Gotta give Christians credit. This is really smart. It's Christian comedy. A night out with the family. The humor is good and clean. And it's at church so you almost feel like you are fulfilling your obligation to go.
Tim Hawkins was at Woodside Bible Church in Troy Michigan, along with Jon something or other. They packed this mega church out. In fact it was overflow capacity. They had hundreds of chairs set up in the gym for people to watch via closed circuit TV. Something like 3,000 people showed up. I had to park across the street. I went with my 10 year old, who desperately wanted to go, and also with low expectations. I've been to comedy clubs and just figured Christian would probably drop the quality just a notch, like they often do. Like Bart Simpson says all the best bands are affiliated with Satan. I understand that if you watch "Left Behind" you realize that Kirk Cameron is a pretty good actor. His talent contrasts rather starkly with his co-stars, who may simply have been pulled out of church and thrown in front of a camera.
But it was quite good. I was impressed. Not the best I've seen, but good. And the price was right. Free. They took donations for Grace Centers of Hope, which helps orphaned/neglected kids. So I gave them a few bucks.
Mostly the material was the kind of thing you might hear from any comedian, with a few comments sprinkled in about how "God gave us laughter and it's good to laugh." Otherwise, not a lot of bible verses. No sappy alter calls. Straight comedy. But towards the end there was a little politics, which of course I'd love a chance to counter, but there's no way to do so.
It's clear to me that Christians don't concern themselves with global warming not because of the evidence, but because of their (quite logical) conclusion that since God is in control and worried about us there's no way he's going to let things get out of hand, but if he does I guess this was part of his plan for the end of the world anyway, so why bother inconveniencing ourselves? So this was one comment from Tim. He basically said he's not worried about it "because God is in control." Good applause for that line. Then he did a song about it, and how driving a Prius is lame, so he'll just drive his SUV because he just doesn't believe driving an SUV has much to do with global warming. Here he is singing it at Woodside. I'm in the audience coping with my irritation.
He just can't believe it matters. It's frustrating that 3,000 people sit in the audience and get infected with this kind of nonsense and it's difficult to counter it.
Unfortunately driving an SUV does matter. Not a single person driving a single SUV of course. But millions driving them? Yes, it does matter. A good series of videos is available at youtube, starting at the embedded clip below, which can help explain in simple terms why it does.
Probably the only mechanism that could conceivably prevent potential catastrophe here is the government. Like it or not there's nothing else. Tim has another song ridiculing the government and it's ability to get anything right. That's an opinion I used to share, but I've come to believe that while there is some truth to the fact that government sucks there's also truth to the claim that the government has done a lot of good and has the potential to prevent much pain that could be inflicted on the general public.
I've also come to believe that the corporate world does like strong government, specifically a strong government that serves their interest. But they also recognize that government has a weakness. It is susceptible to public pressure and democratic forces, which is potentially a limitation on their profits. So it's a tricky game that must be played. Bash government insofar as it works on behalf of the people, but grow government anyway so corporate interests can be served. Bush and Reagan are perfect corporate presidents, expanding government to unprecedented levels, but not so much in the areas of public interest. Pretending that government is the problem and must be reduced, but in fact expanding government on behalf of the various special interest groups.
Anyway, here's Tim Hawkins with "The Government Can".
6 comments:
Are you certain that driving a Prius has fewer externalized costs than driving an SUV? That seems like a very difficult thing to know.
In any case, the problem of greenhouse gases is worldwide. Which government is a mechanism that is going to take care of this problem for us?
No, I'm not certain driving a Prius has fewer externalized costs, nor did I say that it does.
Since the US is the most powerful country in the world, the fact that we are the lone red nation makes a big difference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2009.png
Also note that a majority of Americans did support ratifying the Kyoto protocols. That may no longer be true. Since the polls I link to below there's been a massive corporate backed propaganda effort to change the mind of the public.
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/86.php?lb=btot&pnt=86&nid=&id=
Here’s a key quote:
"PIPA also found, in December, a public consensus in regard to climate change (or global warming). Fifty-nine percent of Republicans and 74% of Democrats favor “legislation that limits US emissions of greenhouse gases.” Even larger majorities favor legislation that requires “car manufacturers to meet higher fuel efficiency standards, even if this would increase the cost of buying or leasing a car” (Republicans 74%, Democrats 83%). CCFR found public consensus in support of the Kyoto Treaty (Republicans 55%, Democrats 79%), but not among leaders (Republicans 28%, Democrats 89%)."
The carbon footprint of building, driving and maintaining a Prius is SEVEN TIMES LARGER than a Hummer H2. Look it up.
The problem with the global climate change pundits is the assumption that the climate has a perfect spot. Not what it was 100,000 years ago, or 10,000 years ago, but what they think it should be. Therefore the rest of their hypothesis is incorrect. Make your own common sense decision on this not what the intellectuals tell you.
The problem with the global climate change pundits is the assumption that the climate has a perfect spot. Not what it was 100,000 years ago, or 10,000 years ago, but what they think it should be. Therefore the rest of their hypothesis is incorrect. Make your own common sense decision on this not what the intellectuals tell you.
Dude for real? It's a comedy routine. Anyone who thinks they can rely on an entertainer to supply their environmental/political/any other sort of knowledge is a moron and should stay very far away from any voting booth. Unfortunately, some of the American population does obtain their information from people like Chris Rock and from television shows instead of looking at reputable sources.
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