Signs and Wonders 08.22

Climate change? Bring it on. Tens of millions of currently uninhabitable acres will become habitable and farmable. That means longer growing seasons, cheaper food, and fewer hungry people on the planet. Our dependence on fossil fuels will likely plummet as solar, wave, and wind energy become economically competitive. We'll likely see a global economic boom as the Arctic opens to sea traffic and creative new industries that will help us adapt will emerge. But you won't read about any of this in the current Rolling Stone article on global warming. I'm not a global warming skeptic. I'm perfectly willing to look at the data and accept the fact that the planet may be warming. Climate always changes. That's what climate does. Humans adapt. That's what humans do. It seems to me that the position of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regarding climate change is a sensible one. The Chamber says it "strongly supports comprehensive legislation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases while providing for a strong American economy." At the same time, it says it will "discourage ill-conceived climate change policies and measures that could severely damage the security and economy of the United States."

No cameras allowed. Photographer Elaine Huguenin can't bring her camera to the New Mexico Supreme Court, but she can bring her case. The New Mexico Supreme Court said last Thursday it would review a case involving a Christian photographer who was fined thousands of dollars for turning down a request from two women to take photos at a same-sex commitment ceremony in 2006. Huguenin said her and her husband's Christian beliefs would not allow them to shoot the event. In June, according to CitizenLink, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) appealed a court decision upholding the 2008 ruling by state's Human Rights Commission, stating Huguenin was guilty of "sexual orientation discrimination." The commission ordered her to pay $6,600 in legal fees. ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence told CitizenLink, "We're seeing an attack on those who define marriage only as one man and one woman. We should protect all businesses, no matter what their beliefs are, from this kind of government intrusion to force them to promote messages they don't agree with."

Da Bears! A new NFL policy allows casino advertising in stadiums. But the Chicago Bears are making a goal-line stand against the advertising. The Bears are "choosing not to participate" in ad deals with casinos, said the team's vice president of sales and marketing, Chris Hibbs, who called it a decision based on "values." Crain's Chicago Business reports that the Bears may be passing on $2 million in advertising revenue. According to Hibbs, "From a business partner perspective, we're lucky to have a 'less is more' philosophy where our focus is on top, blue chip brands that are highly associated with us. Adding to that, an entity in gambling doesn't feel like a fit to me, and I would surmise that some of our blue chip brands would feel the same way."

Christian "protest" groups. It's no surprise that lots of protest groups will be at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in a couple of weeks. What was a surprise to some Christians in town was an article by the Charlotte Observer that lumped a citywide prayer event and a conservative Rock the Red Rally as "protest" events. Darrel Davis, a Christian activist in North Carolina who plans to be at the DNC to do street evangelism, said on Facebook, "This is how the liberal mindset in our country works. If you disagree, you are a protestor."