Thou Shalt Not Have Strange Gods Before Me

I just happened to stumble upon an article online entitled Global warming is the new religion of First World urban elites (source: Vancouver Sun). In the article, it describes the work and reasonings of Ian Pilmer, an Australian geologist and outspoken critic of global warming. For this, he has received a great deal of criticism from those who believe that world governments need to work to curb global warming.

Pilmer cites scientific studies that suggest that during much of Earth's history, there has been no polar ice, as well as those that suggest that we are experiencing some of the lowest amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide in "recent" history (the last several hundred million years). It is explained as such:

While environmentalists for the most part draw their conclusions based on climate information gathered in the last few hundred years, geologists, Plimer says, have a time frame stretching back many thousands of millions of years.

The dynamic and changing character of the Earth's climate has always been known by geologists. These changes are cyclical and random, he says. They are not caused or significantly affected by human behaviour.

This discussion brings an interesting question to the forefront: Are people choosing to ignore some scientific facts in order to believe their position with blind faith? Although this accusation could be lodged against both sides, it is more damning to the proponents of the commonly accepted theory of global warming. Everything concerning the subject can be studied by science, which is governed by reason, thus we must use reason to evaluate what science finds. Critics of the commonly accepted theory are using an attitude of "We have evidence that disproves your theory, thus either your theory is incorrect, or you need to modify it to explain the new evidence."

From a spiritual perspective, a problem arises as well. Has "Stopping Global Warming" become a new idol for our time? It is my opinion that it has; stopping the "continuation" of global warming (if it is actually occurring) has become the goal in itself. It is perhaps one of the strangest of the strange gods.

We demonstrate our love by what we give our time, work, and resources to. If we love God, we will devote those three things to purposes that serve Him. If we choose to pour time, work, and resources into preventing global warming for only the sake of preventing global warming, then we come dangerously close to loving the world more than we love God.

I propose another way: we can use the Earth in a responsible manner, as humanity is expected to do per Genesis - we can use the resources, but also seek to preserve the planet from undue harm. We can seek to care for the planet while respecting the dignity of humanity to have productive jobs. Governments can seek to use their monetary resources for the betterment of their people, instead of pouring it into carbon credit scams that ignore some science while accepting other science on blind faith.