Imagine what it would be like knowing that the world would end within your lifetime? What would you do? Would it considerably alter your life-plan? Maybe you’d think twice about paying that mortgage on the house. Ridiculous as it may sound, many Pentecostal Christians do expect the world to end sometime in the near future.
To be fair to them though, in the past, other groups of Christians declared that the end of the world would soon be upon us. It’s been going on for at least a thousand years or so. Maybe someday, they might even be right.
Having said that, how might such beliefs affect their decision-making processes in the long-term? Would they bother taking care of the planet if they thought it was going to be burnt to the ground next Sunday? It’s actually quite ironic to think that so many conservative Christians disavow the reality of Global Warming. After all, they could easily take it as a sign of proof that the End Times are upon us.
The scary part is that one such Pentecostal Christian may be elected Vice-President of the United States of America shortly. But at least, Sarah Palin has acknowledged that Climate Change is real. She’s still not convinced humans are really responsible for it though. Still, it seems like she’d be willing to sit down and figure something out with John McCain to deal with it. Glad to see that the end of the world hasn’t diminished Governor Palin’s capacity to think long-term.
In fact Gov. Palin does have definite long-term plans for America and the education system. Palin wants to institute the teaching of creationism alongside that of evolutionism because after all, people shouldn’t be afraid to learn; "Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of education. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both." Palin said. As if there really is a scientific debate about the subject to begin with. Creationism may have a place in the school curriculum, but that place is certainly not in the science class. It is an epic failure of hers to make a distinction between religion and science.
We can also attribute this failure as being the reason why Palin was so dismissive and critical of using federal funds on fruit fly research. After all, it is genetics research and Palin may not believe in the value of genetic research because the world is after all, only 6000 or so years old and nothing ever really evolved now did it? Making research into genetics and fruit flies, which have made significant progress in the study of Autism and may help prevent Down syndrome, a complete waste of time and money.
Sarah Palin appeals to many conservative Christians who form an influential part of the Republican party’s base, which has moved a lot more to the right in recent times. America and the world have already witnessed the dangers of religious extremism and how it can lead to political extremism. President Bush’s faith-based administration is certainly very unpopular with the majority of Americans at the moment, Republicans and Democrats alike. And yet, it seems that there are many comfortable with the thought of the next administration may be run by a 72 year old President, who may pass away during his term in office, and hand over the reins of office to someone so unprepared and unsuited to the most powerful position of authority in the entire world.
It truly is a pity that a person of McCain’s credentials and character, who would certainly make a very fine President, could err so majestically in his choice of second-in-command. How he could decide to pick someone, who believes that as Vice President, she gets to be “in charge” of the Senate, defies all belief.
I’ve read some mixed messages coming out of the Republic camp of late. The first is that the Republican elites are getting fed up of Palin and she is being categorized as being “rogue” or a “diva”. The second is that they are considering of having her run for president in the future. It is my earnest hope that the former case is true and the latter is just a rumour. I also wish for everyone’s sake, that the world does come to an end before Sarah Palin ever becomes President of America. Otherwise, she just may be the cause of it.
Nigel Said is a member of InSite, the University students' media organisation.