The Desolation of Smog

I’m not here to get into a debate over whether or not the sky is falling, how quickly it is falling, or whose houses it’s going to smash when it makes contact. I’m just looking to lay out a few basic principles for Christians who are interacting with this whole climate change issue.

Environmental Stewardship

Taking care of the environment is a Christian duty. Scripture indeed tells us that it is an integral part of our created purpose- to fill, rule over, cultivate and keep the earth. Environmentalism may be a wacky leftist tenet, but stewardship is an explicitly Biblical one. “Confessing to plants” is neither Biblical nor rational- and it’s both heartbreaking and hilarious- but taking care of the earth we’ve been given is not a duty to be laughed off. (Genesis 1)

Thus, we should give serious consideration to the health of the planet- or, at least, to the health of that part of the planet which falls under our own stewardship. As the Gospel goes forth and changes hearts, the result should be circumspect capitalists who desire to preserve the planet for future generations. Efforts at reforesting and species preservation seem readily to rhyme with a Biblical perspective of our duty which we owe to God regarding His earth- a duty, by the way, which we do not owe to the earth itself as some sort of moral entity.

Don’t bow before the Golden Pothos. But do water it- it’s looking a little brown.

Respecting the Elders

Leviticus 19:32 demonstrates for us God’s idea of how the young should show respect for their elders. In contrariety, today we praise 16-year-olds for hurling accusations against their elders on the world stage. “How dare you?!? You’ve stolen my dreams! You’ve stolen my childhood!”

But this brazen, scathing condemnation of prior generations is hard to justify Scripturally. It is appropriate for the youth to speak the truth. But it is inappropriate to speak it disrespectfully. This kind of reaming rhetoric is not “speaking the truth in love.” (1 Tim. 4:12)

In the book of Job, Elihu waits respectfully, deferring to the elders in the group before voicing his own opinion. When he does speak up, he readily acknowledges his anger and frustration. But even then he does so with a modesty and humility that shows his respect for the aged around him.

Look to the Children

It is apparently quite in vogue today to say that we must hold X position because that’s what the children want. It is assumed that somehow, because of their youthfulness, they hold great wisdom and insight on the issues we face today. You will not find that worldview within the pages of Scripture.

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Proverbs 22:15

As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. Isaiah 3:12

Do kids have a special perspective on the world? Absolutely. Often, it’s an incorrect perspective, and that’s part of what makes it so adorable. But the fact of the matter is, children have to be taught what- and how- to think. They don’t come out of the womb with a clear and unblemished perspective on truth and reality and then get messed up by the grown-ups as they grow. That’s not to say they don’t get messed up by the grown-ups, but simply that they don’t need any help to be messed up themselves. That’s what it means to have a sin nature.

Furthermore, when it comes to areas of science, culture, and politics, frankly, they’re ignorant. They must learn what is true before they can advocate for it… and what they come to believe as true is largely dependent on the adults in their lives.

Sometimes kids do see things without the hindrances of lifelong bad habits, assumptions, and societal pressures. Especially by the age of 16, we are indeed, Biblically speaking, talking about young adults, not children, and by that age they definitely can and should be thinking about these issues, and should have an educated opinion to offer. We would be wise to listen. Maybe they see something we are missing.

But if they do, then they should be presenting a convincing and respectful argument based in truth and reality- not an irate tirade of emotions. That’s what we would expect… from children.

Of course, it’s what we are coming to expect from most politicians these days.

Regardless, “that’s what the young people want” is not the same thing as “that is a good idea.”

Speaking of Stolen Childhood

Now, let’s further that point a moment. The truth of the matter is that children are taught how to think. They learn from their parents and their culture what is true, what is important, what is right. If that were not true, then Scripture would not exhort us to train them up- It would tell us to leave them alone. (Pr. 22:6)

Children have malleable hearts. So far so good.

Now, we also know from Scripture that “out of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) So what kids say will flow from what kids love and believe in their hearts. They aren’t going to become advocates for leftist agenda items- or for conservative agenda items, for that matter- by accident; the decisions they make with their heads and argue for with their mouths proceed from their hearts.

And their hearts are taught and trained to believe and behave a certain way.

This isn’t an exhaustive reality- the child’s desires can indeed come to kick against the goads, and as they mature and begin to think for themselves they may come to question- and to abandon- what they have been taught.

And all of this is subject to the power and providence of God, Who can intervene in the hearts of men as He sees fit. (Pr. 21:1)

Notwithstanding, how a child is raised will in large measure shape who they will become.

Why do I perseverate on this point? For the simple reason that holding up children as figureheads of a movement into which they have been thoroughly indoctrinated is somewhat akin to writing a book and then referencing that book as a proof for your own arguments. The convenient thing is that the children do not wear the name of the author.

This is true in the arena of trees and tailpipes. It is true in the arena of guns and grade schools. It is true in the arena of gender and sexuality. Sure, these twelve-year-old boys dressed up in drag may have indeed gotten there by following the desires of their own hearts. If they did, that would be part of the problem. (Jer. 17:9)

But let’s be honest. It is safe to say that most likely they did not simply arrive at such an unnatural conclusion by their own free choice. As a very consistent rule, boys have to be trained to want to wear pink and have pretty hair. And teenagers are only going to seek out draconian gun and emissions control measures for a reason. They are getting those arguments from somewhere.

What’s worse, they’re being introduced into the high pressure realm of political dialogue at a very young age and in such a way that they are already burdened- at 10 or 12 or 16- with a very high amount of public expectation to continue to perform a certain way. Is it right to put children under this kind of pressure while they are still in their formative years?

One more note as to free choice. Does anyone here think that if they had by their own free choice inclined towards Christian fundamentalism, free market economics, firearms freedoms, and heterosexual morality- does anyone think that their parents and agents would have been cool with that?

We are witnessing the creation of a feedback loop. Teach the kids to say X, and then when they say X pretend you are astonished by their perception and their passion and post a video of them on YouTube. It is dishonest and cowardly. Come, my leftist friends- stand up like an adult and argue for your positions in a mature and rational way. Stop hiding behind an angry 16-year-old girl- a girl that you have successfully taught into terror and rage- and using her as a club with which to beat down your adversaries. If what you have to say is true, then contend for the truth. Don’t make your kids do it for you.

If It Walks Like a Tyrant

Just like with gun control, the sidewalk prophets of environmentalism are wielding their sandwich-board proclamations of the end of the world with a particular solution in mind. I’ll give you a hint- it starts with a C and rhymes with “patrol.”

Whenever there is the condemnation of a problem, keep a sharp ear out for the presentation of the solution. The soteriology of this particular worldview goes something like this: greenhouse gases are the problem. Government regulation is the solution. Henry Ford is Adam, capitalism is the serpent, and an Orwellian state is the messiah. We must trust them with the power to rule, and they will use that power to save.

But if we are thinking from a Christian perspective, our brains should be raising more red flags than a loyal Russian on flag day.

All of the apocalyptic Chicken Littling is the equivalent of an emotional lever with which to pry more power away from the local level. But let’s be clear on this point. The tower of Babel is more dangerous than any semi-automatic rifle or fully automatic SUV. The root problem that this world faces is the problem of sin. It is sin that causes people not to care about the environment they are handing to future generations. It is sin that causes people to shoot up schools and stores. It is sin that causes people to get so confused about gender in the first place. Sin is the problem, and Jesus Christ is the only Savior Who can deliver us all. (Acts 4:12)

But when we look to government to save us, the reality is that we are just institutionalizing sin. We are getting a group of sinners together and granting them unchecked power.

Read that again, but slower.

Pack Your Bags, We’re Going on a Guilt Trip

It’s interesting to hear, in the video of Greta Thunberg at the UN to which I linked earlier, the frequent applause emanating from the audience who stole this girl’s childhood. She hurls verbal abuse at them, and they take it and applaud for more. I would like to briefly posit two possible explanations for this rather odd behavior.

The first would be that she is preaching to the choir. The crowd listening is not receiving a deep and necessary rebuke; they are cheering as they see a young person shout the message that they are already trying to promote. They are encouraging her to keep on being angry and scared, because they think her fear and anger make their position more convincing on social media.

The second would be that we have some Marxist guilt complex stuff going on here. Yes, we are the rich and privileged, so any opportunities we have to abase ourselves, to scrape and grovel, to apologize for our whiteness and our toxic masculinity and our wealth and our GMC Yukon Denali XL (which apologizing we shall do profusely before climbing back onto our private jet to carbon-emit our way back home)- these opportunities for self-atonement are cause for great joy, because it makes it easier to go back to our regular lives feeling good about ourselves. Every clap that in the C-Span rings, a rich white dude’s soul from purgatory springs.

If Christ isn’t our righteousness, then we had better applaud some up for ourselves.

This would also explain why these speeches aren’t being given, say, in China, where although the air is much browner, so is the skin color. They score higher on the intersectional ladder, so we musn’t chide them.

Also maybe they haven’t been sufficiently browbeaten by the woke scolds, so they might just laugh. Or throw you in jail. Gotta love communism.

This Time, Though, It’s Totally a Legit Wolf, Guys

While I am not sciency enough to get into a pitched debate over whether or not the earth is heating up, I want to give a few quick reasons for why I am personally not too worried about the whole thing.

One would be the old adage, “beware the sound of one hand clapping.” There are scientists and news outlets that report that the climate is not on the fast track to the incinerator, and I’m inclined to believe them, because they are being suppressed by the media and the politi-scientific complex. That is telling; the truth has nothing to fear. I’m inclined to believe them also because they aren’t rabid totalitarians. But I repeat myself.

Another would be the old adage, “guys, I know I was joking about the wolf the last three times, but this time, like, seriously, he’s coming! Guys! Guys?!?” How long have they been forecasting the utter decimation of the world as we know it? And how long has the world as we know it remained undecimated? And how long have they continued to amass large houses and drive fancy cars and fly in fumy jets as if the world was just going to keep on spinning? Are they really acting like people about to get eaten by a wolf?

Maybe we’ve misidentified the wolf. Food for thought.

He’s Got the Polar Ice Caps in His Hands

We as Christians should be the most able to engage in these discussions calmly. The God we serve is sovereign over this earth. He made it. He sustains it. He will do with it what He wills. We don’t need to participate in the terror and trauma. We can give an honest look at the science- you know, the kind of honest look that gives a genuine listen to environmental whistleblowers, but also isn’t afraid to wonder how global warming fits with last year’s record amounts of snow- without shaking in our boots, or frightening our kids, or insulting our liberal neighbors, or crying out to the government to save us, or living in fear that they might try.

God is on the throne. His ability to uphold the universe isn’t threatened by a little smog. (Heb. 1:3)

#GlobalWarming #GretaThunberg