Civilization’s Sustainability and Interpretations of God's Will

In our wide-ranging discussion of our civilization’s sustainability, I normally sidestep the issue of religion.  Yes, I occasionally write something opposing some of our nation’s elected lawmakers, ostensibly our most capable thinkers, who build their reasoning on bizarre personal viewpoints of the will of God, especially when those concepts cut across the most basic principles of modern science.  And yes, I suggested that we need a more reasoned approach to electing our leaders when I realized that John Shimkus, Illinois Congressman, who aspired to be chairman of the super-powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce, quoted the bible (the books of Genesis and Matthew) to his fellow representatives as reason not to act on climate change, reading:

And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather His elect from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. The Earth will end only when God declares it is time for it to be over. Man will not destroy this Earth.

He then continued, asserting,

There is a theological debate that this is in fact a carbon-starved planet, not that we have too much carbon.

While I have no clue whatsoever what Shimkus could have possibly meant by that, and while I hesitate to challenge anyone’s faith, I vigorously recommend against electing lawmakers whose decision-making process so clearly and aggressively fly in the teeth of critically relevant scientific discoveries. I urge our civilization to come up with a better way in dealing with the lethally important challenges we face.

I bring this up merely to suggest that readers check this out: the presentation of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I. — pictured above with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan) who declared in a Senate floor speech on climate change Wednesday essentially the precise opposite, i.e., that God will not save us from our stupidity. In this talk, in which he demonstrates a considerable understanding of scripture, Senator Whitehouse summarizes why and how it is his personal mission to highlight the catastrophic consequences of climate change, and why he thinks it is important to counter-argue the assertion that God won’t let people ruin the planet.

Trust me, if you have a religious bone in your body — or even if you don’t, it’s worth your time.