Al Gore brought his touchy-feelie and curiously science limited roadshow to San Antonio and the San Antonio Express-News has the story:
Gore sees 'spiritual crisis' in warming
Playing equal parts visionary, cheerleader and comedian, Al Gore brought his message of how to fight global warming to a capacity crowd of receptive architects Saturday in San Antonio.
The former vice president referred continually to a "new way of thinking" that is emerging in the country and offered hope in the battle to control the effects global warming will have on the planet.
"It's in part a spiritual crisis," Gore told the crowd in the Convention Center at the American Institute of Architects national convention. "It's a crisis of our own self-definition � who we are. Are we creatures destined to destroy our own species? Clearly not."
Spiritual Crisis? Good lord, how hyperbolic do these people have to be before they see their own folly. This is downright ludicrous.
"Spiritual Crisis? Good lord, how hyperbolic do these people have to be before they see their own folly. This is downright ludicrous."
I think that's going a bit too far. The word "spiritual" isn't necessarily a religious word, and especially in reference to Mother Earth. There is a long-heralded "spirit of the sea"; there's a "spirit of the land", even of the sky. Those who love to fly feel it.
If one were to suddenly awake from the mechanical dream of city life and discover the natural world around him, I would be happy to call that a "spiritual awakening." Because it is.
So I don't fault Mr. Gore for using the term "spiritual crisis," nor do I particularly see any religious overtones in it. The problem isn't with the word "spiritual" -- the problem is with the word "crisis."
As far as I'm concerend, the entire global warming debate can be reduced down to one, simple little question:
Why is Greenland called Greenland?
Answer that, then throw in some combo of the Three Prime Motivators (money, power, sex), and everything else just snaps into place.