Bureaucracies are not made up of robot-like machines. They are comprised of flesh-and-blood men and women.
That includes even the most important bureaucracies–such as those of the House, Senate and White House.
And as much as Americans like to believe their elected leaders always behave rationally and intelligently, they don’t. In fact, they can’t.
In a democracy, those who hold public office reflect the values of those who sent them there.
The issue of climate change/global warming vividly illustrates this truth.
From 2012 to 2014, more than 9,000 scientists published research about climate change. Each report reached the same conclusion: Climate change was manmade.
Yet during that same period, 23% of Americans–one in four–said they didn’t believe in climate change, according from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communications in January, 2013.
Meanwhile, the winter of 2014-15 was the warmest on record worldwide, according to a report released by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on March 18.
For meteorological record-keeping purposes, NOAA defines winter as lasting from December through February in the Northern Hemisphere.
During those months of 2014-15, the temperature was 1.42 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average for all land and ocean areas. This topped the previous warmest winter of 2007 by 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit.
Global temperature records are available for the period 1880-2015.
California, for example, is now entering its fourth year of extreme drought–its worst in a generation.
The state’s Save Our Water’s campaign is urging Californians to “Let It Go” by limiting outdoor water use and letting lawns turn brown during the summer, while saving water for trees and other important landscapes.
Click here: California Drought
And when people reject science, they usually fall back on superstition for their “solutions” to life’s problems.
One of these is Republican Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, who represents Kern County in Central California.
Shannon Grove
Grove has a unique explanation for California’s worsening drought: Climate change/global warming has nothing to do with it. It’s God’s wrath over legalized abortion.
Speaking before the California ProLife Legislative Banquet held in Sacramento on June 8, Grove said:
“Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor Perry signed the fetal pain bill,” she told the audience. “It rained that night. Now God has his hold on California.”
Grove was referring to House Bill 2, a Texas bill banning abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, four weeks earlier than the standard set by Roe v. Wade. It’s based on the unproven assertion that fetuses can feel pain after 20 weeks.
In addition, the bill:
- Requires all clinics to become ambulatory surgical centers, even if they do not provide surgical abortions;
- Mandates that abortion clinics have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility; and
- Requires abortion providers to administer the abortion-inducing medication RU-486 in person, rather than allow women to take it at home.
“This is the infallible word of God,” Grove said, holding a Bible above her head as attendees clapped. “I fear Him more than I fear anyone.”
Among her audience at the Grand Hotel were anti-abortion activists and clergy, including Catholic Bishops for Life, Pray California, Californians for Life and the California Republican Assembly.
Grove serves on the Agriculture Committee in the California State Assembly.
And in a June 11 post on her Facebook page, she wrote:
“I believe–and most Americans believe–that God’s hand is in the affairs of man, and certainly was in the formation of this country.
“The Founders put God in the center of this nation by recognizing Him as a giver of our rights.
“Is this drought caused by God? Nobody knows.
“But biblical history shows a consequence to man’s actions; we do know for sure that California’s water shortage crisis has been compounded by liberal politicians’ poor decisions – not properly managing our water resources and refusing to build water storage for decades.”
But not all anti-abortion activists don’t agree with Grove’s theory.
“We are huge fans of Shannon Grove and all her efforts in Sacramento on behalf of life,” Marylee Shrider, executive director of Right to Life of Kern County, told The Bakersfield Californian.
“That being said, we have not made a connection between the drought and abortion here in California.”
Pro-Choice Kern County called her comments “absolute lunacy” and created a mock-up of a T-shirt: “I made a desert with my abortion and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”
Grove isn’t alone in believing that God’s displeasure lies behind the drought.
Another is Bill Koenig, the conservative editor of World Watch Daily. God, he asserts, is righteously enraged at California’s acceptance of same-sex marriage and abortion.
“We’ve got a state that over and over again will go against the word of God, that will continually take positions on marriage and abortion and on a lot of things that are just completely opposed to the scriptures.”
Abortion is a ready culprit for natural disasters–in the sermons of fundamentalist preachers.
Evenaglist Pat Roberts blamed abortion for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
And Steve Lefamine, the director of Columbia Christians for Life in South Carolina, agreed with Robertson that abortion caused Hurricane Katrina.
In an interview with the Washington Post, he claimed that when he viewed the full-color satellite map of the hurricane, he saw an 8-week-old fetus in the image
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RECRUITING SUPERSTITION TO ATTACK ABORTION
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, RELIGION, Social commentary on August 22, 2022 at 12:13 amIn the 1960 movie, “David and Goliath,” the hero and his girlfriend are sitting in a cave during a thunderstorm. David assures her of his undying love, and they share a passionate kiss.
Then, amidst the sound of thunder, she says, “I must go—I cannot tarry.”
David tries to talk her out of it, but she rushes out of the cave into a nearby flock of sheep—and is struck dead by lightning.
David is horrified—and grief-stricken: “Why, Lord, why?”
In the ancient world, lightning bolts were seen as the arrows of Zeus—or Yahweh (the Hebrew name of God). There could be no clearer sign of Heaven’s anger at a particular person that s/he was struck by lightning.
Today, we know that lightning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory, is “a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground.”
At least, those who believe in science—not superstition—know this.
And if you are the tallest object around, or are close to water or trees or metallic objects, you are likely to be struck. It doesn’t matter whether you’re good or evil.
Lightning
Yet millions of superstitious Americans continue to believe that their lives are ruled by forces of Good (as symbolized by God) or Evil (as symbolized by Satan).
One of these is Assemblywoman Shannon Lee Grove, who represents Kern County in Central California. A Republican, she served as the minority leader of the California State Senate from 2019 to 2021.
Grove has a unique explanation for California’s worsening drought: Climate change/global warming has nothing to do with it. It’s God’s wrath over legalized abortion.
Speaking before the California ProLife Legislative Banquet held in Sacramento on June 8, 2015, Grove said:
“Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor [Rick] Perry signed the fetal pain bill,” she told the audience. “It rained that night. Now God has his hold on California.”
Grove was referring to House Bill 2, a Texas bill banning abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, four weeks earlier than the standard set by Roe v. Wade. It was based on the unproven assertion that fetuses can feel pain after 20 weeks.
In addition, the bill:
Shannon Lee Grove
“This is the infallible word of God,” Grove said, holding a Bible above her head as attendees clapped. “I fear Him more than I fear anyone.”
Among her audience at the Grand Hotel were anti-abortion activists and clergy, including Catholic Bishops for Life, Pray California, Californians for Life and the California Republican Assembly.
Apparently, God still has his hold on Texas, even though Texans passed a rabidly anti-abortion bill.
Almost all of Texas is facing a severe level of drought. Only a few parts of the state—such as El Paso—aren’t abnormally dry.
The website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the drought was primarily caused by natural climate variability and climate change caused by human activity.
Drought
Asked specifically about her comments, Grove refused to expound on the relationship between abortion and drought.
But on June 11, 2015, she issued a statement on her Facebook page: “I believe—and most Americans believe—-that God’s hand is in the affairs of man, and certainly was in the formation of this country.
“Is this drought caused by God? Nobody knows. But biblical history shows a consequence to man’s actions.
“We do know for sure that California’s water shortage crisis has been compounded by liberal politicians’ poor decisions—not properly managing our water resources and refusing to build water storage for decades.”
Clearly embarrassed at being unable to prove her own statement, Grove retreated to a safer line of attack: Drought is the fault of “liberal politicians.”
Even some anti-abortion activists didn’t agree with Grove’s theory.
Pro-Choice Kern County called her comments “absolute lunacy” and created a mock-up of a T-shirt: “I made a desert with my abortion and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”
Grove isn’t alone in believing that God’s displeasure lies behind natural disasters.
Another is Bill Koenig, the conservative editor of World Watch Daily. God, he asserts, is righteously enraged at California’s acceptance of same-sex marriage and abortion.
“We’ve got a state that over and over again will go against the word of God, that will continually take positions on marriage and abortion and on a lot of things that are just completely opposed to the scriptures.”
Abortion isn’t mentioned as a sin in the Bible. Yet it’s a ready culprit for natural disasters—in the sermons of fundamentalist preachers.
Evangelist Pat Robertson blamed abortion for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
And Steve Lefamine, the director of Columbia Christians for Life in South Carolina, agreed with Robertson that abortion caused Hurricane Katrina.
In an interview with the Washington Post, he claimed that when he viewed the full-color satellite map of the hurricane, he saw an eight-week-old fetus in the image.
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