Global warming is quite an issue and has been so for a number of years. Many people debate the subject—including scientists. It seems no one really knows whether it actually exists and, if it does, whether or not it is caused by mankind.

Some sources say it exists but is cyclical, therefore is understandable and, by inference, of no great importance. But just what does that mean? To me, cyclical indicates that warming has happened before. But what caused it then and what is causing it now? It may have occurred in the past because of natural causes but that does not mean that we—mankind—is not causing or at least contributing to, this particular cycle. If that is true then can we not, at least in part, control it?

The entire issue has been complicated by allowing politics and religion to become involved with it. The ultimate of that was a Senator reading into the Congressional Record a passage from the Bible in which God promised that He would never visit upon man another disaster such as the flood. That, according to the Senator, meant that global warming would pose no threat to mankind. The problem with that is that God gave man free will. Nowhere does He say that He will prevent man from using his free will to bring disaster upon himself.

But politics and religion are only tools that are being used. The real source of the debate is money. If it is accepted that: 1) global warming is a fact, and; 2) man is even partly responsible for its existence, then to correct the problem is going to cost money. We don’t want that; Some people very much don’t want that.

So, we have not accepted the basic fact of the existence of global warming. And we will not. To accept that something is wrong could, in some minds, be the first step down a road to economic calamity. That attitude is somewhat akin to “denial”, the method used by the families of some alcoholics in regard to their problem. If one refuses to admit that there is a problem, then there is no problem and no one has to be concerned with finding a solution to a problem that does not exist.

Global warming is just one issue that faces us. The greatest problem that faces us, and one that is not being addressed, is money. We, as a society, are addicted to money. A definition of addiction that I like very much is: placing yourself under the influence of something that is lesser than yourself. We have done that. Money rules us all. Many of our problems, including our approach to global warming, will be solved once we beat our addiction.