His pro-corporate handiwork on the issue of global warming may be the most destructive. I intend to argue that his followers--those who are essentially pro-global warming, who aid and abet unchecked fossil fuel consumption in this country--are committing a sin as heinous as Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman who killed 33 people at Virginia Tech last week.
Impossible. No way. The comparison is outlandish.
They are committing foremost the sin of greed and the sin of gluttony.
Those who are unwilling to confront and correct global warming because it will include "significant costs" can only justify themselves with the sin of greed. They want a nicer car, a bigger house, more channels on their television, more vacations, more everything. They are told that they are oppressed by the concerns of effete liberals. They are beguiled by arguments that appeal to self-righteousness and self-entitlement.
Soon murder will be added to their transgressions. (Let me be clear about who is guilty. The guilty remain indifferent on the issue of global warming, or they consume more than their fair share of fossil fuels, cloaked in self-righteousness.)
Murder is considered a major transgression in the Bible. Unlike the dubious assertion that God opposes gay marriage, God put the commandment not to murder on stone for Moses.
Two months ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations, issued a report that concluded global warming was "unequivocal" and, with more than 90 percent certainty, caused by humans.
We all know the consequences detailed in the report. The rise in temperature could send Europe into an ice age; it will cause severe droughts in some areas and dire flooding in other areas; sea levels could rise by anywhere up to two feet, according to conservative estimates.
Nearly 100 million people in Asia are expected to face floods that will invariable snuff out lives as a result of global warming, according to the IPCC.
Back to my burden of analogy: people who subscribe to indifference to and even gleeful participation in the unchecked consumption of fossil fuels as supported by James Dobson commit no less of a sin than Sueng-Hui Cho.
Cho perhaps knew, despite his mental illness, that the guns he carried into Norris Hall on April 16 had the potential to kill people, yet he fired them at his victims anyway.
We now know that our unchecked consumption of gasoline has the potential to lead to catastrophic starvation, flooding and death on a scale that would eclipse the horror at Virginia Tech.
Should we choose to continue to burn fossil fuel indifferently, we are no different from a gunman who pulls his trigger with a victim in his sights. Cho killed 33 people last Monday. Thirty three fits many times into one million, and the loss of life due to global warming could be far greater.
James Dobson will find no justification in the writings or ideas of Saint Augustine of Hippo for introducing death and famine to the world's poorest citizens.
There are, however, plenty of Christians ready and willing to confront the challenge of global warming, and they ought to be recognized. The Evangelical Climate Initiative was created last February to combat global warming. Target Earth, a Christian coalition, is also committed to environmentally sound practices.
We need to challenge our Christian brothers and sisters to re-examine their views on global warming with respect to the commandments and lessons from the Bible. Mere badmouthing about the lifestyles of our brethren will not cover up the consequences of the actions we take.
While Dobson tries to win elections for his pro-corporate buddies with attacks on gays, Americans are losing their souls to the influence of a "false witness who speaks lies."
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