As a child in a good elementary school in the small town of Owego, New York, in the early 1960s, I learned dozens of old folk songs. Among them was “Home on the Range,” which I, like many of my fellow students, loved to sing, feeling all romantic about life on the range—ridin’ your faithful horse, sleepin’ under the stars, shootin’ rattlesnakes, tamin’ wild horses, herdin’ cattle, and singin’ ’round the campfire. Of course, none of us had ever seen the range, other than in cowboy Westerns, but … [Read more...]
Who Are the Real Science Deniers?
So you think of science (or maybe I should say “science”?) as a solid, objective, trustworthy activity? Certainly a whole lot more credible than, say, philosophy, or theology, or fortune telling? Before I go on, let me assure you that I value science (without the scare quotes) a great deal. (Philosophy and theology, too—but not fortune telling!) But today a lot of what goes by the name of science deserves the scare quotes. And that should scare us, for a lot of reasons, because it means we’re … [Read more...]
Dogs—Mankind’s Best Friend?
Readers of my posts know that nature is dangerous. Radical environmentalists who constantly assert that humanity’s relationship with nature would be fine if we would just “work in harmony” is idealistic nonsense to those with jobs in the outdoors. Nature is safe when it is subjected to human service. Consider dogs, domesticated hundreds of years ago, they are now a big part of the lives of many people. But their submissive behavior is often misunderstood as “love.” It doesn’t take long for … [Read more...]
A Gorilla, A Boy, and the Decline of Human Dignity
On May 29, 2016, a 3 or 4 year-old boy (sources differ on his age) was visiting the Cincinnati Zoo with his mother. As boys sometimes do, he got into trouble. In this case big trouble, life threatening trouble. He fell into the enclosure that housed a 450 pound male silverback gorilla named Harambe (for the meaning of Harambe click here). It’s amazing the child survived the 10-foot fall into the enclosure. The water in the enclosure’s moat must have broken his fall. The danger was not over … [Read more...]
Morality-Based Veganism and Cultural Bigotry
Several years ago, I was outside Denver Colorado and noticed a billboard that said, "Why love one and eat the other?" An analogous sign can be found at Mercy for Animals. It shows a picture of a dog and a pig, with the question, why love one and eat the other? It is an ingenious marketing ploy. Exploit the American public’s idolatrous view of their pets in an attempt to exploit their view of fair play and adopt a meatless diet. [NBC New reports 7/12/2015 that Americans will spend more than 60 … [Read more...]
How Theology Can, and Should, Contribute to Scientific and Public Discourse about Anthropogenic Global Warming
A paper presented to the Round Table on Theology, Climate Change, and Politics, University of Western Ontario, May 29, 2012 Paleoanthropologist and philosopher Loren Eiseley (1907–1977), who though religious in the tradition of American Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau was certainly no orthodox Christian theist, on reflecting on the kind of soil in which science could flourish, wrote, “In one of those strange permutations of which history yields … [Read more...]
Why Do Taxpayer-Subsidized Businesses So Often Fail?
Subsidize renewable energy? What a great idea! If you like wasting money. SunEdison, which once described itself as the "largest global renewable energy development company" and was America's fastest-growing renewable energy company, filed for bankruptcy April 21. It seems that $1.5 billion combined subsidies and loan guarantees (including $650 million in grants and tax credits---i.e., outright handouts) wasn't enough to make up for the combination of hubris-driven over-expansion, … [Read more...]
Finding Nemo Suffocated?
One hardly knows where to begin in assessing the sanity of the recent claim that "climate change" (aka dangerous manmade global warming renamed to hide the fact that far less warming is happening than predicted) could suffocate---yes, suffocate!---sea creatures by reducing ocean oxygen levels. The scary story comes mainly from popular reports. Take, for example, how blogger Cat DiStasio ("a writer, storyteller, and community architect" who "holds a B.A. in Ethnic, Gender, and Labor … [Read more...]
Does Demonizing the Other Side Promote Constructive Debate Over Climate Change?
Who are “climate skeptics”? Greg Garrard, Associate Professor of Sustainability at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, thinks he knows. In fact, he believes “environmentalists” generally “know who climate skeptics are: oil company shills, religious fundamentalists and neoliberal cheerleaders.” With that courteous and respectful opening, Garrard issued a call for papers for the symposium “Who Do They Think They Are? Cultures of Climate Skepticism, Anti-Environmentalism, and … [Read more...]
“Climate Change”: A Leap of Faith?
Tonight at Duke University there will be a panel discussion titled “Climate Change Not a Leap of Faith.” Among the event hosts is the group Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, an offshoot of the Evangelical Environmental Network. They and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, the Nicholas School of the Environment, and the Kenan Institute for Ethics are bringing in the Nicholas Institute’s Amy Pickle, the Nicholas School’s Megan Mullin, the Kenan Institute’s David … [Read more...]
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