Heartland Institute: When Is It Inappropriate To Confront Acts Of Depravity?

 

I haven’t written much about this because, I didn’t think this would be an enduring issue.  But, we see people still appalled by Heartland’s billboard incident.  And, quite frankly I’ve been appalled by some of the skeptics’ responses. 

The alarmist reaction was predictable, and in a beautiful example of leftist mentality, they’ve proclaimed the demise of the Heartland Institute……..  reality having no bearing on the proclamation. 

But, now that the dust is starting to settle, I think a review of the facts is in order.  Many skeptics think that Heartland’s billboard has somehow given up the moral high-ground of the skeptical position.  It has not.  Many have equivocated the billboard with the “No Pressure” video and the like. It is nowhere near the same thing.  

Alarmists wishing violence towards skeptics and inaction.

Skeptics have been subjected to the most dehumanizing of efforts, from suggestions that we be recognized and treated (re-education camps), that skeptics be tattooed, that skeptics be gassed.  

Now, look back up to the billboard picture.  Do you see a suggestion of violence towards alarmists?  That we tattoo them or place them in camps?  There is none of that.  Equivocating the billboard with these types of suggestions is dishonest and intellectually vacant. 

The billboard is a simple and truthful statement.  And, yes, the connotations are clear. And, this is, apparently, what most skeptics find objectionable.  But, again, this is a form of dishonesty, intellectual vacancy, and cowardice.  Yes, cowardice. 

From time to time, I’ve offered brief glimpses into this abyss of alarmism.  We have seen entire populations displaced and killed.  We also see this wasn’t an isolated event.  We see communities stripped of their belongings and their women raped, their homes burnt down, in a seemingly systematic war on the most helpless of populations.  And, we see that this has continued unabated in all parts of the world.  From forced sterilizations to murder, to depraved indifference to the destruction of humanity. 

And, this is why I call it cowardice.  It takes a certain bit of courage to gaze into the abyss, to understand the depths of depravity our fellow man can devolve towards.   It takes courage to do so, because, once you do, you are faced with a choice.  Once you see that the above examples aren’t simply some dark fantasy which isn’t acted upon, but rather, a small glimpse into the reality of what these people are actually doing, then you choose. 

You can either turn a blind eye towards this very literal dehumanizing agent call Climate Change alarmism and pretend none of this is happening, pretend that the climate discussion is simply an intellectual exercise, or, you can choose to engage with an entirely different perspective. 

These atrocities are brought to you by……. Clean Development Mechanism,  the Nature Conservancy and the African Wildlife Foundation, New Forest Company (via Kyoto protocol), Department for International Development, and many others.  But, mostly because of the advocacy of the many people mentioned and not mentioned towards this climate.

Now, some one please tell me why or how in God’s name do people believe the Heartland Billboard was somehow a dirty trick or an unfair characterization of alarmists?