I haven't posted in a bit, and for some reason I feel like I've run out of things to talk about. Every since spring break, every mental task has seemed monumental. I haven't posted because I haven't really wanted to, and if you don't want to do something you shouldn't. Right? But then I'm scared going to lose my faithful readers, so this is the crap you get:).
I've been thinking about the environment lately. Ever since that special ran on sixty minutes I've been alarmed. For those of you who I haven't talked to about it, here is the summary. If the governments of the world don't do something drastic, NOW, in ten years the earth will begin to warm up 1 degree Celsius every year. That isn't Fahrenheit. That's Celsius meaning about 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Someone asked me today if I really believed the global warming story. I do, but admit that I'm no environmental scientist. However, a couple of conversations I've had recently all point to something being different. To begin with we had a 20 some day drought in Wisconsin and much of the rest of the Midwest this last summer. Texas had fire problems this last winter because of 8 months without rainfall. In a conversation with a seminary professor who owns a cabin in CO., he reported that the snow caps which usually survive all summer are now gone by mid July. And just last evening my mom reported a record early ice melting for our lake.
I try to be as balanced as I can in my politics. That's in part because I can't afford to make rhetorical comments because I don't have the knowledge to back them up. I quickly become exposed when I try. I'm not saying go all bicycle, though that would be cool, but I do think we need to take some steps towards taking better care of the earth. I joke in my upsilon bet chi meetings that I'm going to start a campaign called two which hands out green and blue rubber band bracelets to raise awareness about the environment.
On a different note, Lindsay and I are thinking about leaving the campus chaplain thing. We've been told that our move is definite, and so we've given serious thought about doing something else. All in good time though. The job has been a blessing and because of it I will not have to take out loans for the remainder of seminary.
That's about all I got maybe you'll get something better tomorrow.
3 comments:
Josh:
There is much to be concerned about. Many of us have become numb to profiles of the crisis: acid rain, ozone depletion, global warming, food chain pesticides, soil erosion, consumption of nonrenewable fossil fuels, oil spills, agricultural runoff, radioactive wastes, overpopulation, deforestation and desertification, carbon emissions, and loss of habitat. In our time, nature has been commodified and domesticated-like a piece of real estate or a consumer item that is bought and sold in order to maximize profits. Nature no longer functions as wild and sacred space for the eruption of the sublime or the manifestation of transcendence. We have exchanged the power and mystery of the earth for the invisible hand of the marketplace, and we are all the poorer for it.
I've never been an environmental worrier. But, for some reason, I always felt this underlying guilt about it. Like I'm arguing against something I know better than to argue about. interesting. This is one of those tings that I wish I knew more about what to do about. I love the ONE campaign because it has created a platform for me to do I can politically and in other ways. I wish there was something like ONE for the environment. Hmmmm.
Unfortunately in the mid 90's I bought into the whole "Global Warming is a Lie told by the Liberals to usher in a Socialist Government" argument.
The story in last week's Newsweek talked about how there is pretty much no one else in that crowd, which used to include several at least semi-prominent scientists. (That is, no one left except for Rush Limbaugh.)
Even die hard evangelicals are saying something needs to be done.
I think we should start a campaign to make Waco more pedestrian friendly. I'd bike to work if I didn't have to cross the Death Trap that is Valley Mills.
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