Al Gore’s global warming documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”, is causing quite the stir in Federal Way, Washington schools according to an article at seattlepi.com. Some parents have complained about the film, claiming it does not present an opposing view of global warming, such as creationism and the Bible.

As someone who has not yet seen the film, I cannot offer a valid opinion regarding Gore’s film or the reasons behind the opposition.

What I can say is that as a Catholic, I do believe in creationism. I don’t oppose sexual education in schools as one parent does, but I do oppose certain methods of teaching America’s children about sex.

When I was in elementary school nearly 17 years ago, I remember learning about pollution, global warming and Darwinism. At such a young age of 11 years old, these were topics of science class that contradicted everything I knew from the Bible.

“God created man, we didn’t evolve from apes,” my catechist once told me. “Global warming is a myth, a theory. God controls the climate of our planet. If we are abusing his land, of course things will be destroyed.”

Thinking back on this now, as an adult and as a mother, I wonder about the state of our planet. It’s January and here in Wisconsin, the “frozen tundra”, we have no snow. The last few weeks our temperatures have been at 40 degrees. When I was in second grade we had 11 snow days in one school year due to heavy snow falls and numerous cold days of negative degree weather. Maybe global warming isn’t as farfetched as my conservative counterparts believe.

These parents are concerned about students hearing the side of the global warming skeptics as well. They feel that Al Gore is just recounting scientific findings, and that may very well be, but I think we owe it to our children to be educated and to see things from more than one angle. Our kids will inherit these environmental problems one day; we must really listen before making judgments.

Global warming is a big important issue and I believe it will be a hot button with the upcoming elections as well. I want to know if Al Gore’s film is the view of a politician, the view of a father, the view of an American, or all three.

I bought the DVD online today at the film’s website, where it states:

“Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.”

I admit that when I read those words I became skeptical but also afraid. Ten years? Ten years!

I’m taking my own advice. When the film arrives at my doorstep, I will watch it unbiased and then form my opinion and report back to you. I’m considering it an addition to my New Year’s resolutions. After all, what are the resolutions of Mother Nature? How can we save her, our home, our planet Mother Earth? Ten years really isn't very long.

Contributing Editor Dana J. Tuszke also blogs at The Dana Files and Watch Blog.

Related Posts:

• An Inconvenient Parent
• Global Warming: What will a little gold statue do for the planet?
• Global Warming and Tourism

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