Every issue facing the world can be directly linked to climate change (crisis) and the timeline seems to keep getting shorter for the end of the world.
"We only have 11 years to cut our emissions in half." - Elizabeth Warren - September 5, 2019 Climate Town Hall
I remember in the 1970s that we were doomed due to the impact of global COOLING. If we didn't change our ways immediately (changes which always seemed connected to redistributing wealth from one group to another) we would be thrust into another ice age!
"There's one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent threat of a changing climate." - Barack Obama
It seems that everywhere you turn you hear people crying that the world is about to end and it is our fault. Unless we make drastic changes we are all going to die!
"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" - Chicken Little
Did you know that the world was going to end by a great flood? That was predicted to take place on February 25, 1524, when the planets would be in alignment.
The world was going to end in 1843. This was predicted by William Miller in 1831. When it didn't happen, he recalculated and determined it to take place in 1844. No dice.
In 1910, Halley's comet was to pass earth in such close proximity that it was believed that it would destroy the planet. "Comet May Kill All Earth Life, Says Scientist."
How about when Harold Camping "accurately" predicted the end times - 12 times. Never happened, but he did sell a lot of books.
And of course, we can't forget when John Cusack and a few daring individuals helped save a large number of people when the Mayan Calendar marked the end of the world on December 21, 2012. Oh wait. That was a movie.
We humorously dismiss the above because they were mostly the rantings of the religious - not the true believers we have today in science. But my question is, should we?
In a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917 (Schenck v. United States), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. gave us the famous quote concerning shouting fire in a crowded theater. It is thought to be one of the first opinions that directly limited the 1st Amendment's "freedom of speech" clause to not allow people to cause panic.
Maybe we need to implement that and make people responsible for the things they say.
For instance: if a person gets placed on parole and then goes out and commits a crime, the people on the parole board should be held accountable. After all, by letting the person out of prison they are stating that they believe the public is in no danger. Is that a stretch? Well, look at it this way: aren't they accomplices to a crime?
What if it was made clear that if anyone - politicians included - were to make statements, especially those that create panic (see those at the top of this article for examples), they will be held responsible if they DON'T come to pass?
The Bible tells us that you can tell a false prophet by the fact that what they profess does not come to pass (and therefore should be punished - see Jeremiah 14:15)
And that includes the panic induced behind the statements of climate change criers.
Oh, and to correctly quote Justice Holmes, Jr.: "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man FALSELY shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger . . . "
To all of you Chicken Littles out there: be warned. Your #MeToo-type moment is coming!
©Emittravel 2019
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