Friday, October 27, 2006
Must-Watch-Movie-Tip: An Inconvenient Truth
'I've made a far stronger contributor to humanity by doing this than being president of the United States.' - Jimmy Carter, International President of Habitat for Humanity (formerly US president 1976-1980)
Perhaps following in the footsteps of Carter is former Presidential candidate-cum-modern day prophet Al Gore has stumped America for the last several years delivering what's been called the 'best PowerPoint ever'!
Gore takes the viewer who previously has a basic understanding that 'something isn't quite right with the environment' through a bare-bones explanation of worldwide pictures documenting the impact of global warming, data and scientific sampling that leads the viewer to a place where they can identify not only is there a problem with the world's climate and pollution levels - but there are REAL simple ways of fixing it.
Linking this discussion with significant turning points in his life including the death of his sister to cancer, the tragic event of the car crash that almost claimed the life of his son and of course, experiencing the 'theft' of his presidential destiny has personalised an issue that is seemingly unchangeable for the 'common person'. What's most interesting with this film is perhaps Gore's challenge that the climate crisis we are facing is not simply an ecological one - it's a (quote) 'moral imperative!'
This is even more powerful considering the political implications of this alongside the recent cries of protest over the Far-Right's stranglehold over 'Christian moral values'.(See Jim Wallis' God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It - which discusses the Right's effectiveness of stifling anyone with the opinion that there is more to Christian moral issues than homosexuality & abortion. Eg. poverty, ecological sustainability, etc.) There are several moments of incredulity, even outrage, when Gore exposes downright corrupt, cynical and exploitative practices of those in the very industries and levels of government that are denying or obsfuscating the existence at all of the reality and impact of global warming.
By linking his own personal story - he demonstrates the capacity of people to change their own mindsets in response to such obvious realities - no matter how revolutionary the thinking and changes that need to be made may need to be.
The film's producers were once 'in the crowd' during one of Gore's presentations, and in response to their astonishment that the urgency of the planet's climate crisis wasn't well-known, simply went up afterwards and offered to Gore the opportunity to film his next presentation - this led to the film. Subsequently, Millions of Americans who have seen this movie have openly commented on 'what if he hadn't have had the presidency stolen from him!' However, he might not have had the same level of impact if he had've been president, and not made this film. (Interesting lesson on prophets - change can only occur from the outside - not from within...)
Check out the link on the right sidebar for everyday, common resources and practices that an individual and family can contribute to depleting the amount of carbon emmissions that we release every day into the Earth's atmosphere.
This film is a must see for any Christian who believes ecological sustainability is a concept restricted to some left-wing radical agenda. It affects all of us - and as believers we have a moral responsibility to support any efforts that prophetically challenge this status quo of environment irresponsibility.
RATING: 6 & 1/2 stars - one for each year of what could've been an amazing presidency...
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