The Man-Made Global Warming Faithful

“A person will worship something,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, “have no doubt about that…That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”

The most interesting question now in the anthropogenic (man-made) global warming (AGW) debate is why, as Mark Steyn recently suggested, would those who have bought into this scam (the greatest scam in history, as the founder of the Weather Channel put it) continue their faithful devotion? (Is there anything on earth with less credibility than man-made global warming?)

The answer to Steyn’s question lies with Emerson’s observation. Many, most notably Ian Plimer, recently have noted that the AGW movement has become a religion. Plimer, an atheist, stated that global warming is, “the new religion of First World urban elites.” He adds that “Environmentalism has many of the hallmarks of failed European socialism and Western (failed) Christianity. It has a holy book which few have read (IPCC reports), has prophets (Gore) who cannot be challenged, relies on dogma, ignores contrary evidence, has armies of wide-eyed missionaries...; imposes guilt, has a catastrophist view of the planet, and seeks indulgences.”

Leave it to a Transcendentalist who denied the deity of Christ (Emerson), and an atheist (Plimer), to point us to the truth in this debate!

As I noted in March of 2007, I’m afraid that many caught up in the global warming hoopla became foolish in the manner described by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans and, “Exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” Make no mistake about it; “Mother Earth” became their idol. Lost on them was the fact that the planet and all of its resources were created for the benefit of mankind, not vice versa. In other words, they didn’t realize that human beings, not the earth, are the crown of God’s creation.

After nearly three decades of proselytizing, involving everyone from Al Gore to Hollywood to NASA to the U.N., it’s no wonder that so many were duped. Movies were made; industries were born; existing corporations created new products; commercials pleaded with us to change our energy-consuming ways—all based on AGW theory—it’s a wonder all of us didn’t buy into this boondoggle.

However, in the last 3 months the AGW movement has seen more “gates” than did all of the Nixon era: Climategate, Glaciergate, Amazongate, and so on and so on. In 2007, the U.N.’s International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced its latest and greatest (Fourth) Assessment Report (AR4). It has since been revealed that it is littered with errors. (This is the document that won Al Gore and the IPCC the Nobel Peace Prize!)

Claims in AR4 concerning everything from the Himalayan Glaciers to the Amazon Rain Forests to coral reef degradation to African crop yields to the elevation of the Netherlands to Al Gore’s hat size have proven to be false.

Investigations by the British press (the American MSM has shamefully been very quiet on this issue) “found evidence that Chinese weather station measurements not only were seriously flawed, but couldn't be located.” According to the U.K.’s Guardian, 42 weather monitoring stations in remote rural China were nowhere to be found.

The U.K. Telegraph reported that the 2006 Stern Report, an economic doomsday prediction commissioned by the British government, had some predictions which “had been watered down because the scientific evidence on which they were based could not be verified.” Also, Robert Muir-Wood, a researcher quoted in the Stern Report, now claims that the Stern Report misquoted his work to suggest a strong link between global warming and more-frequent and severe floods and hurricanes. Muir-Wood said his original research revealed no such link.

Just this week, Professor Phil Jones, former head of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, who is at the center of Climategate, admitted that there has been no “statistically significant” rise in global temperatures since 1995. He also admitted for the first time that the world may have been warmer during medieval times than now.

Yet, even with all of this mounting evidence, the faithful—“Warmers” they’re now dubbed—still cling to their fateful climate views. Tim Wirth, president of the U.N. Foundation and a former U.S. Senator from Colorado, said the manipulated evidence exposed by the Climategate scandal was merely an “opening” to attack climate science and it “has to be defended just like evolution has to be defended.”

This is an all too familiar approach by liberals when it comes to any attack on their sacred-held scientific positions—they label their opponent as “anti-science.” They have done this in the stem cell debate, the evolution debate, the global warming debate, and so on.

President Obama did as much just after his inauguration last year. On March 9, 2009 Obama declared that he was issuing “a Presidential Memorandum directing the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision-making to ensure that in this new administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisors based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology.”

C.S. Lewis disputed the notion that we must rely exclusively on the counsel of scientists when it comes to today’s complicated problems. He did not dispute their knowledge but concluded that most of it was irrelevant. “I dread specialists in power,” Lewis declared, “because they are specialists speaking outside their special subjects. Let scientists tell us about sciences. But government involves questions about the good for man, and justice, and what things are worth having at what price; and on these a scientific training gives a man's opinion no added value.”

However, as most anyone with a pulse knows, politicians don’t hold all of the answers to today’s complicated problems, either. Ultimately, one’s faith plays a role in every decision one makes. As the late philosopher Dr. Greg Bahnsen put it, “At the most fundamental level of everyone's thinking and beliefs there are primary convictions about reality, man, the world, knowledge, truth, behavior, and such things. Convictions about which all other experience is organized, interpreted, and applied.”

In other words, all reasoning, all problem solving, is guided by certain governing presuppositions. These presuppositions are determined by one’s worldview, and a person’s worldview is determined by his or her faith. Summarizing Emerson, we all worship something. In other words, we all have placed our faith in something.

A worldview that deifies the earth, or something very close to that, puts people in extreme positions when they see their deity as under attack. Not all AGW zealots are of this worldview; some are motivated by pure, old-fashioned greed and political power, but these are generally more easily swayed by the facts and the truth than the “faithful.”

Ultimately, as with any deceit, this is a spiritual battle. For the eyes of these to be opened it takes a change of faith, and there is only One who can make that happen.

Copyright 2010, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Are You a Grapefruit or Chocolate Milk Christian?

Finally the Super Bowl ad starring Tim Tebow and his mother has aired—what a controversial message! The pro-life ad caused quite a stir weeks before it even aired. Several pro-abortion groups were up in arms and called on CBS to pull it. To their credit CBS refused.

Over 30 liberal pro-abortion groups sent a letter to CBS saying that, “By offering one of the most coveted advertising spots of the year to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization, CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers.... we urge you to immediately cancel this ad and refuse any other advertisement promoting Focus on the Family's agenda.”

Erin Matson, the Action Vice President of the National Organization for Women declared, “this ad is frankly offensive.” She foolishly added, “It is hate masquerading as love. It sends a message that abortion is always a mistake.” (Given the tame nature of the ad, she looks even more foolish!)

The Super Bowl “is not a day to discuss abortion,” said Gregg Doyel of CBSsports.com. Another sports writer offered, “Don't accept medical advice, is basically what the ad says. You might lose a kid who will grow up to be a football hero.”

“An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year, an event designed to bring Americans together,” said Jehmu Greene, president of Women's Media Center. And so on and so on. You get the idea—Just shut up and play football, Tim.

You see, what many people seem to want out of Christianity and its followers are simply nice “do-gooders” who go about their business without causing any trouble. (One columnist recently complimented Tebow because, in the past, he has shown “the good manners to proclaim his faith quietly without questioning or condemning that of others.”)

What are these people so afraid of? The answer: Jesus Christ. I’m beginning to repeat myself here, but as I pointed out with Rick Warren (Nice People or New Men?) and Brit Hume (Brit Hume Was Right), many outside of Christianity, and many who feign to be a part of it, have an especially distorted view about what it means to be a follower of Christ. They seem eager to embrace His message of love and forgiveness, as well they should, but they easily forget His message of repentance and salvation. Also, they fail to notice that He was and is, of all things, a very controversial and divisive figure.

As I also recently pointed out, Jesus Christ NEVER claimed that a person’s faith was a private matter. That is frequently-uttered nonsense by many non-Christians, and even by some Christians. Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).”

My pastor (who is also my father-in-law, thank you very little) often points out, that, when Christ truly comes into someone’s life, He is not simply a section of that life, as in a grapefruit. He is not something that we devote part of one day to and are supposed to keep separate from the rest of our lives—work, family, entertainment, politics, and so on.

A person who has surrendered his or her life to Christ is more like a glass of milk that has had chocolate syrup squeezed into it. Once the chocolate and the milk are combined, it is impossible to separate one from the other.

Or, as C.S. Lewis put it, “Christ says, ‘Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours.’”

In other words, inviting Christ into your life is inviting an invasion. He does not come simply to be a slice of your life, but to transform you into something else—into Himself (or at least a smaller version of Him).

Now, virtually all Christians struggle with “letting their light shine;” that is, letting the light of Christ shine through us. It is a constant, every day battle. As the book of John tells us, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

This is why Brit Hume, Tim Tebow, and anyone else who dares to take a bold stand for Christ experiences a backlash. In fact, if you’re a Christian and your life is rather cushy and you seem to be getting your way a lot, you might want to take stock of your walk with Christ. To use a football analogy (we are talking about Tim Tebow), if your jersey is clean, then you must not be getting much playing time.

We are, after all, in a war—albeit a spiritual one. Paul admonishes us to put on the whole armor of God “so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.” Just remember, before you go out to battle, have chocolate milk instead of grapefruit.

Copyright 2010, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Predicting the Global Weather

Recently, a strong winter storm struck the U.S. Midwest and South. It was one of the strongest winter storms in recent memory to strike the American South. Parts of Tennessee and North Carolina saw nearly a foot of snow. Here in Northeast Georgia, winter storm watches and warnings were issued. Forecasters predicted several inches of snow and a significant amount of ice. However, the predictions fell far short of what actually occurred.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Friday evening (1/29/2010) and well into Saturday. “Freezing rain, sleet and snow is expected to hit North Georgia tonight and continue into Saturday. A line north from Ellijay to Helen could see seven to nine inches of snow. Ice accumulations there could reach three-quarters of an inch,” was the forecast as late as 11 p.m. Friday evening.

By Saturday evening, there was very little snow on the ground in the whole state of Georgia. In North Hall County where I live (within the warning area), there was no snow and hardly any ice. Even the temperature forecast I saw Saturday morning for the rest of the day was very inaccurate. According to the weather report, the temperatures were supposed to be well below freezing by sundown. As of 10 p.m., according to the Weather Channel’s website, our temperature was 34 degrees.

Now, I don’t mind an inaccurate forecast. I’m very used to them, especially in the winter in this area. I’m sure it happens all over the U.S. and the world everyday. Even with all of our advanced technology, weather forecasting is a very tricky business.

However, the missed forecast with this recent weather event highlights the kind of folly that is behind all of the doom and gloom predictions coming from Al Gore’s disciples. Even people who know what they are talking about have a difficult time predicting accurately the local weather just days, and sometimes even hours, in advance—yet the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) community would have us drastically change our energy policy and enact crippling emission controls based on their dire predictions about the global climate that are decades and sometimes centuries in advance.

To be accurate in weather forecasting, it helps when one’s forecasts are based on sound science. Recent events are shining more light into the shady “science” that is behind AGW and its ominous future climate predictions. Building on the Climategate scandal, it turns out that the world has been mislead about multiple matters concerning the future global climate.

In 2007 the U.N.’s International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), which supposedly incorporated the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. (This is the report which led to the IPCC winning the Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Al Gore.) One of the central claims of the report was that the world’s glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could disappear by 2035.

It has been revealed in the last couple of weeks that this conclusion was based on a short telephone interview given by a little known Indian scientist, Syed Hasnain, 8 years prior to the IPCC report. Hasnain recently stated that his comments in the interview were nothing more than mere speculation, unsupported by any research. Also, the IPCC’s climate chief, Rajendra Pachauri, was made aware of the faulty glacier information prior to the Copenhagen conference, yet said nothing while the world had gathered to discuss radical change in global energy policy. (The push for such change was and is greatly rooted in the IPCC’s report.)

Pachauri has since admitted that the report may also contain other glaring errors. According to Fox News, “In AR4 scientists wrote that 40 percent of the Amazon rainforest in South America was endangered by global warming. But that assertion was discredited this week when it emerged that the findings were based on numbers from a study by the World Wildlife Federation that had nothing to do with the issue of global warming—and that was written by a freelance journalist and green activist.”

Given all of this, it’s no wonder that the ongoing Public Priorities poll by Pew had the issue of global warming ranked dead last, even coming in two points lower than last year. The January 25 poll had global warming 21st out of 21, just below trade policy and lobbyists, in its list of policy priority issues as ranked by the U.S. public. (At the top of the poll were the economy, jobs, terrorism, and social security.)

It is becoming increasingly clear that AGW is nothing more than, as Australia’s Ian Plimer put it, “the new religion of First World urban elites.” With the mounting evidence against it, and the continued crumbling of its “holy” documents, it’s developing into a rather poor religion, at that.

Copyright 2010, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

On Massachusetts and Haiti

Massachusetts:

Only four U.S. states (HI, VT, RI, NY) had a greater margin of victory for Obama in the 2010 presidential election than Massachusetts (25.81%). All 10 congressional districts in Massachusetts are represented by democrats. These districts have voted for the democrat in the last 3 presidential elections by an average margin of 27.3 percentage points. The Massachusetts state legislature is overwhelmingly democratic. Undeniably,Massachusetts is as “blue” as the deep blue sea.

A republican victory by Scott Brown in the race for the Senate seat held for nearly 47 years by Ted Kennedy would be shocking, to say the least. It would indeed be the strongest of repudiations against the policies of theObama administration—especially Obamacare. Brown has campaigned against the current health care legislation as “the 41st vote” in the U.S. Senate. This has certainly helped his cause—perhaps more than any other single issue. Brown has also campaigned against the rampant spending currently taking place in Washington. This has also resonated with Massachusetts voters.

On Christmas Eve, as Senate Democrats finally passed a health care bill, 92-year-old Robert Byrd shot his finger into the air to signal his “yes” vote. “This,” the Democrat called out from his wheelchair, “is for my friend Ted Kennedy.” Since Kennedy’s death in August of last year, Democrats have invoked the late Senator’s name multiple times in the push for health care legislation. In late December, Ted Kennedy’s widow Vicki penned an op-ed in the Washington Post urging his colleagues “to finish the work of his life.”

Barney Frank recently said that if Brown wins, health care legislation is dead. How rich would the irony be if, in one of the most liberal states in the U.S., republicans win a seat that was held by the man who made universal health care his “life’s work” and thus, effectively defeat this cause?


Haiti: 

If you had doubts about the Christian heritage of the United States, the recent tragedy in Haiti again brings to light the influence Jesus Christ has in America. Even before the earthquake struck the small island nation, Christians were very active there. According to the New York Times’ David Brooks (see here), “More than 10,000 organizations perform missions… in Haiti. By some estimates, Haiti has more nongovernmental organizations per capita than any other place on earth.”

A recent publication from a large local church in my area noted that tens of thousands of meals were provided for Haitians from that church alone each month. As I wrote in 2008, Americans are the most generous people on the earth. In July of 2008, WORLD Magazine reported that, “A new study by the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity says that Americans account for 45 percent of all philanthropic giving worldwide. Not only is that significantly more than any other nation on earth, it's also dramatically more on a per capita basis. One example: The average American gives 14 times more to charity than the average Italian.”

For the most part, this generosity is a by-product of the Christian influence in America. As calls for aid to Haiti continue, I propose that it will be the followers of Christ who will answer the call most emphatically and efficiently.

President Obama recently pledged $100 million for Haiti relief. However, as Brooks points out, the world’s governments have given trillions of dollars in aid to poor nations the world over, to little or no avail. The truth is,Brooks notes, that “we don’t know how to use aid to reduce poverty.” He’s right. Government doesn’t really know what it’s doing when it comes to delivering “aid,” but followers of Jesus do.

As I noted regarding the Tiger Woods saga, the only real hope for Haiti, now or before the quake, lies with Jesus Christ. After the earthquake, Pat Robertson made very controversial statements as to the reasons behind the disaster.

Robertson blamed the tragedy on something that “happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it.” The Haitians, he said, “were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.’ True story. And so, the devil said, ‘OK, it's a deal.’”

Robertson, of course, has been skewered in the media since his statements (perhaps somewhat deservedly). Interestingly, Brooks (certainly not someone who would describe himself as “spirit-filled”), in his NY Times column said, “Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile.”

Whatever the “cause,” certainly what is happening in Haiti is a tragedy that deserves the love and attention of Christians worldwide. Just as certain is that there are spiritual forces at work in Haiti that need the prayer and attention of followers of Jesus Christ.

The book of Genesis records the words of Joseph, the son of Israel (Jacob), who revealed himself to his brothers who had sold him into slavery many years before. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” What the enemy means for evil, God means for good. As I wrote last year, “God Himself never let a crisis ‘go to waste.’ What better opportunity to reveal Himself to so many who seem to have forgotten that He was ever there.” Haiti is no exception.

Copyright 2010, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason

Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Living Debt Free

Having entered a new year, no doubt many folks have been pondering what resolutions they should take on in order to improve their lives. Given our current economic climate, one excellent resolution for countless American families would be to become debt free.

In today's culture of instant gratification, easy credit, and stifling debt, more and more Americans are finding themselves in financial disasters. Foreclosures have been at record levels, with even the lenders themselves going under. The consequences are staggering: broken homes, broken marriages, bankruptcy, criminal behaviors, stress-related health problems, and so on. Sadly, many Americans are learning the hard way the truth of the Proverb which says, "The borrower is slave to the lender."

When it comes to personal finances, the recent recession has certainly gained the focus of an otherwise ADD-afflicted America. According to the Barna Group, a January 2008 report showed that, "Americans are troubled by a diverse palette of concerns. Three types of issues are of particular concern, perceived as ‘major' problems facing the country." Leading the way, with 78% listing it as a "major problem," was the personal debt of individual Americans.

The personal debt of Americans has reached epic proportions. A few months ago, David Beim, a professor at the Columbia Business School noted that "currently consumers owe $13 trillion [while the] GDP is $13 trillion. That is a ton." In other words, U.S. households have debt that is equal to the total U.S. economy. According to Beim, this happened only once before in U.S. history: 1929.

Our current recession, just as with any other, had many contributing factors. However, most experts agree that this recession, which began in late 2007, was mostly caused by the so-called subprime mortgage crisis. Blame for this crisis has been laid at the feet of various entities.

Whoever is to blame, tens of millions of Americans are suffering as a result. In my state of Georgia, according to the National Bankruptcy Research Center, between January and November of last year, one in 50 Georgia households declared bankruptcy. Nationwide, during the same period, personal bankruptcies were up 32%. As the Wall Street Journal recently put it, "never...underestimate [U.S. consumers'] willingness to spend beyond their means."

For the United States to recover from this financial disaster, one thing is certain: American families, businesses, churches, governments, and so on need a much more cautious attitude toward debt. Given that the family is the foundation of all institutions, this attitude must begin in the family.

What would it mean to you to be totally debt free? How would you feel if your home were completely paid off? What if you had no car payments and no overdue credit card payments? Can you imagine the peace? If you're married, can you imagine never fighting about money?

I'm 40 years old, and for the last 10-plus years of my life my wife Michelle and I have had zero debt. We are not, nor have we ever been, wealthy, at least by secular American standards. I have been a public and private school teacher for the last 17 years. Michelle has worked full and part-time for a Christian ministry throughout our marriage, but for the past eight years she has been mostly a stay-at-home wife and mother.

Michelle and I married in early 1998. Just after our wedding, we began to pay off about $25,000 in consumer debt. Despite having combined annual incomes that were only slightly above the U.S. median, we accomplished our goal in about 14 months. During that 14 month period we committed ourselves never again to go into debt—not for cars, vacations, or even a home. (A video of our personal testimony from Crown Financial Ministries can be seen here.)

Over the last 10 years, after paying off our initial debt, through the "blessing of the Lord," we have been able to: 1.) Build a debt-free, 3500-square-foot home (over about a 4 year period, acting as our own contractors); 2.) Bring four beautiful children into the world (with Michelle being a stay-at-home mom) and all the expenses that go along with them; 3.) Purchase five (used) vehicles with cash (average cost approx. $10k); 4.) Place approx. $25k in emergency savings (not including my retirement); 5.) Begin to fund college saving accounts for each of our children.

I take almost no credit for where we are financially. Michelle has always been more financially disciplined than me. Early in our marriage, through her efforts and the ministry founded by Larry Burkett, Christian Financial Concepts (now Crown Financial Ministries, www.crown.org), I embraced the simple, wise truths put forth in Scripture concerning money and debt. In other words, we are where we are financially by the grace and wisdom of God.

There are two key principles with which I believe everyone who is serious about properly managing his or her money must come to grips: 1.) Budgeting and 2.) Stewardship.

A budget is a tool. All it does is tell you when you've spent what you've agreed to spend in any particular area throughout a given time period. A good budget, one that is formal and written out, is essential in maintaining a healthy bottom line.

A budget can help keep you from overspending in any particular pay period or in any particular area, help you plan for non-regular expenses, such as car repairs, and help you plan for your financial future. Establishing a budget can be a lengthy process. It can take as long as a full year to get a budget working well, but the benefits are certainly worth the hard work involved.

Our budget has played an essential role in helping us weather these difficult financial times. I despise the rise in gas and food prices that we have experienced over the last few years. Being a family of six on a single income, these increases have hit us hard. Our budget is in constant flux, but it helps us see the adjustments in spending that we need to make, and therefore maintain sound financial discipline.

The second principle, stewardship, is the most important one. Only when we understand, as Scripture teaches, that none of us really "owns" anything, can we truly have the right perspective on money and wealth. The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." We are merely stewards, or managers, of His property. If you want peace in your life when it comes to your finances, you must first accept your role as a steward.

Our situation was and is a unique one; I certainly would not recommend that anyone do things exactly as we did them. Our path was truly "a calling." However, I hope our story encourages those who are looking for direction in their financial lives. We applied tried and true, simple financial principles by which we are still living. These principles would benefit most anyone.

Copyright 2010, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason

Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com