There is no reason to assume that I am a leader in thought or reason. You would not even consider this if you were to meet me. I am just a normal guy who does normal things. But I do try to reason my way out of the ideals that seem to hold my generation on a short leash and never let it discover anything real. One which I have been considering for quite some time is global warming. Global warming seems to be the new fad that everyone seems to want to talk about these days. Everywhere I go I hear people talking about global warming. There seems to be a lot of conversations within our media about this subject as well.
“Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century, and its projected continuation.” (Wikipedia) This means that the earth’s average temperature is rising. The main reason for this is mankind putting pollutants in the atmosphere by way of gas powered vehicles, general industry and other chemical means. These pollutants go into our atmosphere and sit there trapping heat generated by the sun on our planet. This increases the temperature causing many adverse effects.
First, I would like to introduce the idea that global warming is a fad. It is not a fact. There have been environmental fads before. Consider the hole in the ozone layer. “The ozone layer is a layer in Earth's atmosphere which contains relatively high concentrations of ozone (O3). This layer absorbs 93-99% of the sun's high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to life on earth” (Wikipedia) The hole in the ozone layer is the idea that the ozone is being depleted, and therefore letting harmful radiation into our atmosphere. This hole was the fad only a few years ago. Everyone was talking about this hole the same way we are now discussing global warming. We as a people were letting too many pollutants go into our atmosphere. Not the same pollutants we are now worried about because of global warming, mind you. These pollutants came from spray cans and chemicals. Every news report, every conversation next to a water cooler, every worry on a person’s mind was about the ozone layer. Now it has fled public thought and is no longer an issue. It was never a real threat and never will be. Why should we consider global warming as anything more than this?
The majority of the blame for global warming is to be placed upon the American people for their lack of concern for their environment. We are fat, stupid and don’t care how many trees we have to burn to build our oil refineries. Americans put out more pollutants than anyone else in the world. The top ten polluting cities in America are as follows;
1) Los Angeles, California
2) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3) Bakersfield, California
4) Birmingham, Alabama
5) Visalia/Porterville, California
6) Atlanta, Georgia
7) Cincinnati, Ohio
8) Fresno/Madera, California
9) Hanford/Corcoran, California
10) Detroit, Michigan
(American Lung Association)
As you can see we have many, very polluted cities in our country and we are not ashamed of it. But as for the world, the list is as follows;
1) Linfen, China
2) Tianying, China
3) Sukinda, India
4) Vapi, India
5) La Oroya, Peru
6) Dzerzhinsk, Russia
7) Norilsk, Russia
8) Chernobyl, Ukraine
9) Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
10) Kabwe, Zambia
(Time)
When looking at the world, we find that none of the most polluted cities in America even fall on the list of the ten most polluted cities in the world. Strange, it seems that the blame for pollution falls on us, but the ones who are polluting the most are nowhere near the U.S..
The worst and most publicized effect of global warming is the melting of the ice caps. The ice caps are the areas of ice that surround the north and south poles, as well as the ice on the tops of mountains. This will cause the oceans to fill with more water than ever before, raising the water levels and flooding hundreds of seafront cities. Let’s do a mind experiment (you can do it for real if you would like). We walk from our computers into our kitchens. There we open a cabinet and grab a glass. We proceed to the freezer where we fill the glass with ice. We then go to the sink and fill the glass to the brim with water. We get a phone call and set the glass on the counter where we forget about it completely. After a few hours we come back into the kitchen to discover the ice has all melted in our glass. What do we find?
A) The glass has overflowed with all the expanding water, and is on the counter around it
B) The glass has overflowed with all the expanding water, but thankfully the excess water has evaporated so there is none to clean up
C) The water level in the glass did not rise and, if anything, it has gone down a little
The answer is of course, C.
Now let us apply this to our oceans. As the temperature of our earth rises the glaciers in our ocean melt. The ice around the north and south poles melt. What happens to the oceans?
A) The oceans have overflowed with all the expanding water, and is now covering the seafront cities drowning thousands
B) The oceans have overflowed with all the expanding water, but thankfully the excess water has evaporated so there is no loss of land mass
C) The water level in the oceans did not rise and, if anything, has gone down a little
Even if all the ice that is not in the oceans melted, it seems that it would only fill the void left in the oceans because of the melted ice.
Where does this leave us? If global warming is a fad, it will eventually go away and we will have to deal with a new fad in a few years. If it is not a fad and is, in fact, a real threat to our environment, then we need not blame Americans for this and should focus our efforts on changing the practices of those in countries that are polluting. But we need not fear drowning under melted ice. There are many other facts that oppose global warming. These will not be discussed at this point because of lack of desire on my part. If you would like to hear my thoughts on this matter further, go ahead and ask. But because of the lack of readers I have, I feel this will not happen.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
I am a fundamentalist!
We see the news. There are fundamentalists everywhere. They are out to kill us, to take away our tried and true American ways. They behead innocent victims and blow up buildings, mercilessly killing thousands. These fundamentalists impose their ideas on those around them and reject anything that is not their own. They refuse to be compassionate on those in need and they destroy anyone who stands in their way. Fundamentalists are what is killing our freedom and fundamentalists are who want to disrupt every day of our lives. These fundamentalists must be stopped at all costs. We must get rid of all fundamentalisms. But what is fundamentalism? And who are these fundamentalists?
A fundamentalist is one who “stress[es] strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) So a fundamentalist is someone who follows strict guidelines or principles. He is someone who learns the basic rules and begins to practice them in his everyday life. In sports we always see a need to practice fundamentals. A basketball player who practices dribbling the ball, passing to other players and shooting three pointers is a fundamentalist. He has stressed a strict and literal adherence to a set of basic basketball principles. When we hear a coach yell at his team, “we need to work of some fundamentals!” he is encouraging his team to be fundamentalists.
A fundamentalist is not a bad person; he is just adhering to a set of fundamental rules. There are many kinds of fundamentalists. They can be policemen, office workers, nannies, hikers, sport players, newscasters; anyone can be a fundamentalist, if there is a set of principles for him to follow. I am a fundamentalist. I adhere to a strict set of fundamental rules. I am a Christian fundamentalist. I follow the basic and most fundamental doctrines of Christianity. I strictly adhere to these rules and do not depart from them.
Many people say they are Christian, but do not adhere to any doctrines or rule set down by Christianity. I do not want to be associated with these people. It was in Antioch that the believers in Christ were first call Christians. These men, who were being blessed to be the first to be named Christians, were fundamentalists. They lived strictly by the rules given by Jesus while he was on the earth. Now we are in a time when everyone is a Christian. I have friends who are Christians who don’t know that Paul was first called Saul and killed many believers. I have Christian friends who don’t know that John was the only disciple who was not martyred. I know Christians, who have no idea that when Christ died, he bore the punishment for every sin ever committed, past, present and future, so as to give a new life to anyone who would accept it. Christianity has become to America what Judaism is to Israel. It has become that everyone in America is a Christian, whether they are or are not.
I am not one of these Christians, and I don’t want to be known as one of these. I do, however, want to be known as a Christian who is like the ones in Antioch. The fundamentalists who knew the doctrines of Christianity and they followed them to a tee. If this means that I must be known as a fundamentalist, then so be it. I would rather have people thinking I am some sort of fanatic than to be one of these who don’t even know their own faith.
In our present age, fundamentalism has become a bad word. It has become what we call people think differently than us and demand that we think as they do or die. Though this is not what fundamentalism is, I would rather be associated with this name than the one that has no meaning left in it at all. Once the word Christianity is stripped of all meaning, it can no longer be used to differentiate between those who are and those who aren’t Christians. Fundamentalism is the only name that holds any true meaning anymore, so this is the name I must take.
A fundamentalist is one who “stress[es] strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) So a fundamentalist is someone who follows strict guidelines or principles. He is someone who learns the basic rules and begins to practice them in his everyday life. In sports we always see a need to practice fundamentals. A basketball player who practices dribbling the ball, passing to other players and shooting three pointers is a fundamentalist. He has stressed a strict and literal adherence to a set of basic basketball principles. When we hear a coach yell at his team, “we need to work of some fundamentals!” he is encouraging his team to be fundamentalists.
A fundamentalist is not a bad person; he is just adhering to a set of fundamental rules. There are many kinds of fundamentalists. They can be policemen, office workers, nannies, hikers, sport players, newscasters; anyone can be a fundamentalist, if there is a set of principles for him to follow. I am a fundamentalist. I adhere to a strict set of fundamental rules. I am a Christian fundamentalist. I follow the basic and most fundamental doctrines of Christianity. I strictly adhere to these rules and do not depart from them.
Many people say they are Christian, but do not adhere to any doctrines or rule set down by Christianity. I do not want to be associated with these people. It was in Antioch that the believers in Christ were first call Christians. These men, who were being blessed to be the first to be named Christians, were fundamentalists. They lived strictly by the rules given by Jesus while he was on the earth. Now we are in a time when everyone is a Christian. I have friends who are Christians who don’t know that Paul was first called Saul and killed many believers. I have Christian friends who don’t know that John was the only disciple who was not martyred. I know Christians, who have no idea that when Christ died, he bore the punishment for every sin ever committed, past, present and future, so as to give a new life to anyone who would accept it. Christianity has become to America what Judaism is to Israel. It has become that everyone in America is a Christian, whether they are or are not.
I am not one of these Christians, and I don’t want to be known as one of these. I do, however, want to be known as a Christian who is like the ones in Antioch. The fundamentalists who knew the doctrines of Christianity and they followed them to a tee. If this means that I must be known as a fundamentalist, then so be it. I would rather have people thinking I am some sort of fanatic than to be one of these who don’t even know their own faith.
In our present age, fundamentalism has become a bad word. It has become what we call people think differently than us and demand that we think as they do or die. Though this is not what fundamentalism is, I would rather be associated with this name than the one that has no meaning left in it at all. Once the word Christianity is stripped of all meaning, it can no longer be used to differentiate between those who are and those who aren’t Christians. Fundamentalism is the only name that holds any true meaning anymore, so this is the name I must take.
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