House of Eratosthenes

America’s so-called “religious right” has been one of the pillars of Republican Party support in recent decades, but signs are emerging that those once secure foundations might be shifting.

In both George W Bush’s presidential victories, he managed to secure a vast majority of the evangelical Christian vote.

In 2004, the “hot button” policies curtailing abortion and same-sex marriage were seen as being crucial to Republican electoral success in, for example, the key swing states of Ohio and Florida.

But in last November’s Congressional races – where Democrats regained control of both the House and the Senate – some Republican defeats came at the hands of a new religiously-inspired movement, which some are calling the “evangelical left”.

Left unstated in this story, is the simple statement that this wedge-driving is accidental. We are left to simply assume this is the case…based on…nothing. Whether this was actually engineered by someone, whether there were some real dollars involved in it, is a fascinating subject but one that is — suspiciously, in my mind — completely untouched here.

Especially when you read passages like this:

“Questions like climate change, poverty and international human rights are coming to the fore, in a community that didn’t used to talk about these things at all,” [John] Green [of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life] said. [emphasis mine]

Just for the record, if I had to bet my own personal fortune on it, I would put my coin on the square that says we have some verifiable surface temperature readings that say the average temperature has increased between 0.8 and 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit over the last hundred years or so. I think that’s pretty well established. I do think human activity might have something to do with this…it can’t be ruled out. Does this then portend a future in which life on this planet is jeopardized? Or reduced? Or simply altered? Or do we have the wherewithal to prevent an injurious catastrophe now, and is our continuing foolishness about to thrust us past some point of no return where said wherewithal is to be diminished?

I don’t know that.

I don’t know of any hard evidence that would persuade me to think that.

I do know of lots of politically-motivated people and groups who would like me to think that. And here’s the really strange thing: If I show some reluctance to believing this, they consider me a lost cause, and start arguing with the next person in the queue. Perfectly sensible if you’re soliciting donations to a non-profit or to a political action committee. Not reasonable at all, if you’re really trying to save a planet from unbridled and reckless human activity. Not reasonable by a damn sight. If human activity is destroying the planet’s ability to sustain life as we know it, and I’m one of the sinners, you should be camping out on my front porch like a Star Wars fan waiting for a new movie to come out.

ANYTHING you can do…to get me to mend my ways. Follow me around. Shame me. Bribe me. Blackmail me. Eat a big bowl of penises in front of me. Whatever it takes — because if my neighbor buys up carbon vouchers like there’s no tomorrow, but I continue to do my damage, the cause is lost, and with the cause, the planet, and all persons and things upon it you hold dear.

That isn’t the way the global climate change Chicken Littles behave. They behave just like footsoldiers in a massive paramilitary super-political theater. They roam the streets, in vehicles that get half as many miles per gallon of gas compared to what I drive…trying to get people to vote differently. Not to live more cleanly, just to vote for different parties.

The continuing survival of our planet is supposed to depend on these efforts. Would any intelligent person really think so?

And here’s a BBC article that comes out and says — all this talk about anthropogenic global warming, is causing a rift between the Republicans, and the demographic groups they have been able to most consistently count on for support.

It was engineered that way…or not. The article won’t say one syllable one way or t’other.

Well — I think it was engineered that way. The notion that Christian fundamentalists vote for Republicans, and that this has an effect on the way elections come out, is hardly new. I’ve seen people argue that point my entire adult life, and I’m an old man now. What kind of money do we sink into elections…chump change? Hardly. It’s a billion dollar industry, one directly affecting the expenditure of trillions of dollars every year.

Here we have the outcome of those elections affected directly by all this talk about global warming. Nobody’s willing to put their balls on the block and say it’s an accident. Meanwhile — what do we really know about the global warming crisis? We got a bunch of pictures of confused looking polar bars floating around on presumably-diminishing chunks of ice…as if polar bears ever look like anything besides confused. And the temperature went up by a degree over the last century. We don’t know a lot besides that. And heavily-funded political groups stand to gain a great deal if we do a lot of talking about it.

I just think it’s somewhat interesting, that’s all. Oh, and one other little thing…it might explain everything we’ve been told, for a couple of generations now. It’s certainly worth looking at, anyway. Looks like a political stunt, sounds like one, smells like one…it just might be that, and nothing more.

They roam the streets, in vehicles that get half as many miles per gallon of gas compared to what I drive…trying to get people to vote differently. Not to live more cleanly, just to vote for different parties.

Yeah, I’ve kind of noticed this, too. I think it has something to do with the fact that they expect government to force industry to fix the percieved problem for them without any meaningful changes in their lifestyles.

They say they’re willing to make changes in their lifestyles, but the ones they make are largely superficial. As with most “holier than thou” types in any religion, the appearance of being holy is more important than actual devinely inspired change in outlook.

One of the most ridiculous examples I saw of this was a comercial spot posted on YouTube where this young woman, some reporter for a news magazine –was actually trying to get us to believe that using reusable canvas bags would help stop global warming (as if it could be stopped — but that’s a foregone conclusion in that camp).

Now if we buy the CO2 leads to global warming theory, I suppose the manufacture of disposable bags, be they paper or plastic, requires energy which, if not nuclear or hydroelectric, probably puts CO2 in the air. But seriously, what portion of the carbon budget is disposable bag manufacture?

No, it was all about feeling good while you shop, and she probably motored off in her SUV afterward.

I have a couple of family members who buy into this AGW theory, one more than the other…. one of them drives a GM Grand National (12mpg on a good day) and the other a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Me, I drive a Ford Escort. Highway mileage is about 35 mpg. Guess which one drives the Grand National? Yup, the Progressive one.
- philmon | 07/31/2007 @ 09:46
So, this is what is driven, then…?

Interesting how this trend continues to hold up. You know my thoughts on AGW…and my mileage is about the same as yours.
- mkfreeberg | 07/31/2007 @ 10:34
The next time you happen to be in conversation with one of the many chicken little’s out there, ask them one rather simple question: Where can I find Al Gore’s (or any other prominent politician’s) plan for evacuating and relocating all the costal communities that are being threatened by the AGW stats they are promoting? Until plans of such sweeping magnitude are put forth as necessary and urgently needed, anything else they want to talk about is camera-fodder.
- kes | 08/06/2007 @ 15:05
We think alike, Kes. You’ve hit on Item #2 on the If We Really Cared list. Given the numbers being casually thrown around about the magnitude of sea level rise, this would be an incredible undertaking.

Tippy-top priority, of course.
- mkfreeberg | 08/06/2007 @ 18:19

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Memo For File XLIVSunday, July 29th, 2007

Memo For File XLIV
Sunday, July 29th, 2007