Thursday, September 22, 2005

Reaping the whirlwind by Carol Wolman

Reaping the Whirlwind by Carol Wolman
 
Hosea 8:7
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
 
America's profligate use of fossil fuel, and refusal to abide by international regulations that would limit or reverse global warming, is coming back to haunt us.  Warmer ocean temperatures feed energy to hurricanes http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~tk/glob_warm_hurr.html like Katrina and Rita.  The US will pay dearly for "sowing the wind".
 
Hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons are all whirlwinds, and are among the greatest natural disasters.  The Bible refers to them as God's method of chastising wayward countries that do not heed His ways.
 
Isaiah 17:13
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
 
Jeremiah 25:32
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
 
Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
 
Evil has gone forth from the US to Iraq, to Afghanistan, to Venezuela (where the US tried to unseat the elected president Chavez) and other areas crucial to the oil supply.  In our eagerness to drive SUV's, have lots of air conditioning, and otherwise utilize far more than our share of the earth's resources (25% for 8% of the global population), we have allowed our leaders to violate every norm of international fair play, flout the UN, invade countries illegally, torture, murder, pollute with chemical and radioactive weapons, and massively bomb civilians. 
 
These are evil actions. 
 
Meanwhile, we are adding to global warming by burning carbon-based fossil fuels, which increase the atmospheric CO2 and trap sunlight.  By refusing to switch to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, which do not increase the CO2 load, we are literally burning up our planet.  This energy policy is being maintained by Bush and Cheney, solely to benefit the oil and gas industry, with which they have close ties and from which they personally profit.
 
These are impeachable offenses.
 
The whirlwinds Katrina and Rita are impacting the US oil and natural gas supply, much of which is located in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.  They will force the US to change its energy policy, as the price of fossil fuels skyrockets.  Poetic justice?  God's justice?
 
Perhaps it is time we began to cooperate with other nations rather than bullying them, and work with the Kyoto protocol to reduce carbon emissions.  Perhaps it is time we heeded God's warnings, and get rid of politicians who put their personal enrichment ahead of the good of the people and of the planet.  Their wicked drive to conquer and burn the earth's fossil fuel supplies is destroying us all.
 
In the name of the Prince of Peace,  Carol Wolman