a big Bruce Cockburn fan, but that song rocked ass. Can't remember the name of the song, however. Must go check the iTunes store. Maybe they have a Bruce Cockburn iPod preloaded with the song.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 8:32 PM on October 27, 2004


Oh, the name of the song is "If I had a rocket launcher."
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 8:35 PM on October 27, 2004


some experts think global warming may cause stronger hurricanes.

a hurricane so big it knocks the entire bible belt off the map, you say..... this voting for bush thing doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
posted by graventy at 9:43 PM on October 27, 2004


"Christian-right views are swaying politicians and threatening the environment" - Indeed.

But, guess what ?.....

Those far right American Christians who are dominating US politics now, and who have been so busily mobilized by faith, are not paying any attention to Metafilter, to Grist, to NPR, or to any media sources likely to be discussed here.

: They have their own media. "Christian" media - and, though that may now be financed by giant corporations or by the Unification Church, it makes them feel safe.

The issue is not truth - although truth wins, always, in the long run. ( one way or the grim other )

The immediate issue here is financial caliber, or attentional throw-weight - as expressed through mass media and other channels of power.
posted by troutfishing at 12:17 AM on October 28, 2004


strangeleftydoublethink :

I wrote a rock anthem once upon a time. Three chords...a break. The usual backdrop -

"Shoot me if I turn into a Christian.
Shoot me if I turn into a Jain.
Shoot me if I turn into a Buddhist.

Shoot me so I won't come back again.
Shoot me so I won't come back again....

....and, if you see me down on Wall Street,
trading stock in industries of pain,
take my Porsche out with a rocket launcher,
Leave it burning in a bitter rain.
Tear me from the calculus of gain,
Far enough that I won't be back....again...."


I wrote that back in the mid 1980's and it never was recorded but, in restrospect, I feel bad about those sentiments - I had probably reached this point years before, but after September 11 the idea of killing or injuring anyone for any reason - other than self defense - or any ideology no longer seemed especially romantic.

I still feel this way, so I don't play that song. It was a crude tune, and it's sentiments to me now just reek of bloodlust and vengeance : the spirit of killing.

Yes, sometimes - in life - we are called upon to kill. That is natural and appropriate.

But, few draw on those experiences to inspire great songs.

Think of it : "Killing Music": silly and grotesque.

I still feel this way, and I play different songs.



(and, I do like Bruce Cockburn's music )
posted by troutfishing at 12:48 AM on October 28, 2004




Dust Bin America
posted by homunculus at 1:04 AM on October 28, 2004


On angry music: "Rocket Launcher" is such a powerful song in large part because Cockburn isn't a violent lyricist. Passionate, yes ("Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds day-light" has got to be one of my favorite lines in any pop lyric), but "If I had a rocket launcher / I'd make somebody pay" really pretty much lays it out there.

Something I do every now and then: Queue up the Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe versions of "[What's So Funny 'Bout] Peace, Love and Understanding" one after the other. One's older, and one's younger, but which is which.... ("Oh, but I was so much older then...")

Which is all a roundabout way of saying: Stuff like this just makes me tired. ("It's a scene without hope..." Boy am I channeling obscure pop-culture this morning...)
posted by lodurr at 7:27 AM on October 28, 2004


So wait, I'm a Christian now?

Thanks for letting me know. I guess I'll have to stop burning those crosses.

Let me use some math here (since you mentioned intersection):

Christians n Environmental Skeptics

also:

Non-Christians n Environmental Skeptics

Some of us aren't eating up everything shovelled to us by greenies hook, line, and sinker. Some of us want to see better scientific methods applied which don't almost universally end up causing serious controversy in the scientific field. If it takes over a decade to scientifically approve a drug for one country, I think it takes a *LOT* more study to prove a theory for the entire world.
posted by shepd at 8:57 AM on October 28, 2004


... methods applied which don't almost universally end up causing serious controversy in the scientific field.

I'm sure that shorthand means something to you, but you need to realize that many of us weren't drinking from that particular vat of koolaid. So, would you mind explaining what you're referring to?
posted by lodurr at 9:43 AM on October 28, 2004


don't mind shepd, clearly the unsafe third world canadian drugs are adversely affecting him. thank god george bush is our presnit!
posted by quonsar at 3:30 PM on October 28, 2004


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