There was an interesting article in the New York Times detailing how some fundamentalists and Tea Party enthusiasts do not believe in Climate Catastrophe, which is backed by almost every real scientist in the reality-based community.
Exhibit A of this backwards mentality is Norman Dennison, founder of Indiana’s Corydon Tea Party. At a forum for Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), the Tea Bagger chastised the congressman for supporting efforts to keep this planet from being ruined.
“It’s a flat out lie,” said Mr. Dennison, adding that he had based his view on global warming from the preaching of Rush Limbaugh and Scripture. “I read my Bible. He made this earth for us to utilize.”
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama liked to say, “We are the change that we have been waiting for.” In the parlance of these dangerous fundamentalists: “We are the apocalypse that we have been waiting for.”
Unfortunately, the rest of us have to live through the dire consequences of their delusional fantasy that earth’s resources can mindlessly be exploited with reckless abandon. Indeed, in their warped worldview, God encourages, even applauds, when “God’s People” despoil precious resources.
When the polar bears eventually drown; when lovely homes on Florida’s coast wash into the sea; when drought, dislocation, disease and wretched refugee camps kill millions of people; when bloody wars are started over dwindling resources; when intense storms decimate American cities; these fundamentalists should be blamed. Thanks to their remarkable ignorance, spiritual arrogance, and selfish disregard for their fellow man, we may all pay unthinkable consequences.
Isn’t it time that people take pause and ponder the viability of fundamentalism in modern civilization?
While our opponents like to say that marriage equality will end the earth, the archaic policies to keep the planet frying actually do present a genuine threat. These “moral” scolds love to talk a good game about “family values”, but what type of world are they leaving for the next generation and beyond?
Those who support the Tea Party movement are considerably more dubious about the existence and effects of global warming than the American public at large, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll conducted this month. The survey found that only 14 percent of Tea Party supporters said that global warming is an environmental problem that is having an effect now, while 49 percent of the rest of the public believes that it is. More than half of Tea Party supporters said that global warming would have no serious effect at any time in the future, while only 15 percent of other Americans share that view, the poll found. And 8 percent of Tea Party adherents volunteered that they did not believe global warming exists at all, while only 1 percent of other respondents agreed.
Someone has to say this: The Tea Baggers are by far the most clueless people in America. They operate in a blind, all-consuming rage, that includes not an iota of reason or brainpower. They consistently get suckered and duped into regurgitating lies from discredited sources.
For example, the Tea Baggers are the ones who are most likely to believe the garbage spewed by fake think tanks, funded by Big Oil money, that claim there is no such thing as Climate Catastrophe. They get their information from FOX News, which is a front for the corporate interests of the GOP and billionaire media baron Rupert Murdoch. What these Tea Baggers don’t seem to comprehend, is that they are not working for “the people”, but doing the bidding of the royalists, such as Murdoch, and billionaire-brothers, David and Charles Koch.
With the elections only days away, our nation may be saddled with extremists placed in positions of power. Their retrograde policies will make us the laughingstock of the world, harm our national security, and put The United States of America at an economic disadvantage. While our Tea Party leaders are living in the past – busily extracting and profiting handsomely from fossil fuels – countries like China, India and Denmark are busy investing in the clean alternative energy of tomorrow.
It takes brainpower to remain a superpower – which means that America will continue slipping if Tea Party candidates are victorious on Election Day. Without enlightened policies, the only thing America will be number one at – is claiming that we are Number 1. (We’ve already seen great erosion in our worldwide education rank – thanks to the glorification of ignorance, exemplified by Sarah Palin and the Tea Baggers)
I’ve said this before: The more fundamentalist a nation, the more anachronistic it is – and the worse it is economically, spiritually and culturally. If our nation embraces stupid politicians with dumb policies, there will be severe consequences. And if disaster strikes mankind, there are many of us who are keeping score and will hold these religious fanatics responsible for the living hell they brought to our planet.
Wayne Besen is a columnist and author of the book “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth.”
