Global Warming?

Before I dive into what's been on my mind a great deal this past week (as hinted at in this post's title) I've got a number of pictures to share. Since Rachel pointed out the fact that I should talk about them when I post them I will :)

First we have a few pictures of Isaac's birthday party:


He turned three last week. No one was able to come to the party because we had some kind of stomach bug, but even with that he had seven other children here to share his birthday with him. That's one of the benefits of having a large family!

Here are some pictures of the ice storm we had last week:


The above is ice hanging from the power lines...


Those last two are grass...

Now, this brings me to the title of my post: “Global Warming?” You might assume from that title that I'm going to rant about how global warming can't possibly be real because we just had a major ice storm in South Carolina. Well, no, no I'm not going to do that. That's not really my point at all. So, what is my point? Oh, it's a mouthful!

Let's start with the fact that I don't believe in global warming and never have. (No, this is not a rant about global warming, I already told you that.) For a number of years I have been chastened and rebuked for my lack of faith by those who “know more about it than I do”. This mild persecution has come from a few of my friends and acquaintances who happen to believe, “educational” television, and, of course, politicians. They point to “facts” and figures, studies, opinions of “experts”, etc, etc, etc, all to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that global warming is a “scientific fact” and that there's no need for me to deny it.

I object to their arguments on a number of levels. (Let me warn you that I am about to wax both philosophical and scientific. If this isn't “your bag” scroll back up and look at the pictures of Isaac. He's awesome!) First, I am sick to death of “experts” using the word Science incorrectly. In a rational world one would expect “Scientists” to know what the word Science means and be able to accurately use it in a sentence. They use the word Science to represent undeniable fact, which of course, it should. However, they apply it to things that are questionable “truths” at best. So, they use what amounts to the “right word” in the “wrong place”.

Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius while at sea level. That is a scientific fact. We can take a thermometer, a fire, and a pot of water and prove it over and over again. That is how true science works. We have to be able to observe and repeat. The age of the Earth will never be a scientific fact because no one was watching when it came into being and we can't make it again to see how long it takes. As a Christian I accept the records kept by the Jews as having been written by Moses and inspired by God. That, however, is faith not science. I have faith that God told Moses, that Moses wrote it down, and that the Jews faithfully kept the record accurate. Many “scientists” have faith that the Big Bang created the universe. There are many differences between our religions, but the first (are arguably greatest) is that Christianity acknowledges that it's a religion, whereas the Cult of Science denies that it is.

This brings me to point two in my tirade: Members of the Cult of Science expect you to take their word for it and reject your own studies and observations. We (being the “common people”) should believe in the Big Bang, Star Systems, Space Aliens, Global Warming, Evolution, etc, etc, etc, because they “tell us so”. As it happens, I don't believe in any of those things. (That touches my next point in a bit.) Now, I don't necessarily disbelieve. I mean, I've never met a space alien (as far as I know), but that doesn't mean they don't exist. It's simply that without sufficient evidence I can't go a far as believing. I readily admit that I believe it is scientifically possible for mankind to warm the planet. I just don't believe there's enough evidence to support the claim that we have done so. The “evidence” the Cult of Science pulls out to support their faith depends on the word of other experts and things that the “common people” can't observe or understand. Personally I feel quite capable of understanding should my faculties be provided with enough information to do so.

Moving on to my third point: Disbelieving the assertions put forward by members of the Cult of Science discredits you in their eyes. As a result you can't really discuss anything with most of them. As soon as you say that you're not convinced that global warming is a fact they assume you are too stupid to understand the “facts” and dismiss everything else you have to say. As a result you can't persuade most of them to open their minds to the possibility that their preconceived notions may not be completely accurate. This is only a problem because many of our “scientists” belong to the Cult of Science and it is limiting scientific growth in our culture (in my opinion anyway, I could be wrong you know...).

My forth beef is that the Cult of Science seems to have a very short memory. In the nineteen-seventies the scientific community was talking about the next Ice Age that was going to kick off and freeze the planet. Slowly that idea fell out of favor and out of our culture and now no one remembers it. (I happen to have a very good memory about things of that nature. It was mentioned in some of the schoolbooks that were still around when I was in grade school. It's also mentioned in a number of old science fiction works. The science fiction was based on scientific “fact”.) So, less than fifty years ago the experts “knew” we were going to enter another Ice Age. Now they “know” we're heating up the planet. Well, what happened to that up and coming Ice Age? Did we avoid it? Is global warming going to save us from it? Why don't they tell us? They don't tell us because they've forgotten what they were talking about!

Now, this ties into more up to date things. The planet was in danger because of the hole in the ozone. What happened to that? The hole closed up and they started talking about global warming. I admit that it would take more than a few cold winters to prove that global warming wasn't happening. Of course, it would take more than a few hot summers to prove that it was. However, they didn't wait. The Cult of Science rushed forward to let us know that we were in a crisis. Global warming was going to kill the planet! Well now things seem to be cooling off and they've begun to introduce the idea of Climate Change. I suppose the idea is that we'll be able to be afraid of everything now. If it's cold an Ice Age is coming, if it's hot the face of the planet is going to burn off, if it rains we're heading for a global flood (I would say “another”, but they don't believe in the first one.) They have abandoned their post at the side of global warming before there was ever even enough evidence to prove it might be happening in the first place.

I suppose my real point is that the Cult of Science isn't a very good representation of either science or religion. I hope in time our culture will overcome it and banish it with it's unenlightened fellows from the past to the realms of Dark Age Studies.

In any event, that's enough of my thoughts for the moment. If nothing else I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Good night from South Carolina!