?But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good?
1 Thessalonians 5:21

I?ve been called a skeptic. I?m prone to investigate some conspiracy theories. I like to think that I examine things (within my own limited knowledge and understanding). I think that we need to be good, responsible stewards of the earth. There!. Had to get that out of the way.

I want to teach my children how to think critically, how to read information and examine it, how to apply God?s word to everyday life. Therefore, I love learning at home with my children and am thankful for the responsibility and opportunity to do so.
Every person holds a worldview. A worldview is a way of looking at the world?it is what you believe, what you understand the world to be about.
Everyone has assumptions or presuppositions. This is simply having an idea or a belief and you filter new knowledge or information through that assumption. Each worldview has various presuppositions supporting it.

There is a naturalistic, Biblical and pantheistic way of looking at things. Various trains of thought (worldviews) have adaptations but they basically can fit into these categories. (Learning about worldviews is an important topic!) So now knowing that everyone holds a worldview, I’ll start honing in on my subject.

Over the course of history there have been many beliefs. Beliefs that people held and defended to the hilt. Others who did not agree with these beliefs were mocked, persecuted and all manner of things. Remember when people thought the world was flat? Well, it?s all well and good for us to sit here now and laugh at that because we have the benefit of history and science behind us. Do we look and see ourselves in that picture? Do we believe everything that we are told without examining it? How about Y2K? Future generations may laugh till their insides hurt when they hear of the hysteria and confusion around Y2K?yet it was a real threat in our minds only seven years ago.

There is a lot of hype and hysteria surrounding the whole climate change issue. Ever heard the saying, ?he who controls the media, controls the world?? Think about it. While we are busy, worrying and adapting our lifestyle, stressing over the current issue (climate change, Y2K, terrorism, etc) other things, important (world, national, state and local) issues, could be slipping under the radar. Fear is a powerful motivator. And with every ?issue?, there is fear behind it. I haven?t watched the latest movie, ‘An Inconvenient Truth? but the snippets I have seen are designed to produce fear in the hearts of the viewers. But oh, that?s meant to be ?information?, facts to make the people aware. Are the people who are doing the alarming changing their lifestyles? There is truly much to think about with the whole issue. Michelle Malkin has a clip here which is thoughtful and enlightening.
There are plenty of informed scientists and speakers who disagree with the whole alarmist view of global warming but they are not being heard or listened to. I wonder why?

Do you remember the animation, Captain Planet? Cool eh? It was indoctrination- pure and simple. It did not have a biblical basis or worldview. Pick up a newspaper, magazine or turn on the television today. What information are you being fed? Have you really examined the facts or are you being led into an emotional trap? Are you being indoctrinated?
A popular website that is being pushed in Australia is cooltheglobe. Here?s a snippet from the site:

“Climate change is the greatest threat facing our planet. Humans are causing climate change, and humans can stop it getting worse. We can keep our planet healthy for future generations by acting on climate change now and reducing our greenhouse pollution.”

I think that sin is the greatest threat facing our planet and the humans that live on it.

I don?t believe in evolution, or a type of Christian Evolution. I guess you?d call me a young earth creationist. However, if I believed in the process of evolution then I?d believe that the world is millions of years old. I guess I could then think it?s possible that the earth is in trouble. Also believing in evolution, I?d believe in the superiority of man (I mean underneath all the rubble, even racism stems from an evolutionary worldview). If man was capable of evolving into the intelligent species that we are, I?d have to believe that we can fix this problem. Apparently the ice caps on Mars are melting due to our actions here on earth. Wow, we?re pretty powerful uh! So the earth has been around for millions or billions of years (so apparently has man) yet it is only in the last few hundred years that we have managed to destroy the earth and universe as we know it. This view holds a very high opinion of man, doesn?t it?

There are a few issues within the whole crisis that I am concerned about. The experts compare today’s weather to hundreds and thousands of years ago but I can?t see how this is accurate. How long have there been reliable weather stations throughout the world? Granted, the experts use measures of tree rings, they analyse ice-cores and so on but these don?t build an accurate picture, especially as one considers that scientists can?t even agree on the age of the earth! They say that this weather pattern and climate change is not normal?I don?t think man has been officially recording the weather for long enough to know what ?normal? is. (Apparently they started recording in the mid 1800?s?even in a time frame of 6,000 years that is not much to go on) It?s such a short term view.

A statement at National Geographic says:

Over the last million years the Earth has fluctuated between colder and warmer periods.

How does a Christian reconcile this with the Bible?s teaching? I?m no great scientist, but I believe that when we truly understand and believe in a catastrophic event such as the Great Flood we can see how it would have had a major impact on the geophysical and biological system of the earth?and that dating systems which do not reflect a biblical worldview nor take into account the devastating flood, are simply not correct.

We can see that over the course of history, the climate has indeed changed. Was this the result of man? Was man big enough to control the universe? Sure we need to be good stewards and live carefully but the fear mongering must not be allowed to control us. We must teach our children to think critically and examine issues. We need to prepare our hearts for the day when we meet our Maker.

Where is God in all of this global warming/climate change issue? Is He so small that He does not control everything? Some times we need to stop, take a step back and actually read our history and science books?and try to see things from a biblical worldview rather than our own small perspective.

Whether or not you do or don?t believe in all the hype, I hope you can see that we need to teach our children to think?we need to educate our children about the real issues: being that fear is a powerful motivator, combined with the media using every means available to appeal to our emotions, (propaganda) can be a strong driving force that can be used?and is often used, sadly, by politicians.
I don?t want or expect anyone to agree with my thoughts?but I hope you look closely at the facts and research for yourself, for the sake of your children. A few sites that I like are:

http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/

http://www.icr.org/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16960409/site/newsweek/

http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speeches/index.html

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/global-warming

Link at AnswersinGenesis