<div class=”post-info”>
<div class=”post-info-right”>
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I know there is a God just by looking at the world He created. Just as no man could have written that book, no man could explain the creation of the earth without God. It didn’t just appear from nothing, which is common sense. Our Prophet Joseph Smith said, “I looked upon the sun, the glorious luminary of the earth, and also the moon, rolling in their majesty through the heavens, and also the stars shining in their courses and the earth also upon which I stood, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven and the fish of the waters, and also man walking forth upon the face of the earth in majesty, and in the strength of beauty whose power and intelligence in governing the things which are so exceedingly great and marvelous. . . . And when I considered upon these things, my heart exclaimed, ‘<span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Well hath the wise man said, it is a fool that saith in his heart there is no God</span>.’ My heart exclaimed, ‘All these bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power, a being who maketh laws and decreeth and bindeth all things in their bounds.’” <em>Joseph Smith Letterbook 1, p. 2–3, Joseph Smith Papers, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; spelling and punctuation modernized.<img class=”wp-image-9578 size-full aligncenter” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc6.jpg” alt=”” width=”962″ height=”720″></em></p>
It seems there are two varying opinions on climate change. It is either caused by man or it is not. First I don’t believe climate change was caused by man, but man has a stewardship to love this earth and keep it clean. I believe temperatures of the earth go up and they go down and God is the creator of all and has the greatest say of these things. Moreover there is an eternal law that regulates this earth that was created by the Savior. I truly believe the vast majority of people think it is politically correct to say that man causes climate change in order to scare us, make money, and act as if they are in control of this earth. Many of these people don’t believe in God and want nothing to do with Him. They hate the judgement of anyone especially from God. <img class=”wp-image-9575 size-full aligncenter” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc2.jpg” alt=”” width=”971″ height=”593″>
Elder Steven E. Snow said, “I am struck by the loving care taken by the Lord in creating this earth as depicted in one of our Church’s most sacred religious ceremonies performed in temples around the world. I believe we ought to emulate that same sense of care and concern toward the earth and its resources. Too often we are a “throw-away people,” as President Spencer W. Kimball described. Some live lavishly in the moment without a thought for the future. Others believe that because “the earth will [one day] be renewed and receive its paradisaical glory” that we have free license to be wasteful. But that’s not how it works. God made us stewards over His creations and, as such, He expects accountability. believe it is unbecoming of a Latter-day Saint to willfully deface and defile the earth….
As Latter-day Saints we tend to focus on our ecclesiastical and family stewardship’s, which is well and good. But I believe we will also be held accountable for how we treat one another, the community in which we live, and the land that surrounds us, even the earth itself. That stewardship has never been more urgent. Our generation, more than any other, has the ability to irretrievably change the land. Financial rewards provide tremendous pressure to unleash our technology to reinvent our surroundings. There will be growth; change will come. But failure to care for the land on which we live means turning our backs on the heritage laid down carefully and at such great cost by our forefathers—and will leave us immeasurably poorer.” <em>The Moral Imperative of Environmental Stewardship By Elder Steven E. Snow of the Seventy Oct 2018</em>
<img class=”alignleft wp-image-9574 ” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc1.jpg” alt=”” width=”298″ height=”147″>“Stewardship in the Church is a very important matter. The Lord has mentioned it in the revelations. We are stewards over these earthly blessings which the Lord has provided, those of us who have this soil and this water. We have no moral latitude, it seems to me. In fact, we are morally obligated to turn this land over to those who succeed us—not drained of its fertility but improved in quality, in productivity, and in usefulness for future generations.” <i>The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson</i>, 645.
<h3>Liberty vs. Freedom?</h3>
“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose [first choice] liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose [second choice] captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Nephi:2:27; emphasis added.)
Liberty then is far more important than simple freedom. Freedom means we can do anything we want, as we are free to choose, but we must live with the consequence. Liberty means we can do what ever we choose under God’s Laws as there is always a blessing to obedience of His law. This is why the United States of America in not a Democracy meaning the majority rules. The United States has a Republic form of government in which elected individuals represent the citizen body and exercise power according to the rule of law under the Constitution. God’s law then is to love the earth and respect it, and if we don’t we will not receive the blessings associated.<img class=”size-full wp-image-9573 aligncenter” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc.jpg” alt=”” width=”590″ height=”332″>
<h3>Right vs Wrong?</h3>
It seems on every important subject there are two sides. In movies there is good and evil, in church there is right and wrong, in science there is evolution and creation, in geography there is the heartland or mesoamerica, in school there is the young earth or the old earth theory, in beliefs there is a God or not, is global warming caused by man or by God, in LDS homes there is you can watch the Super Bowl or you can’t, in politics there is Democrat or Republican, in life there is abortion or right to life. I think I can sum it up from the scriptures, <em>”For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.” 2 Nephi 2:11</em>
I believe Satan says, “The Book of Mormon is absolutely the word of God, but its not that important to read it.” or Satan says, “the Book of Mormon is false, why not look around for something better.” I believe the simple answer is usually correct. The answer that makes most sense to our spirits. Why? Because our Spirit is eternal and will live forever, and these bodies are corruptible and invoke wrong choices. We need this opposite as part of the Lord’s plan. It’s obviously not that easy but, generally if things make sense, that’s the best answer. You need a whole bunch of research and prayer for ultimate truth, but start with what makes sense.
<span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Many thanks to my good friend Bernell Loveridge for sharing the following article with me and gave me the idea to blog about this topic.</span>
<h3>Climate Change – The Great Inoculation</h3>
<div class=”post-meta”>By Gary C. Lawrence · January 14, 2020 Meridian Magazine</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class=”post-content”>
When there’s no breaking news about impeachment, elections, international tensions, or the economy, we always have climate change to fill the news hole.
<span style=”color: #ff0000;”><img class=”size-medium wp-image-9576 alignleft” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc4-300×169.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”169″>From one side, we hear that human activity is endangering the planet – that man’s excessive fossil fuel use releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and traps heat thus causing global warming. Such heat-producing carbon emissions melt arctic ice, increase sea levels, cause famines, and spawn hurricanes. </span> Further, it even causes earthquakes in that hurricanes by definition come with lower atmospheric pressures which allow earthquake faults to move more easily and release accumulated strain. <span style=”color: #ff0000;”> In short, every geological or weather-related or crop-failing phenomenon can be linked to climate change.</span>
Proponents of these arguments predict what will happen if we fail to curb carbon emissions and do not transform our energy system away from fossil fuels:
<ul>
<li>Civilization as we know it will end by 2030.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Meltdown of polar ice sheets will accelerate.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Many cities will be flooded.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Starvation will be widespread.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Temperatures will be hotter.</li>
</ul>
<span style=”color: #ff0000;”>From the other side of the debate, we hear the argument that climate change is a natural process of ups and downs, that temperature variations remain within the bounds of natural fluctuations over the centuries, and human activity has minimal impact. </span> Further, that human-produced gases are naturally absorbed by “carbon sinks” (oceans, forests) and that sea levels have been steadily rising for thousands of years and <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>have nothing to do with human behavior.</span>
As reasons not to panic, they cite their opponents’ predictions on Earth Day 1970:
<ul>
<li>Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken. (Harvard biologist George Wald)</li>
<li>Population will outstrip food supplies and 100 to 200 million people per year will starve to death by 1980. (Paul Ehrlich, population expert)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>By 1995, between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct. (Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>By the year 2000, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine. (Peter Gunter, university professor)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>By 1985, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution that will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half. (Life magazine)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>By the year 2000, there won’t be any more crude oil. (Ecologist Kenneth Watt)</li>
</ul>
<p style=”text-align: left;”><span style=”color: #ff0000;”><img class=”alignright size-full wp-image-9581″ src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc9.jpg” alt=”” width=”330″ height=”222″>No one argues that we need not care for the environment, and few will claim man has been a great steward. </span> But the question is whether this lack of stewardship, combined with substantial use of fossil fuels, is a sufficient explanation for hurricanes, famines, earthquakes, and the like.</p>
As pro and con arguments continue, the important thing to note is the debate centers on one main variable: <span style=”color: #ff0000;”><strong>the role of man</strong>.</span> Both sides seem to assume man is the sole determinant of weather events and the only question is the extent.
So for non-atheists the obvious question: <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>What about the role of God?</span> Does He ever intervene by sending climate events – perhaps (just speculating, mind you) to prod His children to change their ways?
Numerous times of course (about a dozen famines alone are mentioned in the Old Testament) and my favorite in the Book of Mormon is when Nephi, son of <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Helaman, specifically prayed for a famine in the land “to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God…” Lasted three years; the people got the message. Those who survived.</span>
More importantly for this discussion, will message-bearing, weather-related events happen before the Second Coming? Yes, including …
<ul>
<li>D&C 5: desolating scourge</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>D&C 29: earth shall quake / sun darkened / moon turned to blood / stars fall from heaven / great hailstorm to destroy the crops of the earth / plague of flies</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>D&C 43: heavens shall shake and the earth shall tremble</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>D&C 45: desolation / earth in commotion / iniquity shall abound / desolating sickness / earthquakes in diverse places / signs and wonders in heaven above and earth beneath / blood and fire and vapors of smoke / sun darkened and moon turned to blood and stars fall from heaven / earth reel to and fro and the heavens also shall shake</li>
</ul>
But not everything that happens can be attributed solely to God or solely to man. <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>I submit there are three sources of environmental disasters:</span>
<ol>
<li><span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Man</span> indeed causes a share through poor stewardship of land and resources, and by specific actions such as 200 identified cases of arson now contributing to the horrific wildfires in Australia.</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Natural forces</span> contribute a portion because there must be opposition in all things in a world specifically designed for things to go wrong that we may be tested.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style=”color: #ff0000;”>God</span> will send specific catastrophic events at times of His choosing as special messages to His children to change their ways.</li>
</ul>
So why the emphasis on only one source? Why the lack today of even a rudimentary discussion that God might – just might – send an occasional weather event for His own purposes? <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Why have we not heard or read any references to God in climate-change debates?</span>
<em><strong>Because that is how the adversary wants it.</strong></em>
<span style=”color: #ff0000;”><img class=”aligncenter wp-image-9579 size-full” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc7.jpg” alt=”” width=”384″ height=”240″>He inoculates against God’s warnings</span> that may be attached to certain hailstorms, floods, famines, earthquakes, and scourges by focusing the debate on man’s mismanagement of the environment. He tolerates no other explanation. And he doesn’t care which side is speaking or which side wins. <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>He enjoys the debate as he conditions people that they need not change their iniquitous ways.</span>
To re-emphasize: If Satan can maintain the focus on <span style=”color: #ff0000;”>man’s environmental behavior and ignore man’s moral behavior</span>, when earthquakes, hurricanes and famines occur, he will have conditioned people to shrug them off as … mere climate change.
<span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Indeed, the Great Inoculation.”</span>
<em>By Gary C. Lawrence, Meridian Magazine (Italics and color added)</em>
“Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety” <em>Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith</em>, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 71.
“You are here commencing anew. The soil, the air, the water are all pure and healthy. Do not suffer them to become polluted with wickedness. Strive to preserve the elements from being contaminated by the filthy, wicked conduct and sayings of those who pervert the intelligence God has bestowed upon the human family.” <em>Brigham Young Journal of Discourses, 8:79.</em>
<img class=”size-full wp-image-9582 alignleft” src=”https://www.bofm.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cc10.png” alt=”” width=”334″ height=”235″>“Things upon the earth, so far as they have not been perverted by wickedness, are typical of things in heaven. Heaven was the prototype of this beautiful creation when it came from the hand of the Creator, and was pronounced ‘good.’” <em>Joseph F. Smith Journal of Discourses 23:175.</em>
“As beneficiaries of the divine Creation, what shall we do? We should care for the earth, be wise stewards over it, and preserve it for future generations. And we are to love and care for one another.” <em>Russell M. Nelson “The Creation,” Ensign, May 2000, 84.</em>
<a href=”https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/environment-statements”>More quotes here:</a>
</div>
