Global Warming? The End of Oil? Who can Argue with God?

Terrific op-ed piece in the NYT this week by Timothy Egan: Oil's End.

The Age of Oil is at an end. Maybe not this year. Maybe not for five years. But signs of the coming collapse are evident.

Start at the White House. There, a week ago, President Bush touted tax breaks for oil companies that have just posted the largest profits in the history of American business. Yet he was dumbstruck when asked about the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline, a price that will force many families to choose between food and basic travel.

“Wait — what did you just say?”, the president asked after a reporter solicited his advice for Americans facing that price, which was predicted by many analysts.

“Oh, yeah?” Bush said. “That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that.”

It's definitely worth reading, and I hope you will check it out.

HOWEVER-

That is not what prompted ME to start typing today. What inspired me to the keyboard was not the piece (good as it was), but one of the responses.

What got me was reader comment number 12:

I personally feel that ecollogy minded people are sacrificeing the living conditions of people today for the conditions of the future, which may never happen. We need to back off the csare tactics of global warming and start useing some of the energy resources that are available to us in abundance.
Even if we tried to destroy this earth we couldn’t if God is not ready for it to happen[emphasis added]

As John Stewart might say--- wait, wait a minute, can we hear that again?

Even if we tried to destroy this earth we couldn’t if God is not ready for it to happen

Uhm...wow. I mean...wow.



I'm tempted (and obviously, I'm giving in, even though I'm covering myself with a bit of deniability by pretending that what I'm about to write is hypothetical...what I MIGHT say IF I gave in to temptation...kind of like Huckabee telling us which spot he MIGHT have run if he'd wanted to, by getting that spot front and center on the evening news.)

As I say, I'm tempted to ask this commenter:

If God is not letting anything happen against HIS will, why then won't he save your quality of life for you whether or not the bad ole greenies are lookin' over your shoulder?

I'm tempted to ask:

So, what? It's okay to jump up and down on a box of dynamite because you'll only blow up if God WANTS you to?

I'm REALLY TEMPTED to ask:

What kind of freakin' MORON are you, anyway?

But instead, I wonder if it's not more apt to dwell on a few verses from the Bible.

There is 1 Corinthians 15:32-34 for example.

Paul makes the point that there are some who might argue that there will be no resurection, it would make sense to say:

If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.

33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning

And then, there is the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25

14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

22"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Surely, this little lesson from Jesus reminds us that we must be both CAREFUL and WISE with what He places in our trust.

It can be said that the devil can quote scripture for his own purposes, and I'm sure that is true...but many times, the devil can do everything he wants through shear ignorance and shortsightedness.