Meaning of Words

Today, we live in a pluralistic society. People view the world in different ways and they may interpret words differently than you do. Many people today want you to believe that if you say one word it also means that you must believe or do another word. One example is the word love. They say you cannot love a person unless you also affirm that person. That is not true!

Love does not equal affirmation. People want you to believe that you cannot love a person unless you also affirm the person and their actions. Affirmation means you validate and approve the person, their lifestyle, and their actions. People say that as Christians if we love unconditionally we must approve everything about the person. That is not true. Look at our parents. You can say that almost all parents love their children wholeheartedly, and yet they disciplined us and did not approve of everything we did. They did so for our own good. We too can love people, and yet not affirm them if their lifestyles are harmful. To love means to seek the good of the other person. We can not approve or validate harmful behavior because that would not be the loving thing to do. One way we can sort of affirm them is to say “God loves you”.

Disagreement does not equal hate. People will say that you must hate them because you disagree with them and/or their lifestyle. People assume if you are their opponent then you must hate them and you must be out to get them. And yet we may only disagree on a topic. That does not mean that there is hatred. As Christians we try to live life peacefully with all people as much as it is possible (Romans 12:18). We do need to speak the truth but we speak the truth in love and not out of hatred.

People do not equal their ideas, opinions, or beliefs. People today are tribal. Their identities are reduced to a label, but reality is people are complex. We cannot label a person who has this opinion and assume they must also have this belief. God treats everyone with equity. There is no partiality with God. He loves everyone. We too need to treat everyone with equity and love, and avoid labeling them. We can build relationships by listening to others.

Association does not equal advocacy. “Guilt by association” is a common phrase, and unfortunately it describes a common judgment. Jesus was found guilty of associating with “sinners”. He was not advocating their lifestyle, rather he was reaching out to them to try to bring them back to a better life found in him. Many times we Christians refuse to associate with those whose life makes us uncomfortable, yet God calls us to reach out to them with the life giving message of the Gospel. We should not be afraid to reach out.

Engagement does not equal endorsement. It is okay to engage with people of different ideas. It is okay to work long aside others with different beliefs for the common good. In doing so we are not endorsing their beliefs, but we are building relationships that may allow us to share the message of Jesus to them. We need to listen to them to find out what they believe and how to respond to them.

Words and their meanings do matter. We need to listen and learn what people mean when they speak to us, and not assume they view the world the same way we do. In America, today’s emerging culture wants to define words differently than in the past. We need to be aware of this change and understand what is behind the new definitions.

This blog post was inspired by Chapter 9 of “How the Light Shines Through” by Chad Lakies.

Is Forgiveness Counter-Cultural?

Recently, Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a shooter, and at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service, Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk said,

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.” And she said, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.”

After Erika, President Trump spoke and said,

“[Charlie Kirk] did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry,”

Now I think President Trump’s attitude is not that uncommon today. Forgiveness is an unnatural act. We want vengeance. We may want to call it justice, but many times what we really want is vengeance. We want to hate those who hate us or even those who just oppose us. Jesus has a better way of love and forgiveness.

Hatred and vengeance divides people. Love and forgiveness brings people together. People are reconciled when forgiveness is given and accepted. It is not easy to love and forgive but with the help of the Holy Spirit we are able. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-48), and he also says “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). He does not say to hate them. Rather we are to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21), and “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless” (1 Peter 6:9). It is not easy, but Christians are called to be different, to be counter-cultural.

The culture today sees the world in terms of power. Many times it is expressed in terms of oppression. This view is also divisive. It divides the world into us versus them. They have and we want. They are in control and we are not. This view feeds the hatred and vengeance that was expressed by President Trump. Christians see the world differently. We view the world through the lens of God’s amazing love. Christians are counter-cultural and one way we show our difference and our love is by forgiving people.

So why do we forgive? Because God has forgiven us so very much, and so out of gratitude we forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). God did not wait until we got our act together. No, he loved us while we were still broken ungodly sinners (Romans 5:6-8). We all are broken sinners (Romans 3:23) from the worst of us to the best. There is no difference. There is no us versus them. We are all in need of the Savior. In response to God’s saving love, we love and forgive others as we imitate God (Ephesians 5:1-2). That is why we forgive and in doing so we are counter-cultural.

So instead of being divisive, we Christians need work to reconcile and unite. Let us love those we disagree with. Let us be kind to those who hate us. And let us forgive those who attack us. Let us work to reconcile people to God and to each other. This is what we have been called to do. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). And from the little I know about Charlie Kirk, this appears to have been his goal too. Let us reach out in love and forgiveness and share that Gospel message of love.

SPECIAL ME

American Flag Photo by Lisa Setrini-Espinosa

There are nine signs of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). If a mental health professional finds 5 of the 9 signs in a person then that person is diagnosed as having NPD. The nine signs spell out SPECIAL ME.

Sense of self-importance
Preoccupation with power, beauty, or success
Entitled
Can only be around people who are important or special
Interpersonally exploitative for their own gain
Arrogant
Lack empathy
Must be admired
Envious of others or believe that others are envious of them

After reading these 9 signs, I immediately thought of President Donald Trump. Now I am not a mental health professional and I am not certain that with a professional evaluation we can find 5 signs of NPD (or more), but I think President Trump has some of the signs, at least from what I have seen from his public persona.

What concerns me more than whether he has NPD or not is that he is authoritarian with his actions. Now I appreciate several things that President Trump has done but not always in the way he does it. I am a social conservative and a fiscal conservative. However, I believe he has issued several executive orders that are unconstitutional. They are still winding their way through the courts, so it is not certain which ones (if any) are unconstitutional. He is trying to expand the powers of the executive branch and that is upsetting the checks and balances in doing so. I understand that he wants to get stuff done and he can not guarantee Congress will do what he wants and the Judicial Branch is slow and methodical. But I believe the checks and balances of the three branches of government are what has made America great. It prevents one branch from grabbing too much power. The three branches have to work together. President Trump’s authoritarian actions threaten that. He also demands loyalty to him and his policies. This is not good for the country.

I believe that he feels that he personally must succeed and be a success, so his authoritarian tendencies and his loyalty requirements flow out of that need. I also believe that his continued focus on the 2020 presidential election is because he cannot believe he lost. He still claims there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and I have yet to see any conclusive proof. His own Attorney General William Barr said there was no widespread fraud in the election. One of the biggest accusations of voting fraud was with the Dominion Voting machines. Right before the defamation trial was to start, Fox News settled the defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5 million. No evidence appeared in the pre-trial discovery supporting the claim of fraud. Instead after the settlement, Fox News gave a statement that “certain claims about Dominion to be false”. And Mike Lindell who had made big claims about having proof of election fraud did not in his defamation trial offer any proof of election fraud. And yet today President Trump continues to claim fraud in the 2020 election.

He recently said in regard to Space Command moving from Colorado to Alabama, “The problem I have with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting. They went to all mail-in voting, so they have automatically crooked elections.” There is no proof that Colorado has crooked elections. They are very careful with their mail-in ballots. I think the elected Colorado Republicans would say that their elections were not crooked. It seems he still claims there is still widespread election fraud in the country. Without proof of widespread election fraud, I do not think these claims are good for the country.

And President Trump’s administration has gone after many of those who in the past have criticized or investigated Donald Trump. It looks like he is taking action against those who have opposed him. It seems to be personal for him. I am concerned about the precedents being set. These actions are not good for the country.

This post has been more opinionated and subjective than I would have liked, but I am concerned that President Trump has been too authoritarian and too focused on himself. I am concerned that President Trump is not presidential material, because of his narcissistic tendency.

I will end with one story to illustrate my point. The Trump administration has been working to bring peace to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. That is a good thing. They have produced a framework for peace and one key part of the deal is the creation of the “TRIPP corridor” or the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity”. It will be “a transport and trade route designed to connect Armenia and Azerbaijan more directly while integrating the South Caucasus into broader international shipping and energy networks.” The peace treaty is not a done deal yet and I hope that peace happens, but this does illustrate the narcissistic tendency of President Trump. There really is no need to name the corridor after President Trump, except for his ego.

And some advice for you, Mr. President, look to Jesus and not to yourself. Jesus has been very good to me. I am a broken sinful person, who is loved and forgiven by God because of all Jesus has done. Receive that love of God! Do not reject it!

Transhumanism to Posthuman

Some people today envision a future where human beings will have evolved beyond our bodies to a super artificially intelligent posthuman that may or may not inhabit a body (biological or robotic). They see the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) as a dream come true and they want to encourage and support AI so that AI can free us from our biological constraints and usher in a utopia. Others, transhumanists, see AI as a tool for us to enhance our human limitations and incorporate AI into a cyborg-like utopian future. These transhumanists also want to encourage and support AI with a utopian future in mind. And many others see AI as only an important tool for business and other uses. How should we see and deal with AI in our lives today?

Transhumans or cyborgs are here today. People today with pacemakers, advanced prosthetics, cochlear implants, or other technological implants can be considered real-live cyborgs. They may not be like the Six Million Dollar Man from that old TV show who had superhuman capabilities, but they do have technological enhancements. And I also would argue that it is not much different than the basic tools we use today. Smart phones seem to almost be body parts for some people, but even a simple lever enhances our capabilities. So in some ways, we have been enhancing our abilities since Adam and Eve, and God started the technology enhancements with the technology of clothing (Genesis 3:21).

Today’s hype is all about enhancing our brain power with AI. Will that make us all cyborgs? Will that lead us to “evolve” beyond our biological selves to this posthuman future? Technology has always changed society. Unfortunately we do not always see the downsides of new technology. Social media is here to stay and it can be a good way to stay in contact with people. However, social media is also addictive and can create echo chambers of like thinking. AI has already been shown to be addictive when it becomes a companion. We need to evaluate the new technology, like AI, to make certain it is a good tool for us. You need to figure out what the cost of this new technology is.

Technology has a tendency to isolate, so does this technology help or hinder social relationships?
In making life easier in one part of your life, does this technology make another part of your life more difficult?
Does this technology make life easier for one segment of society at a cost to another segment of society?
Does this technology satisfy a felt need while costing you some real needs?

You need to evaluate any new technology. One may need to not use this technology if the cost is too high, or to limit its use to prevent addictions and harm to others. What is the cost of AI today? What will be the cost tomorrow when AI is much more powerful? How will it change society? How for the better and how for the worse? These are questions to ask and to decide what we can do and whether this is a technology that is good to use or not.

Note I only explored the posthuman future from an AI superintelligence viewpoint. Others see the posthuman future with biologically modified humans to be like elves, dwarves, dog-people, cat-people, vampires, and the like. This view also aims to free us from our biological constraints by modifying them.

As Christians, we know who we are and whose we are (Galatians 2:20). We have a God who loves us (1John 4:19), became human for us (John 1:1,14), and died for us (Romans 5:6-8). We are sons and daughters of the Heavenly King (2 Corinthians 6:18). We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), so we are not constrained by our biology, because it is God who formed us (Psalm 139:13-16). We are who we are in order to serve him by serving others (Ephesians 2:10). Transhumanism and Posthumanism is all about using technology to become like God (Genesis 11:4). We are not God.

Let me leave you with this quote from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from a podcast (found in this AP article). “When people in the tech industry talk about building this one true AI, it’s almost as if they think they’re creating God or something.”

This post was inspired in part by the article “Resisting a Posthuman Future” by C. Ben Mitchell, found in the Summer 2025 edition of the Concordia Journal on page 21.

USA Debt

Do you know that the American federal government spends more money paying the interest on the federal debt than it spends on defense? Did you know that last fiscal year over a quarter of federal spending was with borrowed money? We have a debt problem, and Congress seems unable to even come close to balancing the budget. Every day we spend $2.6 Billion on interest. That is more than $30,000 per second for just interest. It has been 24 years since the federal government has had a surplus.

In the last 24 years the federal debt has greatly increased, from $5.8 Trillion to $36.7 Trillion (or now 122% of the GDP). There are several factors for the increase. The obvious cause is not enough revenue coming in for the spending, and experts blame that on the aging population and the rising cost of healthcare. I believe some other factors are the two tax cuts (G.W. Bush and Trump), the Great Recession, and the Pandemic. And I believe Congress has not had the will power to address the deficit, and that is due to we the people wanting lower taxes and still wanting all the benefits.

Ever since I have been able to vote, I have been concerned with the federal government’s debt. And I have been saying we need to raise taxes and cut spending. It is an unpopular idea, however the Trump administration is actually raising taxes (tariffs) and cutting spending (DOGE). Tariffs are an indirect taxation on us, though the Trump administration does not characterize it that way. Unfortunately, by making the former Trump tax cut permanent, the Trump administration is also cutting taxes. When I said raise taxes and cut spending, I did not have in mind the way the Trump administration is doing it.

I would have taken more time to cut spending, much like how the Clinton administration did it. The Clinton administration over a five year time period cut more than 250,000 federal jobs, consolidated more than 800 agencies, and eliminated over 100 programs. It was much less disruptive than the chainsaw approach of DOGE. And I would also have let the former Trump tax cut expire, or at least let it expire on those making more than a million dollars, and thus bring in more revenue. And I would use tariffs sparingly. Note, I believe that making the former Trump tax cut permanent undermines what they are doing and may cancel out the tariffs tax increase. Yes, cutting taxes does improve the economy and could bring in more tax revenue, but results over the last 50 years show that the net result of cutting taxes is to increase the deficit.

Congress needs to make some hard decisions. They do not need to balance the budget right away, though that would be a good thing to do. They do need to significantly reduce the deficit. The deficit for fiscal year 2024 was $1.83 Trillion. The federal government spent $6.75 Trillion and collected $4.92 Trillion in revenue. That meant that the government spent 27% more money than it received. Over a quarter of federal spending was with borrowed money! This is shocking! Yes, this will make those interest payments even higher. How long can we keep doing this?

According to the Congressional Budget Office, fiscal year 2025 is estimated to have a deficit of $1.9 Trillion and in fiscal year 2035 the deficit estimate is $2.7 Trillion. We are still digging ourselves into a much deeper fiscal hole. This is not good. We need to prioritize reducing the deficit and work towards balancing the budget. We need to raise taxes and cut spending, and we need to do it in a way that is less disruptive than the current methods.

Unnatural Act

Forgiveness is an unnatural act. It is unfair, but I believe it is the best way to promote reconciliation and to stop any on-going retribution. Too often both sides want justice and feel they are totally in the right. They do not want reconciliation. They want revenge and justice for themselves. They need and humbly look at their own actions. For in a broken relationship both sides are usually to be at fault in some way.

We find ourselves there many times. Too many times we wait for the person to come to us to apologize and ask for forgiveness, and we find that they have been waiting for us to come to them. There are too many sons who drive past their mom’s house everyday for years and refuse to stop because of some old grudge. Both are too proud to admit they may have a part in the wrong, and are waiting for the other to apologize. We may not be in that bad of a situation, but is there some broken relationship that needs your grace and forgiveness?

It is not just people and their relationships that are missing some grace. Nations and people groups also seek vengeance under the guise of justice. Many centuries have gone by and the Croats, Serbs, and their Muslim neighbors are still fighting. And the same is true for the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Recently, Israel responded to Iran’s missile attacks, which was a response to Israel’s attack which was a response to …. You get the idea. How many people must die before there can be peace? Can grace and forgiveness play a role?

As Christians, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). Of first importance is the restoration of our relationship with God, but reconciliation with one another and with nations are also a part of the mission to heal our brokenness. God has forgiven us so very much and how can we not out of gratitude forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35)? And how can we not share the good news of God’s love and forgiveness for us?

This unnatural act of grace and forgiveness is also needed after this contentious election. Too many unkind words and outright lies were said. How can we reconcile with each other and unite for the good of the nation? Let us Christians create a gracious atmosphere where the animosities can be put aside in order to allow us to work together.

Note forgiveness is not the same as a pardon. A forgiven person can still pay the consequences of their actions. I think of the relatives of those killed in a Bible Study in Charleston, SC in 2015 who offered forgiveness. Pardon was not offered and the murderer was tried for the 9 deaths. Forgiveness releases the forgiver from the need for vengeance. That is an important and necessary part of healing.

Forgiveness is an unnatural act in our broken world, instead we want justice for ourselves and what we often mean by justice is vengeance. God has called us to think differently. He has empowered us to be about the ministry of reconciliation. Let us step out and graciously work to reconcile people to God and to each other.

300 Months

Gail and I have been married for 25 years (300 months). For 25 years I have been able to delight in Gail and enjoy her company. Time has flown by. I thank God that I did email Gail 26 years ago. I almost did not. Life would have been very different. I have been blessed by having Gail in my life.

For our 25th wedding anniversary we went on an Alaska Cruise. We enjoyed the time together in Alaska and on the boat. The weather was on the cloudy and rainy side, and in fact, it was stormy for the first day on board, but we had sunny weather for Glacier Bay and for Ketchikan. We did see a bunch of wildlife, bears, caribou, moose, deer, otters, bald eagles, and other animals. We learned some Alaska history and saw some beautiful scenery. Aboard the ship, we were overwhelmed with the abundance of food and alcohol. The service was over the top. There was some nice entertainment onboard too. It was a nice way to celebrate.

Back 25 years ago, I was worried that I did not know Gail very well. Today, I can say the same thing, even though I know her much better than any other person. And yet though I do not know her as well as I would like, we are connected. Marriage binds a man and a woman together. There is a mystery involved that binds us and connects us. I am attracted to Gail. I delight in her and I enjoy being with her. We are bound together for life, and it is a good thing. Also being connected means we can help each other grow to be more Christ-like.

Today, marriage is discounted as just a social construct that can get in the way of one’s own identity and plans. That is a very selfish way of looking at marriage. The individual is not the basic unit of society like many think today. Rather, the family is society’s basic unit with marriage being the centerpiece of the family. God gave us marriage, so that families can be raised and society can be well formed.

We mess things up by our selfish self-centered way of thinking. Marriage requires commitment and unconditional selfless sacrificial love. We give ourselves to each other in marriage. We serve each other, looking to the needs of the other out of love. Marriage is both romantic love and commitment. It is one way we can break out of our selfish self-centered way of thinking.

Marriage can be a way to demonstrate God’s love, grace, and mercy. A good marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:29-33). We, Christians, are bound to Jesus like a husband and wife are bound to each other. So let us, married people, work at having a good marriage and so reflect the love God has for us. (I recommend “Marriage in Christ” as a great marriage seminar to take to improve your marriage.)

Liar! Liar!

“Liar! Liar! Pants of fire!” People have always lied, but it seems to me today, lying is reaching epidemic proportions. Lying is not good for the liar, for their friends, and for society. Lying deceives. Lying is destructive. Lying hides the truth. Lying hides reality. Lying is not good for anyone, and yet today lying is commonplace. This is due in part to our Postmodern culture where everything is relative and you need to critically tear apart or deconstruct the truth to point out the perceived bias (while ignoring your own personal bias). Thus the truth gets twisted or discarded and outright falsehoods are promoted as fact. Why do we so easily discard the truth and believe the lies?

In the past five years, I have learned of two new words, misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is the unintentional sharing of falsehoods, or it also can be sharing a truth that has been taken out of context in order to make it fit a certain narrative. Political opponents will point out statements that their opponents did say, but by taking the statements out of context they make the statements sound bad. With our social media accounts, we will pass on these falsehoods because we want those statements to be true when they are really lies. We need to be aware of the spin that is sometimes put on the facts and also be willing to verify the lies that we come across. Remember every effective lie has a kernel of truth. Now disinformation is an outright lie. The purpose of disinformation is to promote division, mistrust, and hate. Much of the disinformation are stories and pictures that come from foreign sources, like Russia, China, and Iran. Their purpose is to weaken America by sowing division, mistrust, and hatred. We need to be aware of disinformation so we are not misinformed and pass on these lies. We need to promote truth and avoid these lies, even if we do not like what the truth says.

Lying deceives. One can deceive oneself. You may come to believe the falsehood. You use the lie to boost your own self esteem or to boost your own power and fortunes, but reality is lying undermines your own self-worth and your personal integrity. Lying deceives others and lying can put relationships in jeopardy. Can you trust a liar? And lies can deceive entire societies to promote bad behaviors and wrongful actions. We need to be careful and promote only the truth.

God considers lying to be an abomination (Proverbs 12:22). God speaks against lying in the Ten Commandments: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). There are many more scriptures warning about lying. Here are a few more: Psalm 101:7, Proverbs 12:19, Proverbs 19:9, and Colossians 3:9-10.

How do we handle lying? First we need to look at ourselves. Am I a liar? Do I deceive myself? We need to first recognise who we are. We are broken. We are sinners. The Bible says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We are not perfect (Matthew 5:48). We are not good enough, but there is good news. “If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God will forgive. We need not deceive ourselves. God knows and still loves us (John 3:16). Do not lie to yourself. Live life with integrity. You need to face reality and truth head on.

God calls us to put away falsehoods and lies and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15,25). It is good for our relationships to speak truthfully to one another. It builds trust in your relationships, and it gives you integrity. It is good for the community too. If we can count on one another, our communities can thrive. Let us speak truth in love, and avoid promoting any lies.

In this political season, lies, falsehoods, and ridicule are everywhere. The purpose of the ridicule, lies, and falsehoods is to destroy their political opponents, but it also undermines our society. There is less trust in our society today because of these lies. Let us rise above the fray, and be kind, gracious, and truthful in all we say and do. Do not promote lies! Stand for the truth! By doing so I believe we can strengthen society.

This was inspired in part by Don Overcash’s editorial “The Power and Value of Truth” (Subscription is needed) and in part by “How to Avoid Misinformation and Disinformation Online”.

Warm Earth?

Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane (June 30) and the earliest Category 5 (July 1) Atlantic hurricane on record. Major hurricanes (Category 3 and higher) typically happen two months later. In 48 hours, Beryl rapidly developed from a tropical depression (June 28) to a tropical storm (June 29) and into a Category 4 hurricane (June 30). Beryl did not give much warning to the islands of Grenada. This rapid intensification there was due to very warm sea surface temperatures for June.

Hurricane Beryl then went on to pass close to Jamaica”s southern coast before slamming into Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. It then continued north in a weakened form to the Houston area where it hit as a Category 1 hurricane. Houston was flooded with about 9 inches of rain, and 2.7 million people lost power. With no electricity for air conditioning, people suffered in the humid and hot Houston with temperatures in the 90s and a heat index over 100F. (It is my impression that Houston has been hit by many hurricanes and tropical storms, and the Houston area is prone to flooding every few years. I appear to be right.)

I grew up in the Portland, Oregon area (on the Washington side of the Columbia River). If you look at the decadal count of 90F days and above for Portland you will see that the 2010 decade had the most days with the 2020 decade already strongly trending to beat the 2010 decade. It looks like the big decadal change has been more 95-99F days in the later decades. When I grew up in the 1960’s and early and mid 1970s there were not that many really hot days. Now there are more of those hot days in the Portland area. And here in Colorado, where I have been for the last 37 years, I have seen the temperatures warm. Denver has a 152 year weather record. Since 2000 there have been 20 years with at least 40 90F and above days and four years with less. Before 2000, there have been only 15 years with at least 40 90F and above days, and that is for a 128 year time period.

The Earth is warming. According to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (connected with the European space program), the last 12 months, from July 2023 through June 2024, were all record breaking and were all at least 1.5C (2.7F) above their monthly pre-industrial baseline with an increase of 1.64C for the 12 month average. Are we ready for a warmer Earth?

A warmer Earth means more energy in the atmosphere. Hurricane Beryl is an example of what could happen on a warmer Earth with its rapid intensification, strong wind, and lots of rain. I showed the increase in temperatures in Portland and Denver. In the NW people are starting to buy air conditioners for their houses, and the same thing has been true in Colorado. When I moved to Colorado, an air conditioner was not needed. A whole house fan was the thing to have instead of an air conditioner. Today I consider an air conditioner a must for both the car and the house. Rising sea levels are another challenge that we will need to face due to a warming earth. How many urban areas are at or just above sea level? Quite a few.

We need to prepare for a warmer Earth. The warm Earth has already arrived, and I believe that the temperatures will continue to rise. I believe much of the warming is human caused, so cutting back on CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions is a good thing to do. Governments have set goals to cut back on emissions. Even though we are making some progress, I believe we will miss those goals. I am not an alarmist forecasting doom, and I am not a denier who thinks this is all made up, but we need to realize that the Earth is already warmer and it will be even warmer, so we need to prepare for it. There may be places where the temperatures may become so extreme that humans will need to abandon those places. People from warmer climes will likely suffer more and will want to move poleward. In America we will need to be ready for them.

The warm Earth is here for the foreseeable future, and we need to be ready for it.

Political Parties

Will political parties become a thing of the past? America has effectively a two party system, but major party membership is on the decline. The number of independents or unaffiliated voters in the USA is rising. Right now if the independents would be a party, they would be the largest political party in the USA at 43%. The younger generations distrust institutions and systems these days. With regard to politics, I really can not blame them. My observations are that the national parties, Republican and Democrat, seem to be increasingly out of touch with reality, and in Colorado the Republican party appears to be falling apart due to infighting. Many times, the parties seem more concerned with political maneuvering than with promoting the good of the country. Full disclosure, I am an independent, who never felt comfortable enough with either party to choose one.

Colorado Springs, a former Republican stronghold and once known as the Vatican of the West or the Evangelical Vatican because of the large number of evangelical organizations in the area, just elected an independent, Yemi Mobolade, as mayor. They elected an independent and not a Republican, not a Democrat, and not a third party candidate. Mobolade belongs to no party. He does not like political parties. A big part of his campaign was that he was non-partisan and was above party politics.

America effectively has a two party political system. The political system in America, which has been codified into many laws, assumes only two parties. This is unlike other countries which have multiparty systems. In the past, I believe, third parties pointed to changes that the two major parties needed to address, and the major parties adjusted their platforms accordingly. Today the right wing of the Republican party and the left wing of the Democratic party act somewhat like third parties pushing each party to adopt more extreme policies. Unfortunately this movement away from the center has widened the partisan divide and I believe has left a large number of Americans in the center without a good choice of who to vote for. I believe this will allow independents like Mobolade and third party candidates win some elections.

Will independents belonging to no party take over? My thinking is that there are too many organizational advantages to being part of a party for that to happen. But is the two party system in America collapsing? Will a new party be formed to replace one of the two major parties, or will America become multiparty? I do not know, but I believe we are in a period of transition. Something new is on the horizon. (Or will something like rank choice voting bring more choice and satisfy the electorate?) Right now, I think that politically things are a mess in America.

In the last two presidential elections, I voted for a third party candidate for president. People say I threw my vote away. The fact is Colorado is no longer a swing state and its electoral votes will go to the Democratic candidate. That is pretty much a given. Since I do not like the candidates for either major party, I will make a statement and vote for a candidate whose platform best fits for what I stand for. Right now, I plan to vote for presidential candidate Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party. I do not consider that I am throwing my vote away, instead I am making a statement. The two major parties need to listen and learn.

This post was inspired by “Americans Are Leaving Both Parties. This Colorado City Shows Why.” by David Siders.