Creationists and Climate Change Deniers: Two Peas in a Pod

Every now and then, a new nugget of ‘information’ comes to our attention that supposedly proves that climate change ‘can’t be man-made’. One such story was that “Captain Cook and Lord Nelson’ s logs indicate 1730’s global warming wasn’t man made”.  DeSmogBlog and The Guardian both already debunked that one, so we won’t go there.  But, it does call attention to the fact that climate change deniers often distort facts to fit their narrow viewpoint.  For many, it has called to mind comparisons between those who deny climate change and those who deny evolution.  It all comes down to a refusal to accept a logical scientific argument.

Greenfyre dug into the similarities:

Some small kernel of fact is distorted and mutated until it emerges appearing to say the opposite of what it originally said. Rarely do the Deniers seem to make things up out of thin air. Whether this is so that they can argue that their’s is a plausible interpretation of the facts or a subconscious attempt to retain some small shred of integrity by pretending that what they do is not lying cannot be known.

The second interesting thing is how the strategy and tactics of the Climate Change Deniers is identical to those of the Evolution Deniers.

This excellent little video by potholer54 “Creationist Junk Debunked #1 – Introduction” could just as easily be talking about Climate Deniers. It is well worth watching for understanding both Evolution and Climate Change  Denier methods, and because it is fun.

It’s true – watch this video and see how easy it is to replace ‘creationists’ with ‘climate change deniers’.  It’s easy to understand once you realize they’re the same people.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not talking about climate change skeptics who are seeking facts so they can better understand the issue.  I mean the flat-out deniers who perpetuate and cling to misinformation and lies.

The Ethical Paleontologist explains the connection:

If you believe that all the coal, oil and gas we’re burning was laid down over no more than 6,000 years, rather than 300 million years, then effectively fossil fuels are a renewable source of energy. As we’re only releasing 6,000 years of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere rather than millions of years’ worth, then we can’t be responsible for the increase in carbon dioxide, so we haven’t caused any climate change, right? And if you believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old, then those sea level and oxygen isotope curves going back hundreds of thousands of years mean nothing to you. It’s all an artefact. The last glacial period ended 10,000 years ago - 4,000 years before the Earth was created. So all the usual evidence for MMCC is lost on them.

There’s no arguing with people who close their eyes and stick their fingers in their ears when presented with scientific fact.  That’s what’s scary – that so many Americans are evolution deniers, and that America is responsible for most of the world’s pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (second only to China).  It’s an uphill battle, indeed.

Link [Greenfyre] + [The Ethical Paleontologist]

Right-Wing ‘Hot for Jesus’ Congresswoman Claims Planet Already Saved

Meet Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota. Congratulations, America – though Bachmann may not have been on your radar before (unless you’re a Minnesotan), you’re not likely to forget her now, much to your chagrin, since she’s demonstrated herself to be a total right-wing whackjob.

You see, Bachmann’s got a problem with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s insistence that we need an energy policy to ‘save the planet’. It seems that Bachmann is offended by Pelosi’s efforts to prevent us from completely destroying the planet that, according to Bachmann’s own beliefs, was entrusted to us by a ‘higher power’.

From PoliticalBlogs.StarTribune.com:

“[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet,” Bachmann said. “We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.”

It’s depressing that there are people in the world – let alone in Congress – who think like this. Call me crazy, but uh – if I remember correctly, the Bible says absolutely nothing about Jesus saving the planet. Just the immortal souls of the people on it, or something like that. So, this line shouldn’t even make sense to people who subscribe to the same beliefs as this wonk-eyed slag. It’s likely an effort to inject some fire into a dejected Republican base before the election, though that may be giving her too much credit. She might just really believe what she said.

We shouldn’t be surprised, though. This is the same woman who told a crowd of parishioners at the Living Word Church in Brooklyn,

“What does God say when he looks at you or looks at me? He wants to say, ‘she’s hot, he’s hot,’ because we are hot for him on the inside,” Bachmann said. “When you are hot for Jesus Christ, nothing is like that life.”

Christ. On. A. Cracker.

Link [Star Tribune]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

‘The Green Bible’ Aims to Preach the Green Gospel, Literally

One thing that has always confused me about Christians is that so many of them are global warming deniers or at the very least, think environmentalists are kooks. I guess there is conflicting information in the bible, which seems to indicate that God has left the world in human hands to care for his creations, yet there’s also the attitude seen on those bumper stickers, ‘In the event of the Rapture, this car will be unmanned’. In other words, a lot of Christians seem to have the attitude that the ‘upcoming’ second coming of Christ gives us license to mess up the environment as much as we want with no real consequences.

Publisher HarperOne aims to give Christians a guide that will help them interpret the environmental themes in the bible via ‘The Green Bible’. From Business Week:

This fall, it will publish The Green Bible, complete with cotton/linen cover, partly recycled paper, soy-based ink, and passages about caring for the earth highlighted in green. The $29.95 edition of the Good Book also includes essays and a study guide about the spiritual mandate to protect the environment. (Tauber says study guides helped sell the Archeological Study Bible, published in 2006 by Harper’s Zondervan unit.) Hoping to sell 25,000 to 30,000 copies a year, he plans to market The Green Bible to eco-aware churches and influential thinkers. Essay contributor Calvin B. DeWitt, a University of Wisconsin environmental professor and an evangelical Christian, says the Bible is “a kind of ecological handbook for right living on Earth.” A passage he cites: Genesis 2:15, in which God bids Adam to serve and keep the Garden of Eden.

I guess if you’re going to believe in an invisible sky wizard (it’s no crazier than a flying spaghetti monster), you should at least be reading about it in a green book. RAmen.

Link [Business Week]