By Fr. Bud Grant
A recent National Public Radio (NPR) piece reported that religious leaders are not particularly influential in swaying views on climate change. Opinions are more likely to be determined by, get this, politicians. To be more precise, political affiliation is a much stronger indicator of one’s acceptance of the reality of climate change: 91 percent of “liberal Democrats” but only 16 percent of “conservative Republicans” link climate change to human activity (“It’s All Politics,” Jan. 28). Eighty-five percent of Catholics do want more regulation to control climate change, but only 5 percent of Americans agree that their faith has influenced their views.
Another study reviewed the accuracy of our memories. The study’s authors Photoshopped images of unlikely (and untrue) events, such as President Obama shaking hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or President George W. Bush vacationing with celebrities during Hurricane Katrina. Almost 50 percent of participants remembered the former and over 30 percent the latter. Some respondents actually remembered where they were and what they felt when they had originally “seen” the image.
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