Paranoia ✓

XXV: Salvador - The Calm Before the Storm

It's time to take a step back and view some other events not entirely related to the Kabish and the effects they've had on both America and the world.

I would like to point out, first of all, that as I am writing this, it is 75 degrees outside on Christmas Eve in New York City. I doubt myself or any future generation will ever experience another white Christmas up here in the greatest city in the world.

As of just last week, the world has witnessed another species decimated into extinction. The northern white rhino is no longer available as an animal species on the face of the Earth. It's difficult to imagine an entire species completely annihilated because of human egotism. But the extinction of the northern white rhino was like a countdown to doomsday. Everyone knew they were done for when the last male rhino died last year. Only three females survived. As of last week, the final female passed away due to old age. Another female died six months ago when a fanatic broke through the place she was being held 'captive' and sought to break her out. In the process, he ended up killing the rhino in self-defense by mistake when she charged at him as he entered into the exhibit. The first female died at the beginning of the year when a collector hired a group of shady poachers to kill the rhino for the root of its horn (since the horn itself was already sawed off to prevent poachers from coming), which he wished to add to his collection of items from past extinct species. The male rhino simply died of old age last year.

Speaking of extinction, a nation that once was afloat a couple of months ago has now been completely submerged underwater due to rising sea levels in the Pacific. The island nation of Kiribati, located near the equator just south of Hawaii in the Central Pacific, has undergone frequent flooding within the past couple of years. The flooding had gotten so bad, houses and buildings were built on stilts. Houses not built on stilts left the first floor completely unoccupied. Boats were the best way to get around, as little land was available except at low tide. But the flooding was killing off too many people, and so much of the people had to flee the island nation. 

The problem was, not many nations would take them in. Some fled to New Zealand, others to Australia, and a whole lot attempted to hunker down in Hawaii. However, the U.S. barred these immigrants from entering the island state on account that they needed to go through proper legal channels to become U.S. citizens. Funny how the U.S., one of the world's top producers in carbon emissions, doesn't feel the need to help out a people whose home was sunken because of the cloud of smog that emanates from cities like Los Angeles and Beijing, sandwiching the people of Kiribati between two dispensers of global emissions.

To add insult to injury, many nations did not aid in helping the people of Kiribati to leave the sinking island. Few nations sent ships to try to ferry people to nearby nations. Not only have these people lost their home, which they may never see again, but they were not welcomed anywhere.

So we have 75 degrees in New York on Christmas Eve, the extinction of the northern white rhino, and the lost of an island nation, and all of it is somehow linked to climate change—which many people still don't believe is true. To echo the possibly late Daniel Mason: seeing is not believing. Many people only believe in things that are convenient to them. If one were to acknowledge climate change, then that would mean that they would have to change the way they lived—which was either too much work for a person/company, or too expensive. But the evidence is present. Lives are at stake. But as long as they're not American lives, then everything is okay.

Conveniency is present in anyone who utilizes religion to achieve an end—especially in this country. Let's use Christianity to fight abortion, but table the discussion when it comes to immigration. Let's ignore Jesus's teachings of loving your enemy and let's continue onward with torturing terrorists, and capital punishment. [26] When it came to stoning an adulterer, Jesus, the man born free from sin, dropped his stone and said, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone." [27] Why is it that politicians who use faith as an argument for doing something seem to turn against their own beliefs when it doesn't suit their needs? This is why church and state should remain separated. Either abide by your faith fully or don't quote the Gospel at all in politics.

I'm sure most of this stuff will get deleted after the first draft, but I can't help myself from making this point that the politicians who claim to be a part of a Christian belief system are only utilizing parts of Christianity to their advantage—and as a Christian myself, it makes me sick. My faith and my politics are separate from one another. However, my morality, and my politics do compliment one another—for what is a government without morals but a corrupt one?

Finally, I'll like to leave off with a panic that recently happened aboard a French airliner. There was an emergency landing of a French plane because of a report of a bomb located onboard the plane. When the plane landed and an inspection was conducted, no bomb was found. It was a ruse, a joke, a prank. The terrorists have us shivering in fear—so much so that they can toy with us like this. This is what paranoia will do to us—and it needs to be stifled.

Yet, as we'll see with Joe, people will act drastically when paranoid. Let the storm commence.

Footnotes:

[26] See Matthew 5:44: "But I say unto you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

[27] See John 8:7