Guest opinion by Tom Quirk
Your Holiness:
April 27, 2015—As world leaders contemplate a climate agreement, many look to you for guidance. We commend you for your care for the earth and God’s children, especially the poor. With this letter we raise some matters of concern that we ask you to consider as you convey that guidance.
Much of the debate over environmental stewardship is rooted in a clash of worldviews, with conflicting doctrines of God, creation, humanity, sin, and salvation. Unfortunately, that clash often works its way into the very conclusions of environmental science. Rather than a careful reporting of the best evidence, we get highly speculative and theory-laden conclusions presented as the assured results of science. In the process, science itself is diminished, and many well-meaning moral and religious leaders risk offering solutions based on misleading science. The effect, tragically, is that the very people we seek to help could be harmed instead.
This is especially tragic since science itself arose in Medieval Europe, the one culture nurtured for centuries in the Biblical picture of reality that encouraged the scientific endeavor. This truth is commonplace to a wide and diverse array of historians and philosophers of science. As Alfred North Whitehead elaborated:
The greatest contribution of medievalism to the formation of the scientific movement [was] the inexpugnable belief that … there is a secret, a secret which can be unveiled. How has this conviction been so vividly implanted in the European mind? … It must come from the medieval insistence on the rationality of God, conceived as with the personal energy of Jehovah and with the rationality of a Greek philosopher. Every detail was supervised and ordered: the search into nature could only result in the vindication of the faith in rationality.
…
In Whitehead’s estimation, other religions’ ideas of a god or gods could not sustain such an understanding of the universe. On their presuppositions, any “occurrence might be due [as with animism or polytheism] to the fiat of an irrational despot” or [as with pantheism and atheist materialism] “some impersonal, inscrutable origin of things. There is not the same confidence as [with Biblical theism] in the intelligible rationality of a personal being.”[1]
In short, the Biblical worldview launched science as a systematic endeavor to understand the real world by a rigorous process of testing hypotheses by real-world observation. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman explained “the key to science” this way:
In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. Then we compute the consequences of the guess to see what would be implied if this law that we guessed is right. Then we compare the result of the computation to nature, with experiment or experience, compare it directly with observation, to see if it works. If it disagrees with experiment it is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It does not make any difference how beautiful your guess is. It does not make any difference how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is—if it disagrees with experiment it is wrong. That is all there is to it.[2]
That statement, simple yet profound and absolutely essential to the practice of genuine science, follows necessarily—and only—from the Biblical worldview.
Christian and Jewish scholars have performed high-quality science for centuries. They are confident that good science leads toward and will not conflict with the truth about God and man. That is why there is a Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and why for centuries there have been science faculties in thousands of Jewish and Christian colleges and universities around the world.
As people of Biblical faith, then, we have a commitment not only to truth, but also to the practice of science as one path to truth. Today, when scientists run complex climate models on powerful computers to simulate immeasurably more complex natural systems like the earth’s climate, we must not forget our commitment to truth or that “key to science.” Our models can become “seductive simulations,” as sociologist of science Myanna Lahsen put it,[3] with the modelers, other scientists, the public, and policymakers easily forgetting that the models are not reality but must be tested by it. If their output disagrees with observation, the models, not nature, must be corrected.
Alongside good science in our approach to climate policy must be two preferential options: for humanity and, among humanity, for the poor. By this we do not mean to pit humanity against nature, any more than to pit the poor against the rich. Rather, we mean that because humanity alone bears the imago Dei, any effort to protect the environment must put at its center human well-being, and in particular the well-being of the poor, because they are the more vulnerable, the less able to protect themselves. As King David wrote, “Blessed is he who considers the poor! The Lord delivers him in the day of trouble” (Psalm 41:1, RSV). Good climate policy must recognize human exceptionalism, the God-given call for human persons to “have dominion” in the natural world (Genesis 1:28), and the need to protect the poor from harm, including actions that hinder their ascent out of poverty.
Today many prominent voices call humanity a scourge on our planet, saying that man is the problem, not the solution. Such attitudes too often contaminate their assessment of man’s effects on nature. Naively claiming “the science is settled,” they demand urgent action to protect the planet from catastrophic, human-induced global warming. Attributing allegedly unnatural warming to the use of fossil fuels to obtain energy essential for human flourishing, these voices demand that people surrender their God-given dominium, even if doing so means remaining in or returning to poverty.
Your concern for genuine science and for the poor requires a more cautious approach, one that carefully considers the scientific evidence regarding the real, not merely the theoretical, effects of human action on global climate, and carefully considers energy technology and economics in seeking to protect the poor from harm. Therefore we hope and trust that your guidance to world leaders will build on the following:
The Imago Dei and Man’s Dominion
Severe poverty, widespread hunger, rampant disease, and short life spans were the ordinary condition of humankind until the last two-and-a-half centuries. These tragedies are normal when—as much of the environmental movement prefers—human beings, bearing the imago Dei, live, and are treated, as if they were mere animals, which need to submit to nature rather than exercising the dominium God gave them in the beginning (Genesis 1:28). Such dominion should express not the abusive rule of a tyrant but the loving and purposeful rule of our Heavenly King. It should thus express itself by enhancing the fruitfulness, beauty, and safety of the earth, to the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbors.
How Societies Overcome Poverty
What has delivered much of humanity from absolute material poverty is a combination of moral, social, political, scientific, and technological institutions. These include science and technology grounded on a view of the physical world as an ordered cosmos that rational creatures can understand and harness for human betterment; private property rights, entrepreneurship, and widespread trade, protected by the rule of law enforced by limited and responsive governments; and abundant, affordable, reliable energy generated from high-density, portable, constantly accessible fossil and nuclear fuels. By replacing animal and human muscle and low-density energy sources like wood, dung, and other biofuels, and low-density, intermittent wind and solar, fossil and nuclear fuels have freed people from the basic tasks of survival to devote time and bodily energy to other occupations.
Empirical Evidence Suggests that Fossil Fuel Use Will Not Cause Catastrophic Warming
Many fear that fossil fuel use endangers humanity and the environment because it leads to historically unprecedented, dangerous global warming. This has led many well-meaning people to call for reduced carbon dioxide emissions and hence reduced use of fossil fuels.
Computer climate models of the warming effect of enhanced atmospheric carbon dioxide are the basis for that fear. However, for models to contribute validly to decision making, they must be subordinate to data, and there has been a growing divergence between real-world temperature observations and model simulations. On average, models simulate more than twice the observed warming over the relevant period. Over 95% of the models simulate greater warming than has been observed, and only a tiny percentage come tolerably close. None simulated the complete absence of observed warming over approximately the last 16 (according to UAH satellite data) to 26 (according to RSS lower tropospheric data) years.[4] The data confirm the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) observation that we are currently experiencing an absence of global warming long enough to be nearly impossible to reconcile with the models. All of this makes it increasingly clear that the models greatly exaggerate the warming effect of carbon dioxide. The models’ errors are not random—as often above as below observed temperatures, and by similar magnitudes—but clearly biased, consistently above observed temperatures.
The scientific method demands that theories be tested by empirical observation. By that test, the models are wrong. They therefore provide no rational basis to forecast dangerous human-induced global warming, and therefore no rational basis for efforts to reduce warming by restricting the use of fossil fuels or any other means.
For the Foreseeable Future, Wind and Solar Energy Cannot Effectively Replace Fossil Fuel and Nuclear Energy
Wind and solar energy, because of their higher costs and lower efficiency, account for only a few percent of total global energy use. Fossil fuels, because of their lower costs and higher efficiency, account for over 85%. Substituting low-density, intermittent energy sources like wind and solar for high-density, constant energy sources like fossil fuels would be catastrophic to the world’s poor. It would simultaneously raise the cost and reduce the reliability and availability of energy, especially electricity. This, in turn, would raise the cost of all other goods and services, since all require energy to produce and transport. It would slow the rise of the poor out of poverty. It would threaten to return millions of others to poverty. And it would make electricity grids unstable, leading to more frequent and widespread, costly and often fatal, brownouts and blackouts—events mercifully rare in wealthy countries but all too familiar to billions of people living in countries without comprehensive, stable electric grids supplied by stable fossil or nuclear fuels.
The Poor Would Suffer Most from Attempts to Restrict Affordable Energy Use
The world’s poor will suffer most from such policies. The poorest—the 1.3 billion in developing countries who depend on wood and dried dung as primary cooking and heating fuels, smoke from which kills 4 million and temporarily debilitates hundreds of millions every year—will be condemned to more generations of poverty and its deadly consequences. The marginal in the developed world, who on average spend two or more times as much of their incomes on energy as the middle class, will lose access to decent housing, education, health care, and more as their energy costs rise. Some will freeze to death because they will be unable to pay their electricity bills and still buy enough food. Tens of thousands died even in the United Kingdom in several recent winters due to Britain’s rush to substitute wind and solar for coal to generate electricity.
Affordable Energy Can Help Millions of the World’s Poor Emerge from Poverty
While the computer climate models exaggerate the warming effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide, they plausibly simulate that greater economic development driven by growing use of fossil fuels will add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Consequently, Working Group 3 of the IPCC finds that the warmest scenarios for the future are also the richest, especially for those societies that are now the poorest. The risks of poverty and misguided energy policies that would prolong it far outweigh the risks of climate change. Adequate wealth enables human persons to thrive in a wide array of climates, hot or cold, wet or dry. Poverty undermines human thriving even in the very best of climates. It follows that reducing fossil fuel use means reducing economic development, condemning poor societies to remain poor, and requiring poor people of today to sacrifice for the sake of richer people of the future—a clear injustice.
Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Enhances Plant Growth
While adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere causes far less warming than previously feared, it has a positive effect on plant life. With more carbon dioxide in the air, plants grow better in warmer and cooler temperatures and wetter and drier soils, make better use of soil nutrients, and resist diseases and pests better, increasing their fruit production, expanding their range, and greening the earth. This makes more food available to all other creatures, especially—as agricultural yields rise, making food more affordable—the world’s poor. Substituting wind, solar, and other low-density energy sources for coal, oil, and natural gas therefore hurts the poor not only by raising energy (and all other) prices but also by reducing food production. It also hurts the rest of life on earth by depriving it of the fertilizing effect of heightened carbon dioxide.
Truly, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). By using fossil fuels to generate energy to lift billions of God’s precious children out of poverty, we liberate from the tomb of the earth the carbon dioxide on which plants and therefore all the rest of life depend. This beautifully reveals the Creator’s wisdom and care for all of His creation—people, animals, plants, and the earth itself.
In light of these considerations, we believe it is both unwise and unjust to adopt policies requiring reduced use of fossil fuels for energy. Such policies would condemn hundreds of millions of our fellow human beings to ongoing poverty. We respectfully appeal to you to advise the world’s leaders to reject them.
[1] Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World (New York: Free Press, [1925] 1967), 13, 12, 13, cited in Rodney Stark, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success (New York: Random House, 2005), 14–15. Loren Eiseley, likewise, wrote that “it is the Christian world which finally gave birth in a clear, articulate fashion to the experimental method of science itself.” (Loren Eiseley, Darwin’s Century [Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1958; reprinted, Doubleday Anchor Books, 1961], 62, cited in Nancy R. Pearcey and Charles B. Thaxton, The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994], 18.) Similarly, Pierre Duhem observed that “the mechanics and physics of which modern times are justifiably proud proceed, by an uninterrupted series of scarcely perceptible improvements, from doctrines professed in the heart of the medieval schools.” (Cited in David C. Lindbergh and Robert S. Westman, eds., Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution[Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990], 14, via Pearcey and Thaxton, Soul of Science, 53.)
[2] Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1965), 4, emphasis added.
[3] Myanna Lahsen, “Seductive Simulations? Uncertainty Distribution around Climate Models,”Social Studies of Science 35/6 (December 2005), 895–922.
[4] C.P. Morice, J.J. Kennedy, N.A. Rayner, and P.D. Jones, “Quantifying uncertainties in global and regional temperature change using an ensemble of observational estimates: The HadCRUT4 dataset,” Journal of Geophysical Research (2012), 117, D08101, doi:10.1029/2011JD017187; Ross R. McKitrick, “HAC-Robust Measurement of the Duration of a Trendless Subsample in a Global Climate Time Series,” Open Journal of Statistics 4 (2014), 527–535, doi: 10.4236/ojs.2014.47050.
Endorsers of “An Open Letter to Pope Francis on Climate Change”
1. Fr. E. Paul Acton, M.Div./S.T.B. (Divinity/Theology), Reverend Father, Roman Catholic Church, Canada
2. Robert V. Acuff, Ph.D. (Nutritional Biochemistry), Professor of Surgery, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Mountain Home, TN, USA
3. Michael W. Asten, Ph.D. (Geophysics), Professor of Geophysics, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
4. William D. Balgord, Ph.D. (Geochemistry), President, Environmental & Resources Technology, Inc., Middleton, WI, USA
5. Tim Ball, Ph.D. (Geography), Professor of Climatology (retired), University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
6. Stephen M. Barr, Ph.D. (Physics), Fellow of the American Physical Society, Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
7. Joseph M. Bastardi, B.S. (Meteorology), Chief meteorologist, Weatherbell Analytics, Boalsburg, PA, USA
8. Gary L. Bauer, J.D., President, American Values, Arlington, VA, USA
9. E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D. (History), Founder and National Spokesman, The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, Burke, VA, USA
10. Edwin X. Berry, Ph.D. (Physics), President, Climate Physics LLC, Bigfork, MT, USA
11. Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza, J.D., author of Psicose Ambientalista (Environmental Madness), Director of Paz no Campo, Brazil
12. Donna Fitzpatrick Bethell, B.A. (Physics), Juris Doctor, Chairman of the Board, Christendom College, former United States Under Secretary of Energy, Washington, DC, and Director, Science and Environmental Policy Project, Fairfax, VA, USA
13. David L. Black, Ph.D., (Legal Medicine: Forensic Toxicology), Clinical Associate Professor/CEO/Founder/Chairman, Vanderbilt University/Aegis Sciences Corporation, Nashville, TN, USA
14. Rev. Jeffrey K. Boer, D.Min. (Practical Theology), Pastor of Sharon Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Hialeah, FL, USA
15. Kevin Boling, Pastor, Mountain Bridge Bible Fellowship, Host, Knowing The Truth Radio Program, Greenville, SC, USA
16. H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. (Applied Philosophy, Specialization Environmental Ethics), Research Fellow, The Heartland Institute, Rowlette, TX, USA
17. Xavier Calmet, Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat., Physics), Professor of Physics, University of Sussex, Brighton, England, UK
18. James E. Campbell, Ph.D. (Physics), Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, Retired, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
19. Joseph L. Campbell, Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering), Professor, University of North Florida, Retired, FL, USA
20. Davis Carman, M.S. (Mechanical Engineering), President, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., Anderson, IN, USA
21. Ronald S. Carson, Ph.D. (Nuclear Engineering), Adjunct Professor, Engineering, Seattle Pacific University, Renton, WA, USA
22. Robert M. Carter, Ph.D. (Geology), Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne, Australia
23. Kevin L. Clauson, M.A., J.D., Vice President of Academics and Professor of Government and Law, Director, Center for Faith, Freedom, and Constitution, Bryan College, Dayton, TN, USA
24. Charles A. Clough, M.S. (Atmospheric Science), Th.M. (Old Testament and Semitics), Retired Chief, U.S. Army Atmospheric Effects Team, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adjunct Professor, Chafer Theological Seminary, Bel Air, MD, USA
25. Roger W. Cohen, Ph.D. (Physics), Fellow, American Physical Society, Durango, CO, USA
26. Mark Coppenger, Ph.D. (Philosophy), Professor of Christian Apologetics, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY, USA
27. Kenneth A. Cornelius, M.S. (Environmental Engineering), Senior Program Manager, Argonne National Laboratory (Retired); Former Director Environmental Policy, Office of Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health; Former Asst. Professor of Civil Engineering, US Air Force Academy, Retired, USA
28. Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D. (Communication Theory), Executive Director, World Congress of Families–IX, Rockford, IL, USA
29. Walter Cunningham, M.S. (Physics), Apollo 7 Astronaut, Houston, TX, USA
30. Joseph D’Aleo, B.S., M.S. (Meteorology), ABD (Air Resources), Honorary Ph.D., Chief Meteorologist, Weatherbell Analytics LLC, Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, Hudson, NH, USA
31. Willem de Lange, Ph.D. (Earth Sciences), Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
32. William A. Dembski, Ph.D. (Mathematics), Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute, Pella, IA, USA
33. Trey Dimsdale, J.D., Associate Director and Research Fellow, The Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX, USA
34. Harold H. Doiron, Ph.D., Chairman, The Right Climate Stuff Research Team, Pearland, TX, USA
35. Paul K. Driessen, J.D., Senior Policy Analyst, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, Fairfax, VA, USA
36. Robert Du Broy, B.S. (Biology), MBA, Catholic Media Consultant, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
37. Duane A. Dunham, Th.D. (New Testament), Professor (Retired) of New Testament Language and Exegesis, Western Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary, Portland, OR, USA
38. Becky Norton Dunlop, former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (1988–1989), Chairman, Conservative Action Project, Washington, DC, USA
39. Gordon Evans, B.S. (Meteorology), M.S. (Soil Science), Environmental Manager, The Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX, USA
40. Freeman J. Dyson, B.A. (Mathematics), Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
41. Miguel A. Flores-Vergara, Ph.D. (Plant Molecular Biology), Post-doctoral Researcher, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
42. Captain Donald K. Forbes, USN (Retired), M.S. (Aero Engineering), Dumfries, VA, USA
43. Neil Frank, Ph.D. (Meteorology), Former Director, National Hurricane Center, Fulshear, TX, USA
44. Martin Fricke, Ph.D. (Nuclear Physics), Senior Fellow and Elected to 15-Member Executive Panel on Public Affairs of the American Physical Society, Extraordinary Member of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
45. Gordon Fulks, Ph.D. (Physics), University of Chicago Laboratory for Astrophysics, Mission Research Corporation, Corbett, OR, USA
46. George Gamota, Ph.D. (Physics), former Bell Labs MTS; former Director for Office of Defense Research (U.S. Department of Defense); former Professor of Physics, University of Michigan; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow, American Physical Society; Lexington, MA, USA
47. Paul W. Gard, Jr., M.A. (Management), B.A. (Mathematics/Meteorology), NOAA, National Weather Service Lead Forecaster Denver/Boulder, Retired, CO, USA
48. George Gilder, A.B., Honorary Ph.D. (Economics), Universidad Francisco Maroquin; co-founder and Senior Fellow on Wealth, Poverty, and Morality, The Discovery Institute, Seattle, WA; Editor in Chief of Gilder Technology Forum, Great Barrington, MA; former Fellow, Kennedy Institute of Politics, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
49. Rainer Gladisch, Ph.D., Director, Professor Doctor, Universitätsklinikum Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
50. Albrecht Glatzle, Ph.D. (Agricultural Sciences), Climate Policy Advisor, Asociacion Rural del Paraguay, Filadelfia, Chaco, Paraguay
51. Guillermo Gonzalez, Ph.D. (Astronomy), Professor, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA
52. Rev. George Grant, Ph.D. (Philosophy), D.Hum. (Humanities), Director, Chalmers Fund and the King’s Meadow Study Center, Founder, New College Franklin, Pastor, Parish Presbyterian Church, Franklin, TN, USA
53. William M. Gray, Ph.D. (Geophysical Sciences), Professor Emeritus, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
54. William P. Green III, M.Div., Executive Secretary, Confraternidad Latinoamericana de Iglesias Reformadas, Costa Rica,
55. Wayne Grudem, Ph.D. (New Testament), Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary, Phoenix, AZ, USA
56. Kenneth Haapala, M.S. (Quantitative Economics), President, Science and Environmental Policy Project, Fairfax, VA, USA
57. William Happer, Ph.D. (Physics), Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics (Emeritus), Princeton University, and former Director, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Princeton, NJ, USA
58. Jeffrey E. Haymond, Ph.D. (Economics), Associate Professor of Economics, Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH, USA
59. Ron Heffield, M.A. (Ministry), Reverend, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Orlando, FL, USA
60. Thomas A. Hemphill, Ph.D. (Business Administration, Strategic Management & Public Policy), Associate Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Public Policy, School of Management, University of Michigan, Flint, MI, and Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, TX, USA
61. Stephen Henderson, Th.M., Pastor, Munich International Community Church, Eichenau, Germany
62. Thomas D. Hennigan, M.P.S. (Environmental and Forest Biology/Ecology), Associate Professor of Organism Biology, Biology Degree Program Coordinator, and Chair, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Truett-McConnell College, Cleveland, GA, USA
63. Robert G. Houston Jr., Ph.D. (Economics), Professor, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, USA
64. Senator Nancy Jacobs, Retired State Senator, Maryland State Senate, USA
65. Peter Jones, Ph.D. (New Testament), Professor of New Testament (retired), Westminster Theological Seminary; Founder and President, truthXchange, Escondido, CA, USA
66. Klaus L.E. Kaiser, Ph.D. (Dr. Rerum Naturalium, Chemistry), Research Scientist, Natl. Water Research Inst. (Canada, retired), Fellow, Chemical Institute of Canada, author of Convenient Myths, Ontario, Canada
67. Richard Keen, Ph.D. (Climatology/Geography), Instructor Emeritus, University of Colorado, Retired, Golden, CO, USA
68. Hugh Kendrick, Ph.D. (Nuclear Engineering), Member, American Physical Society, Anacortes, WA, USA
69. Madhav L. Khandekar, Ph.D. (Meteorology), Research Scientist, Environment Canada (Retired), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
70. William R. Kininmonth, M.S. (Atmospheric Science), M.Admin. (Public Policy), former Head, National Climate Centre, Melbourne, Australia; Lieutenant—Victoria Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem; Kew, Australia
71. Bill Kirk, B.S. (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences), CEO & Founder, Weather Trends International, Inc., Bethlehem, PA, USA
72. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, President, American Alliance of Jews and Christians, Mercer Island, WA, USA
73. David Legates, Ph.D. (Climatology), Professor of Climatology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
74. David H. Lester, Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering), Retired, Fox Island, WA, USA
75. Mark Liebe, Ph.D. (Water Resources Engineering), P.E., Supervising Engineering, City of Portland, OR, USA
76. Wiliiam H. Light, Ph.D. (Organismic Biology and Geosciences); 2-year postdoctoral fellowship (Limnology & Environmental Toxicology), Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences, California, USA
77. Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. (Applied Mathematics), Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences; Newton, MA, USA
78. Stephen D. Livesay, Ph.D. (History and Education), President, Bryan College, Dayton, TN, USA
79. E.G. “Jay” Link, M.Div., President, Stewardship Ministries, Camby, IN, USA
80. Anthony R. Lupo, Ph.D. (Atmospheric Science), Professor, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
81. Jeffrey Mahn, M.S. (Nuclear Engineering), Sandia National Laboratories, Retired, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
82. Istvan E. Marko, Ph.D. (Sciences), Professor Doctor, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium,
83. Francis J. Menton, Jr., J.D. (Law), Of Counsel, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, New York, NY, USA
84. Luiz Carlos Molion, Ph.D. (Meteorology), Professor of Climatology and Climate Change at the Universidad Federal de Alagoas, Maceió – AL, Brazil; representative of Latin America at the World Meteorological Organization, Brazil
85. Christopher Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, Chief Policy Adviser, Science & Public Policy Institute, Washington, DC, USA
86. William G. Moore, Ph.D. (Historical Theology), Pastor, Cornerstone Baptist Church, Clinton, SC, USA
87. Steven Mosher, M.S. (Biological Oceanography), President, Population Research Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
88. Dermott J. Mullan, Ph.D. (Astronomy), Professor of Astrophysics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
89. Mark Musser, M.Div., Pastor/Missionary, Grace Redeemer Bible Church, Olympia, WA, USA
90. Daniel W. Nebert, M.S. (Biophysics), M.D. (Medicine/Genetics), Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Wilsonville, OR, USA
91. C. Preston Noell III, President of Tradition, Family, Property, Inc., Hanover, PA, USA
92. Daniela de Souza Onça, Ph.D. (Geography), Professor of Geography at Santa Catarina State University, Brazil
93. Jerry F. O’Neill, D.D. (Divinity), M.S. (Education), President and Professor of Pastoral Theology, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
94. William David Orr, Baccalaureus (Universita Pontificia di San Tommaso d’Aquino), Fellow, Naturalclimatechange.com., Denver, CO, USA
95. Franklin E. Payne, M.D., Associate Professor of Family Medicine (Retired), Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, GA, USA
96. James M. Peacock, B.S. (Mechanical Engineering), Member of Climate Study Team, The Right Climate Stuff Research Team, Brenham, TX, USA
97. Aldara Gandara Peacock, B.S. (Biology), The Right Climate Stuff Research Team, Brenham, TX, USA
98. Ricki Pepin, Author, Lecturer, Instructor, Institute on the Constitution, Springfield, OH, USA
99. Mark J. Perry, Ph.D. (Economics), Professor of Economics, University of Michigan, Flint, MI, and Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC, USA
100. Al Pino, M.Th., Pastor, Palm Vista Community Church, Miami Lakes, FL, USA
101. Joseph A. Pipa Jr., Ph.D. (Historical Theology), President, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Greenville, SC, USA
102. Tom Quirk Ph.D. (Physics), Visiting Fellow, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia
103. Greg Raab, Diplom (Mineralogie)/MS (Mineralogy), Environmental Scientist III, State of Nevada, Division of Environmental Protection, Las Vegas, NV, USA
104. Frank L. Rice, Ph.D. (Neuroscience), President, CEO, and Chief Scientist, Integrated Tissue Dynamics, LLC, Rensselaer, NY, USA
105. Jay W. Richards, Ph.D. (Philosophy & Theology), Assistant Research Professor, The Catholic University of America, Potomac Falls, VA, USA
106. Shawn Ritenour, Ph.D. (Economics), Professor of Economics, Grove City College, Grove City, PA, USA
107. Bart Roosen, Ph.D. (Economics), Berlicum, Netherlands
108. Austin Ruse, President, Center for Family and Human Rights, Washington, DC, USA
109. James H. Rust, Ph.D. (Nuclear Engineering), Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology (retired), Atlanta, GA, USA
110. Anthony J. Sadar, M.S. (Environmental Science—Air Pollution Control), Certified Consulting Meteorologist, Adjunct Associate Professor, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
111. Dr. John R. Sans, Ph.D. (Geochemistry), Research Chemist, BASF, Independence, Ohio, USA
112. Richard L. Sauer, P.E., M.S. (Environmental Engineering), Spacecraft Life Support Systems Lead Engineer, NASA, League City, TX, USA
113. Rick Scarborough, President, Vision America Action, Nacogdoches, TX, USA
114. Corey Schmatjen, M.A. (International Development), Pastor, Palm Vista Community Church, Miami Lakes, FL, USA
115. Robert F. Schwarzwalder, Jr., M.A. (Theology), Former Chief of Staff to a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee; Senior Vice-President, Family Research Council, Washington, DC, USA
116. John Sciacca, M.S. (Geology, Emphasis Precipitation Variation) Director, Nevada Water Science Center, USGS, Carson City, NV, USA
117. John A. Shanahan, Ph.D. (Engineering), President, Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy – USA, Denver, CO, USA
118. Thomas P. Sheahen, Ph.D. (Physics), Science and Environmental Policy Project, and Director, Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology, Deer Park, MD, USA
119. David E. Shormann, Ph.D. (Aquatic Science), President, DIVE, LLC, TX, USA
120. S. Fred Singer, Ph.D. (Atmospheric Physics), Founder, Science and Environmental Policy Project; Founder, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change; first director of the National Weather Satellite Service; Arlington, VA, USA
121. Mike Spaulding, Ph.D., Pastor, Calvary Chapel of Lima, Lima, OH, USA
122. Roy W. Spencer, Ph.D. (Meteorology), Principal Research Scientist, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville AL, USA
123. Larry H. Stallard, M.Div., Pastor, Presbyterian Church in America, Retired, Kingsport, Tennessee, USA
124. Richard F. Storm, PE (Professional Engineer), Founder/Senior Consultant, Storm Technologies, Inc., Albermarle, NC, USA
125. Stanford Swim, M.B.A. (Business), Interim President, Sutherland Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
126. Timothy Terrell, Ph.D. (Economics), Associate Professor of Economics, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, USA
127. James Tonkowich, D.Min., Author, Former President, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Falls Church, VA, USA
128. Mark Tooley, B.A. (Government), President, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Washington, DC, USA
129. C. Joseph Touhill, Ph.D. (Environmental Engineering), PE, DEE, President, Touhill Technology Management; Diplomate, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists; Institute Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers; Life Member, Water Environment Federation; Life Member, American Water Works Association; Jamison, PA, USA
130. Cornelis van Kooten, Ph.D. (Agricultural and Resource Economics), Professor of Economics and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Studies and Climate, University of Victoria, BC, Canada
131. Lou Veiga, M.B.A, M.Div., Senior Pastor, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX, USA
132. L.L. “Don” Veinot, Jr., President, Midwest Christian Outreach, Wonder Lake, IL, USA.
133. James P. Wallace III, Ph.D. (Economics; Minor in Engineering), President & CEO, Jim Wallace & Associates LLC, Sarasota, FL, USA
134. Lance Arthur Wallace, Ph.D. (Astrophysics), Research Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Retired, Santa Rosa, California, USA
135. Kathleen Hartnett White, M.A. (Humanities), Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director, Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Austin, TX, USA
136. Christopher Westley, Ph.D. (Economics), Professor of Economics, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL USA
137. R. Fowler White, Ph.D., Pastor, Valley Presbyterian Church, Lutherville, MD, USA
138. Scott Winter, B.S. (Mechanical Engineering), Senior Aerospace Engineer, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
139. Wendy Wright, Vice President, Center for Family and Human Rights, Washington, DC, USA
140. Carlton S. Yee, Ph.D. (Hydrology & Engineering), Professor Emeritus, Humboldt State University, Meridian, Idaho, USA
141. Elizabeth Yore, J.D., International Child Advocate Counsel, Chicago, Illinois
142. John Zmirak, Ph.D. (English Literature), Senior Editor, The Stream, co-author, The Race to Save Our Century: Five Core Principles to Promote Peace, Freedom, and a Culture of Life, Dallas, TX, USA
Perhaps I missed something, but how can I add my name to the endorsement list?
here – scroll down
http://www.cornwallalliance.org/2015/04/27/an-open-letter-to-pope-francis-on-climate-change/
Burn baby burn!!
http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/China-Pollution.JPEG-0bfec-555×370.jpg
A person who has buried two children due to lack of resources (food, energy, etc) would prefer they were alive and wearing masks.
Have a heart.
Do those masks work to filter CO2?
Dawtgtomis: They needn’t filter out CO2, since CO2 even at 20 times ambient atmospheric concentration (ca. 400 ppm) is perfectly safe. CO2 is nontoxic and becomes dangerous only at levels well above 10,000 ppm not because of toxicity but because it crowds out needed oxygen.
Oops’ forgot to include a /sarc tag. My point was that the pollution pictured was not CO2.
I would like to send him this poem:
To The Pope
Those who would be global planners,
Speak in agitated manners.
Predicating great disaster:
“Climate change we now must master”.
Human fault and shame beseeching
“Children, guilt we should be teaching!
Man has sinned, by overreaching
Mother Nature’s limit!”
Those of true theology
I’ve never known, who cannot see;
This world does not belong to ye,
Who only live here in it.
This planet then is God’s alone-
Commanding elements He owns,
Perplexing mortal-man’s control,
And vexing now the Papal Soul.
Well put.
From one theology to another.
As stated, in the Christian Ethos there is room for science and compassion.
Atributes strangely lacking in the UN IPCC ™ scatology.
i think we can safely observe that both science and compassion are missing in essence from Ms. Figueres’s agenda.
Reblogged this on A Conservative Christian Man.
Father Paul, then reblog this:
“The poorest—the 1.3 billion in developing countries who depend on wood and dried dung as primary cooking and heating fuels, smoke from which kills 4 million and temporarily debilitates hundreds of millions every year…”
I am not happy to see the plight of the poor abused to sell any agenda, climate or environmental.
That figure of “4 million” is the output of a model that has as inputs another model that uses numbers from models until there is nothing left to model.
Show me the bodies.
It was 4 million DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) and turned into ‘deaths’ somewhere along the line. It is being used to raise vast sums of money.
The true number is about 430,000 not 4,000,000 and I believe rates well below malaria, for example. That does not make air clean nor smoke disappear, but exaggeration is not necessary in order to do something effective about it. There are many options for dealing with the domestic energy needs of the poor.
There is a growing cancer of cause-ism where the cause du jour or cause most-celebe has to have the most people dying from it, like climate change which is always tied to massive piles of non-existent climate-dead.
The goal is course is money, lots of it. As with all things environmental, there are multiple hidden agendas behind each ‘unprecedented’ claim.
If you can add this:
Stay out of bedrooms (for that matter backseats).
Stay out of medical facilities and offices.
Get rid of Sharia-ish Catholic anti-female rules.
The rest of the stuff is fine but makes little difference to me.
I was in Assisi a few years ago with my brother Mike. Sitting in an outdoor cafe (very recommended) we met a very nice couple – a Czech mathematician and his German wife — very charming people.
Up into the conversation came the Catholic Church not allowing women to be priests. He said, ‘I approve, women should not be allowed to be priests.’
And just as my charge started lighting up he continued, ‘They just haven’t gone far enough. They should not allow men to be priests, either.’
“Of course!,” I shouted. It was a moment of triumph. The entire problem: solved! 🙂
Thought you’d enjoy the story, Pamela. 🙂
Who are “They”?
Now that’s funny right there!!!
I was raised Catholic. I still have my glow in the dark rosary and my First Communion obligatory picture, taken within a minute of me donning that white dress, veil, socks, and shoes. I had a tendency to not stay clean when I was 7 so pictures had to be taken immediately. I also remember my Confirmation day. I flat out told my grandma I wouldn’t kiss no ring and I wouldn’t let the man slap me on my cheek and if he was insisting to do those things, I was not going. Grandma managed to convince the Bishop not to present his ring for me to kiss and for god’s sake don’t slap the girl. She could come up swinging.
Pamela, ever heard of humility? Old age will either teach you some or make you bitter. I wish you a very long life and an opportunity for some (more?) humility. It is the opposite of pride and vanity. This I have learned through getting old, against all odds, I might add.
The U.S. RC church is a unique RC church. It does not receive state support and its education system is private as far basic funding goes. So quite different than the European and Latin American churches are.
So the nature of the U.S. RC church should be taken into consideration before important decisions such as this are made.
Do they pay taxes?
Very good article. I might add that God told Adam to go forth and multiply, knowing that he had designed a system that was symbiotic and robust. More life generates more CO2 which generates more life. Plants are currently if anything CO2 deprived.
Yes, they are indeed. Consequently I like this quote best:
“By using fossil fuels to generate energy to lift billions of God’s precious children out of poverty, we liberate from the tomb of the earth the carbon dioxide on which plants and therefore all the rest of life depend.”
So, if anything, burning fossil fuels is not a sin but actually a very good action and therefore quite advisable even for catholics… 😉
It’s time to start a carbon liberation movement to make sure that Life on Earth will survive the coming CO2 concentration minima of the next ice ages…
I read on some science site that the Pleistocene Ice Age, which started 2.6 million years ago, ended 11,000 years ago. Ended? Someone should tell his Holiness that the Pleistocene Ice Age will resume shortly, and that CO2 will probably drop below 150 ppm and plants won’t grow, so nothing to eat, folks. His Holiness and all the deluded scientists might like to think about that.
Carbon Liberation Movement! I like that Popular Front for the Excitation of Neutrons could support them.
“An open letter to Pope Francis”??????????????????
My bubble burst long ago, I no longer give a damn about this drivel. Its all an act, confusion……deception. The Pope!! give me a break. That pseudo man………that……….whatever corporate occult vampire blood sucking tick. That’s right folks- TICK!!
Enough of him and all that bushwa.
I’ve seen and heard of to many people getting hurt by the very people who detest God in the first place.
Freak wizard!!
Hear, hear!
The concept of all monotheism is a crock of bullldust.
The only thing that needs to be recognised here is the power exerted over those minions that still follow this creed.
As for appealing to papal or sharian “law” as a rational process or being, you are merely “following the sandal” (apologies to Monty Python).
. “Follow the money” is the only way to an ethical understanding, not reams of apologetic nonsensical attempts to prove truth and monotheism religions are intertwined – they are not.
All that crap is based upon a belief that a single, all powerful entity has a plan with punishment or reward as the outcome.
When people have to resort to using terms like ‘bulldust’ and ‘crap’ you know it’s unlikely that they are going to say anything rational or sensible.
Yup,
The biggest challenge I could imagine in life is addressing one of my fellow humans as “your holiness” and keeping a straight face.
I feel sorry for you both. Just saying.
Please, do everyone a favor, no more posts on The Pope or Vatican, or their agents/corporations. Please dude….please no more.
Send letters to your grandmother instead, geeeez.
@kenin, ahhhhhh, so you are the self proclaimed speaker for everybody ?
I’m not making any such claim. Don’t get it twisted.
I find your response to mind post rather peculiar.
What is it you would miss from not having Vatican related bull shoved down your throat twice a week?
Avert your eyes, so that you will not be forced to read that which bothers you so much.
Great content, distinguished support, how can his Holiness refuse?
Yet he will. It is a futile effort.
Um, isn’t there the old Biblical line that one should render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and unto God the things that are God’s? Is that a really hard thing for this pope to understand? Or, does he think the UN equates to some kind of god?
Now, I’m understanding that this childless, never been a dad pope, is in favor of spanking children so as to discipline them. I’ll admit to also being in favor of spanking (but only between consenting adults). But if the left wants us to listen to this guy on climate change, well then, they better be prepared to listen to him on everything. (And, I suspect his version of spanking certainly does not involve consenting adults.)
Very well written Mr. Quirk.
. . . but too long. A greater impact (if possible) may be had with fewer words.
zero for two . man made global warming and Islam is a religion of peace.
People who blindly follow APGW are more political than they want to believe, and the Pope’s foray into this area is no different in my view. The Pope, as does our President, has a very fundamental unwavering view of redistribution as a political goal. For him, and for Obama, and those high up in the UN, its their life objective, and it’s about the means to get there. APGW is the means. The letter is well written but unfortunately, until you change his view on redistribution and socialism, facts don’t matter. But I applaud anyone for the effort.
I fear that you are right on the money. It seems to me that this pope is spending all his good will in one misguided moment atop world headlines. It is frightening that Leftists can have so much influence in Vatican City.
Theo, let’s just wait and see. If the pope goes deep green – and I doubt he will – I’m off to the nearest Greek or Russian orthodox church. I think he knows that.
The Pope and Obama, yeah, redistribute. The UN Bureaucrats believe in take care of number [one] first, there’ll still be enough left over for the peons.
Neither group understands what really makes the economy work-free markets, capital(self denial), private property, and rule of law.
A good beginning for the Vatican would be to recognize that the oceans make temperatures change, and have long done so.
https://rclutz.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/empirical-evidence-oceans-make-climate/
If the seas can be “parted”, surely the seas can be thermally controlled.
“Kill all Humans”
Thanks, Bubba Cow
The King and The Pope have always been one.
The King and The Pope=Agenda 21
Agenda 21= theft
Theft of property. Property is absolutely essential, otherwise your just a person or in person.
And you know God is no respecter of persons. He told you so.
So what’s my point you ask.
Well, ask yourself this: Is it just possible that the work of Satan is rooted in the Vatican itself?
After all, they are the worlds first corporation/person
Nice letter. Very thorough, and many erudite signers.
It’s much simpler than that.
The science is wrong.
And when people point that out, the scientific establishment refuses to debate, and instead tries to hide the evidence.
That is a sin – indeed, many sins are being compounded in the continuous but ever-less-believable call by climate scientists to stop looking at our evidence and instead undertake the dangerous, damaging and physically-impossible task of de-energising our society.
As the Pope, are you against sin, or for it? Is it expedient that a little sinning be done for the benefit of the Climate Scientists?
I believe your organisation is already on record as answering “Yes” and “No” respectively to those two questions…
Dodgey Geezer, On all things, one must have an informed conscience and then act in accordance with that informed conscience. I doubt that they are truly informed. I doubt they are acting out of malice, rather the UN and its liars are successfully undermining the good will of many good people by supplying false information.
It would seem the sin is in ignoring the findings of science, and using as a reason that one ‘believes’ it’s all a universal (Worldwide) conspiracy, even though the ‘believer’ never submitted his own findings for peer-review, or never seen anyone else publish such contradictory evidence. Could it be that such ‘beliefs’ that Science is ‘wrong’ are suspect, and lack evidentiary support? Hmmmm…..
Warrenlb
There is nothing ‘universal’ about the conspiracies that underlie the CAGW movement. There is plenty of published science that is peer reviewed that shows there is nothing unusual, untoward, dangerous or unprecedented about global temperatures and the CO2 concentration.
The problem with ‘beliefs’ is that a small group of self-interested advocates have managed to fake a vast number pseudoscientific claims about the descent of Hell onto the Earth because of our mortal sin of releasing carbon dioxide. It is nothing less than a fake religion shaking Juju sticks at smoke.
It would be laughable if it didn’t cause so much harm.
The lack of evidentiary support, as you call it, is why I refuse to be sucked into the nether world of climate alarmism. Go to the data. Look at the evidence. It is not getting warmer, there is no catastrophe, the environment can be cleaned, improved, protected, cherished and even honoured without a single scrap of fire and damnation alarmism over CO2.
We haven’t yet seen what the encyclical contains. Until then I reserve judgement. But judgement there will be. Populism is no position for a Pope. Eschatology, climate seancé and doom-mongering ill-befit any of us.
@Crispin in Waterloo
You say:
“There is nothing ‘universal’ about the conspiracies that underlie the CAGW movement. There is plenty of published science that is peer reviewed that shows there is nothing unusual, untoward, dangerous or unprecedented about global temperatures and the CO2 concentration. ”
My response:
1. CAGW? There is no such term in Science. CAGW is an invention of those that reject the conclusions of Science. If you think you saw that term in a peer-reviewed scientific paper, please post it.
2. Nothing universal in the conspiracies? Sorry but logically ONLY a worldwide conspiracy can fill the bill of those complaining about fraud, since all the world’s Scientific Institutions conclude AGW, without exception.
3. There’s plenty of peer-reviewed science rejecting AGW? Sorry, the number is vanishingly small in comparison to the 10s of thousands of peer-reviewed papers on AGW published: http://jamespowell.org/Piecharts/Citations/citations.html.
If you disagree with Dr Powell, then post those peer-reviewed papers you believe exist, please.
You say:
“Populism is no position for a Pope.”
My response:
I agree. But his position is not populism. It’s backed by science and scientists
Hmmm. The Pope is, by definition and job-description, God-centric; his Religion trumps science (it was created by God Himself); he worships a benevolent God. Such a God would not, surely, see the end of His creation. Therefore, mankind – believers – have nothing to fear as God will intrude and make our (their) climate as benign as it needs to be. A man of God has no need of science, he has faith. [/cyn]
The Vatican has no business being involved in this climate lie scheme, why are Catholics not demanding the Pope steer clear of this nonsense? Further, this Earth is billions of years old, then comes mankind who thinks so highly of itself as to be able to destroy this planet. Ridiculous. Ludicrous.
John,
This very letter (this article) is a polite attempt to do the very thing that you suggest.
Nay. I think I said it better.
For a time the Catholic Church used to sell INDULGENCES. they are kind of like carbon credits but had the Pope’s seal of approval to sin against God without fear of God’s Wrath. (I wonder how this is gonna work out for them on judgment day as they will not be standing in front of the Pope.)
This is the UN’s way of selling the same ability to sin against their Nature god for a price with the Popes seal of approval. Neither are Biblically grounded and both are ways the leaders had to extract money from its followers to their demise.
It is simply, one religion mimicking another….
Conflict of interests? It seems to me that the catholic church tells people not to use birth control, in other words have more babies, but then the opposite message is to reduce CO2 emissions, because having more kids is to have more CO2.
10
Wrong, Pamela. The Catholic Church doesn’t tell people not to use birth control; just use it according to the natural law.
The Billings Method works but there certainly are problems:
1. Females not on the contraceptive pill feel the greatest desire for sex pre-ovulation, yet that’s when the Billings Method requires couples to abstain from sex. The Billings (husband and wife) said OK so express your sexual love in other ways. Very hard advice, especially for young people.
2. Non-Catholics pooh-pooh it despite the health benefits for women who don’t have to pollute their bodies for decades with foreign substances while men don’t, do they.
Thanks, Tom Quirk.
I hope you will be heard.
As to the ancient sources of “Apocalypticism”, I recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Between-Testaments-Pp-D-Russell/dp/0800618564/ref=sr_1_1/192-4366561-4828812?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431277639&sr=1-1&keywords=between+the+testaments
When you read this you find that “Apocalypticism” is thousands of years old. It seems to be a WEAKNESS of the human mind. Since most of the AWG crowd are agnostics, atheists, or “undeclared” (but of marginal, or zero “faith” background, they have turned the natural “religous” tendancy toward Apocalypticism to a secular one. In this case, as DAMAGING, evil, stupid and deplorable as the religious Apocalypticism is, so it is with the secular one. As an ENGINEER and a BUILDER (and later years a gardener!) I reject ALL aspects of it. Alas, the Pope has decided to embrace ALL manor of Apocalypticism…sad.
Until I see evidence that Pope Francis has decided to embrace all manner of Apocalypticism, I am skeptical.
I too am skeptical. I am an advocate of science and faith and reason.
Amen.
Seems many of the comments, remind me of what is put out in realclimate & sckepticalscience.
Amen to your point: Apocalyptic clap trap is something huge numbers of people just cannot get enough of.
You can tell it is bs when the underlying theme is that nature is progressive in its outlook.
I comment to you “The Apocalyptics” by Edith Efron for a more modern view of how clap trap has corrupted far too many of our intelligentsia and how this is costing each and everyone of us today.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Apocalyptics-Environmental-Politics-Controls/dp/0671605674
Few remember is was the resignation of Pop Benedict in 2013 that has made possible the installation of Pope Francis. The first Pope to resign of his own accord since 1294.
The 3rd prophecy of Fatima, only partially revealed, lays out the destruction of the Catholic Church, with Satan as its leader.
Big P obviously believes in one fairy story. What’s the big deal with believing in two?