There is an amazing paradox at the moment with regard to the politics surrounding global warming and utilisation of the world's resources.
There are a lot of right-wingers who claim to have faith in God, at the same time that they have many justifications for ignoring all of the warnings about global warming and warnings against wasting the world's resources. They go so far as to stick their heads in the sand and say that resources are inexhaustible or that global warming is not happening.
Then we have the left-wingers, who tell us that there really is a serious problem, one that will require some extreme changes in the way we live if we want to save the planet. They sometimes do things like buying cars that get better fuel consumption, boycotting multi-national corporations for one reason or another, and contributing to vague charities that are supposed to be doing things that magically make up for the damage they do when they fly around the world. But when you take a closer look at these lefties you often find that they are, on the whole, still using more resources and contributing more to global warming than the average person in the developing world.
You would be lucky to find a political party anywhere in the Western world that advocates taking (right now) the steps that are really needed to end our use of fossil fuels (no more petrol driven cars, switching entirely to wind, solar and other sustainable sources for household and business electricity) and to wipe out health and nutrition disadvantages in the rest of the world (no more crop imports from developing countries, and an end to any form of economic control over such things as medical breakthroughs and development of seeds and other food sources). Everywhere politicians wait for someone else to take the lead, or they make token changes like recycling plastic bags when often it is what goes into those bags that is doing the most damage. Over-consumption won't stop until someone with enough political clout cuts off the supply, and in democratic countries, such a government would never be elected.
The issues are complex, and some steps to save the environment have proven to be of little practical use, while others have actually made matters worse. It is easy to understand people from both sides just giving up and taking the attitude (whether openly, as with the right-wingers, or secretly, as with so many of the left-wingers) that we are going to lose this battle anyway, so we may as well have as much fun as we can along the way. The only thing that is going to reverse the trend and save the world is drastic, radical changes to our entire way of life on this planet, and no one knows how to make the whole world make those changes. If individual governments feel helpless to change the trend, how much more do each of us as individuals feel the same sense of hopelessness?
The only people who are going to do anything about this problem are ones with ideals that extend beyond life itself. If we are all on a sinking ship, does it mean we all have the right to step on one another to reach non-existent lifeboats? Or are there isolated individuals who will die without giving in to their natural selfish instincts?
It has been argued that the problem with any discussion of end-time prophecy is that it creates in believers a feeling of hopelessness that makes them reason, "We can't change the outcome anyway, so why bother trying to change this world for the better? Just enjoy it the best you can and preach about a better life later." Certainly there is abundant evidence of that amongst those who profess to believe the Bible. But it does not, in my opinion, come from an honest attempt to understand the spirit of Bible prophecy.
The Revelation ( 11:18 ) says, in reference to the end of the world as we now know it:
Quote: "...Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."
We see two groups here: one is the God-fearing saints/prophets/servants of God, and the other is "them which destroy the earth". There is nothing in The Revelation to suggest that there is a middle group that destroys the earth but is still considered to be serving God. Nor is there anything in The Revelation to suggest that there will be a turn in the tides of world politics to reverse the destruction of the earth. So those who participate in this destruction of the earth's resources (by using more than their share), will not be regarded by God as "saints or prophets", and they will, in fact, be destroyed. How does that set with those who argue that they can get away with ignoring the warnings about over-consumption and global warming simply because they have a ticket into a better world? I think we need to look again at the conditions for getting that ticket, and take steps to stop using up this world's resources right now.
Only those people who have a faith which demands adherence to unselfish principles, whether or not they succeed in changing others, will do the right thing in these last days. All those who argue that talk of heaven and hell, final judgment, life after death is pointless, need to come up with some better reason for people to make the kind of radical sacrifices that are needed to reflect the Golden Rule in these dying days of our planet. Are we prepared to change our lifestyle in such a way as to live at the level of the Third World? Are we prepared to live off the scraps of a wasteful Western Society? Are we prepared to alter our spending habits in ways that will reflect what would be a standard of living that could sustain the entire world? And, most importantly, are we prepared to do it even if no one else does?
For me personally, I would find that virtually impossible to do if I did not believe in a higher spiritual level of existence that will transcend life. Because I am answerable to the Creator of the Universe, I feel that I must make those changes even in the face of total annihilation of the human race. And I feel that I must do all I can to urge others to make those changes as well.
I am trying to do that because I want the world to reverence God as I do, to submit itself to his loving will. But I also do it because I love the world that God has created and the people that he has created. For me, both of these reasons merge into one; yet factions have argued for decades that it is an either-or thing, where you either love God the Creator or you love the world he has created. People on both sides (left as well as right) need to re-think the whole concept of God, and humble themselves before him, for the good of everyone, including themselves.
