Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 19, 2015

16

OPINION




OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


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I REALLY MEANT 
TO BEHAVE 
MYSELF…

I have never been in serious 
trouble except with the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage. I must have gotten in trouble with my 
parents when I was young, but I am too old now to 
remember that. The great thing about getting old is 
having a selective memory.

Now, the only trouble I get into is with her. And trust 
me; I have had my moments of trouble with her and 
can remember every one.

We were getting ready to visit our son and his family 
for a week. Four of our grandchildren live with my 
son and his wife.

Grandchildren are God’s way of apologizing for 
children. When you have children, you are too young 
and busy to know what to do with them. At the 
grandfather stage, it is a different story altogether. I 
now have the experience and the time to spend with 
these grandchildren.

Half of my grandchildren live here in Florida and the 
other half lives in Ohio. It would be great if I could 
spend half of my time in Florida and the other half 
in Ohio, but nobody has bought into that suggestion, 
and by “nobody” I’m referencing my children.

Grandmothers have a positive influence on 
their grandchildren. Grandmothers teach the 
grandchildren many nice things. My wife always 
has a craft party when she gets together with the 
grandchildren. They are so excited to see her and so 
eager for the next craft she has prepared for them.

Therefore, it is always a great pleasure to set aside a 
week and spend with the grandchildren up in Ohio.

As we were packing to head for the airport to catch 
our plane for Ohio, my wife looked at me with one of 
“those looks,” and said rather sternly, “Do you think 
you can behave yourself this time?”

Honestly, I am not sure what the phrase “behave 
yourself” really means. As far as I know, and my 
memory does not go back too far, I have never 
behaved like anybody else. After all, I am not an 
actor. I can “act up,” but I cannot act.

I looked at her rather meekly, well, as meekly as I 
could look and said rather frankly, “I will behave like 
nobody else.”

“No,” she said, “you must promise me that you’re 
going to behave yourself on this trip to Ohio.”

I remember another promise I made to her around 
44 years ago when I said, “I do.” That promise carried 
on for 44 years and now she wants another promise? 
Isn’t one promise enough for her?

Then she said, “Do you remember the last time we 
were up in Ohio? Do you remember the trouble you 
got into then?”

I did, and it was difficult for me not to laugh out loud. 
I must confess I laughed on the inside, but was trying 
to “behave myself,” whatever that meant.

The last time we were in Ohio, I took all the grandkids 
out for supper at a restaurant. It is always good to get 
together on neutral territory. Because, on neutral 
territory I can really behave like myself and no other.

We were in the middle of supper when casually I 
picked up my straw. Now, when I am at home my wife 
forbids me even to have a straw because she knows 
what a temptation a straw is for me.

However, these grandchildren needed to be 
instructed on the proper use of a straw. A straw is not 
just to drink your soda. It has other more ambitious 
functions.

Casually, I put a little wad of paper in my straw; 
nonchalantly put the straw to my mouth and one 
little puff and that wad of paper hit one grandchild 
in the face.

At first, they did not know what had happened. I 
looked the other way as though I did not know what 
had happened. The grandchild said, “Who did this?”

Confession may be good for the soul, but it is also 
good for the turmoil. I acknowledged it was me and 
immediately a very aggressive spitball fight ensued 
right there in the restaurant, no straws barred. After 
all, grandchildren need to know the level of fun a 
person can have, especially with a straw.

Glancing over at my wife at the time, I saw her glaring 
at me with one of “those looks” and I knew I was in 
trouble. Since I was already in trouble, it could not get 
any worse, so we exhilarated the spitball battle and by 
the time we were ready to leave, spitballs were all over 
the floor like snow on a winter day.

I think that was what my wife was thinking of when 
she asked me to remember the last time we were in 
Ohio.

Looking at my wife, I smiled with one of those freaky 
little twinkles in my eye, and said, “I will behave just 
like myself and no other while in Ohio.”

I’m not sure, Paul may have had this in mind when 
he wrote, “These things write I unto thee, hoping to 
come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou 
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in 
the house of God, which is the church of the living 
God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 
3:14-15).

I always mean to behave myself, but often there are 
too many other options.


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LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN 

HOWARD Hays As I See It

MICHAEL Reagan Making Sense

“Republican doubters and 
defeatists – including every 
Republican candidate for 
president – won’t offer any 
credible solution. The truth 
is; they don’t want one . 
. . They refuse to accept 
science.”

- Hillary Clinton, in support 
of President Obama’s Clean 
Power Plan

 Before proceeding, 
cover up the next paragraph of this column. 
Don’t read it – just put your hand over it. Now, 
given that Denver, Colorado is at a higher 
altitude than here, would water in Denver boil 
at a temperature higher, lower or the same as in 
L.A.? Give it some thought before moving on.

 I had to give it some thought myself, and 
from somewhere remembered that water boils 
at a lower temperature where the air is thinner, 
as it is at higher altitudes like Denver’s. Don’t 
feel bad if you missed it – you’re there with two-
thirds of American adults who didn’t know the 
answer, either, when the question was included 
in a Pew Research survey assessing scientific 
knowledge. According to the results, when it 
comes to science, American adults get a barely-
passing “D”.

 I was never really into science, but even in 
grade school learned some basic concepts; that 
stuff happens and people want to know how 
and why. This might lead to an idea and then, 
if and when experiments testing the idea are 
conclusive, that idea might be elevated to the 
level of a “hypothesis”. From that stage, through 
further testing, peer review, elimination 
of alternative explanations and eventual 
acceptance among the scientific community 
that hypothesis might someday reach the lofty 
status of a “theory”.

 We learned that when Columbo comes onto a 
crime scene announcing, “I have a theory”, the 
meaning of the word is different than when used 
in reference to the Gravitational Theory or the 
Theory of Electro-Magnetism. It drives me up 
the wall to hear folks dismiss evolution as “just” 
a theory, or who confuse faith, where you start 
with a conclusion and then seek supporting 
evidence, with science, which is the opposite – 
observing evidence and then maybe reaching a 
conclusion based on those observations. Today 
I heard reference to presidential candidates 
who don’t “accept” the science of human 
responsibility for climate change – as if it’s a 
matter of personal preference, like whether one 
can “accept” wearing socks with sandals (my 
wife won’t let me).

 An ongoing shtick on KFI’s John and Ken 
show has been lambasting Gov. Jerry Brown 
for tying California’s current drought to 
climate change. Co-host John Kobylt cites a 
centuries-long drought beginning 850 AD, a 
time long before carbon-spewing industry and 
automobiles, as evidence such phenomena “just 
happen”. In science, things don’t “just” happen. 
In the case of the 850 drought, evidence points 
to possible causes including increased solar 
activity, fewer volcanic eruptions and a La 
Nina cooling of the tropical Pacific. But science 
doesn’t hold that causes of droughts must 
necessarily be the same.

 Last month, a study in the journal 
Geophysical Research Letters found that while 
global warming isn’t entirely responsible for 
our drought, it is for a good 20% of it. While 
rainfall patterns come and go, our temperature 
increased 2.5 degrees over the past century – 
enough to send more of that rain back to the 
sky through increased evaporation. Higher 
temperatures might well cancel out whatever 
benefits we might’ve gotten from increased 
rainfall, as droughts become increasingly 
severe. According to the study’s lead author, 
though that 20% figure might seem small, 
global warming has increased the probability of 
future “extreme” droughts by 100%. 

 As for the rainfall, a study out of Stanford 
last year tied in this really intense high pressure 
area, or “blocking ridge”, over the Pacific with 
global warming. Such high pressure areas block 
rainstorms we’d normally be getting, with 
the exceptional strength and resilience of this 
current one traced to greenhouse gasses and 
global warming; in particular to changes in 
trade winds caused by warming Arctic waters. 

 Another Pew survey, this one from last year, 
finds that although 87% of scientists “accept” 
that human activity drives global warming, only 
half the American people do. More troubling 
was the fate of a Republican House resolution, 
“affirming that human activity contributes to 
climate change and endorsing action to respond 
to the threat of Earth’s changing climate.” The 
resolution got all of ten (out of 246) House 
Republicans to sign on to it. So – among those 
who “accept” the science of global warming, 
we have 87% of scientists, 50% of the American 
people and 4% of House Republicans – and 
they’re the ones making policy.

 But, there are signs of progress. Ninety-
three years after the Scopes Monkey Trial in 
neighboring Tennessee, as of next year evolution 
and climate change will, for the first time, 
become part of the required science curriculum 
in Alabama schools (though disclaimer stickers 
describing evolution as a “controversial theory” 
remain in textbooks, for the time being). Only 
21% of Alabama 10th-graders currently reach 
national science testing standards.

 Sometimes, it’s not so much choosing 
whether to “accept” the science as it is willfully 
ignoring it. When asked on a recent California 
visit about ties between human activity and 
climate change, Republican candidate Dr. Ben 
Carson complained no one’s ever shown him 
the “overwhelming science” to support the 
connection.

 In response, Gov. Jerry Brown sent Dr. Carson 
a flash drive containing the report of the U.N. 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 
along with a letter stating it “assessed over 30,000 
scientific papers and was written by more than 
800 scientists, representing 80 countries around 
the world, who definitely concluded that ‘. . . 
human influence on the climate system is clear 
and growing, with impacts observed across all 
continents and oceans.’” 

 Gov. Brown reminded in his letter that 
“Climate change is much bigger than partisan 
politics”. He warned that “These aren’t just 
words. The consequences are real.” It’s true, 
whether we “accept” that reality, and the science 
behind it, or not.

SCORING THE GREAT DEBATE 

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

I didn’t watch CNN’s telecast of the Republican 
debate because I was there in person.

For some reason – maybe it was my last name 
-- I was able to score three second-row seats at 
the Reagan Library for the two debates.

More than 20 million people around the world 
tuned in, apparently making the three-hour 
debate CNN’s highest rated show ever.

It was a long night of politics and entertainment. 
I just hope my fellow conservative Republicans watching on TV saw 
the same political reality show I did -- and learned some lessons.

It’s pretty clear to everyone from Joe Scarborough to the New York 
Times editorial board that the three big winners Wednesday night 
were Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and Marco Rubio.

All three shined on stage when it came to substance, but Fiorina made 
herself a national household name overnight.

She was smart, tough, passionate and quick on her feet, proving why 
she deserves to be on the main stage. She had several big “moments” 
and demonstrated a phenomenal grasp of the issues.

Christie did well, connecting with voters, hitting several questions out 
of the park and reminding us why he was once a favorite in the 2016 
race.

Rubio still looks like he’s in grad school, but he showed he’s done his 
foreign policy homework and knows what makes America great.

Meanwhile, the good doctor Ben Carson was a clear loser.

He offered virtually no specifics, had no “moments” and showed that 
while he’s a nice guy and a great surgeon, the presidency is out of his 
league.

The biggest loser of the night was Trump, who was as awful in person 
as he reportedly appeared on mil-lions of split-screen TVs.

He made crazy faces, offended people, refused to apologize when he 
should have, spoke in his usual platitudes and never said a substantive 
sentence.

I heard more than a few groans and complaints from the Republicans 
sitting behind me.

Most of the other candidates – the governors and others who were not 
there because of their celebrity – did OK. They didn’t hurt themselves 
but they didn’t stand out, either.

Jeb Bush did better than last time, which isn’t saying much, but he’s in 
for the long haul. He’ll do better when there are fewer candidates left 
and the debates turn more serious.

Scott Walker did better too, though he seemed to disappear sometime 
late in hour two. Last time I re-member seeing him, he was staring at 
fiery Fiorina and nodding in agreement like a bobblehead.

Ted Cruz was correct on all the issues, but he’s not as likable as Rubio, 
whose only flaw is he still looks like he’s in grad school.

Mike Huckabee got in a lick or two, but he’s still beating the drum 
for his Fair Tax, which everyone except him knows will never go 
anywhere.

Rand Paul was there, I think. So was Gov. John Kasich. Kasich was 
Kasich – solid and substantive.

He’s a winner who knows how to govern Ohio sensibly, but he 
probably should have been included in the preliminary debate with 
Rick Santorum, George Pataki, Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham.

The opening debate, which Graham stole with his humor and GOP 
team spirit, was better in some ways because without the 2,000-pound 
celebrity in the room it was all substance.

I’m concerned about Trump for a lot of reasons. Yet for all the trouble 
he’s causing the GOP, his celebri-ty presence is actually doing real 
conservatives a great favor.

He’s already brought tens of millions of new eyeballs to the debate 
broadcasts that otherwise would never have been made aware of the 
existence of candidates like Fiorina or Kasich.

I just hope those millions of viewers saw what I saw at the Reagan 
Library – that Emperor Trump had no clothes on and most of the 
other real Republican candidates were well dressed.

Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, 
and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" Websites: www.reagan.com 
and www.michaelereagan.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. 


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