When Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

A somewhat satirical, alternate view of our history

Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash

Dear friends,

Just when we are overwhelmed by conflicts in our world and endless debates that only divide us, let’s not forget the leading threat to our existence: the care and productivity of our planet. Without it, we have nothing.

Still, many contest this reality and reject the long-standing scientific conclusion that greenhouse gases endanger our health and welfare, and a variety of poisons afflict animal life, air, soil, and water. Nature itself is threatened. Most governments continue to ignore this and act helplessly, often stripping legislation that, though flawed, was moving in the right direction. One might wonder: Are we attempting to slap God in the face for giving us the high calling of caring for the Earth? Isn’t our primary calling to nurture and protect it?

Let’s consider one scenario. It is one of many and is a satirical, alternate view of our history. Yet I think it drives home the point that our thinking is unreasonable and has become rather insensible.

Come with me and imagine a world where an eager futurist tries to convince a generation of electric-car drivers that the next big innovation is a vehicle powered by thousands of tiny explosions per minute right under the seat. He insists that carrying gallons of highly flammable liquid, stopping regularly at “explosive-fuel stations,” enduring constant noise, vibration, fumes, oil leaks, and routine sludge-draining rituals called oil changes is somehow progress.

He proudly explains that this miracle fuel requires drilling deep into the earth, tearing up landscapes, causing spills, transporting crude sludge across oceans, and refining it in large industrial complexes that release pollution into the air. All of this to produce a substance that is then burned in a machine with over a thousand moving parts, compared to the EV’s few dozen.

The EV driver, who quietly plugs his vehicle in at home, can’t fathom why anyone would trade clean, smooth efficiency for a machine that shakes, shouts, leaks, and demands constant replacements: spark plugs, timing belts, air filters, fuel filters, mufflers, catalytic converters, transmission fluid, engine oil, and more.

The futurist boasts that these new gasoline cars will emit far more greenhouse gases over their lifetime—despite EVs already proving to have lower cradle‑to‑grave emissions in every U.S. county (even accounting for battery production), the pitch somehow becomes even more absurd. He ignores that transportation already contributes nearly a quarter of global energy‑related CO₂ emissions, with internal combustion vehicles a major driver of that burden.

Still, he presses on, praising the “freedom” of gasoline, the inefficiency of liquefied‑dinosaur logistics, and the cultural joys of exhaust fumes and gas‑station coffee, all while sounding increasingly ridiculous.

Photo by Tom Dick on Unsplash

It's hard to believe that any part of this imaginative, futuristic scenario could be real, but unfortunately, it is. We already live in a world where we choke on our own emissions. We're clearly living in a dystopian era where thorough research is dismissed as fiction, and most people feel powerless to change it.

• How does the abuse of our planet reflect our purpose as bearers and caretakers of creation? (Genesis 1:26-31). It won’t.

• When were we told to stop serving and preserving the earth? (Genesis 2:15). We weren’t.

• Is there a government or nation that can claim the earth as theirs, and how is it to be used? (cf Psalm 24:1-2). I hope not.

• Will we, as God’s people and followers of Christ, lift up our hands and hearts in worship of the One who calls us to the sacred work of ecological praise? (Psalm 104) I pray that we do.

My heart sinks when I think of everything we’ve been given on this planet. How we abuse it to build our own warped prosperity of waste rather than seeing it as a God-given trust to help us flourish.

We welcome your response. Leave a comment. In a future post, we will consider several “calls to action.”

May we restore God’s goodness,

(John writes, but the word magic happens with the editor, Trudy)

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• Choking on our own emissions. (EPA link)

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-repealing-the-endangerment-finding-means-for-public-health/?utm_campaign=sprinklr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin

• In February 2026, the EPA formally rescinded the 2009 endangerment finding—the agency’s bedrock scientific determination that greenhouse gases warm the planet and pose a threat to human life and well‑being—thereby stripping itself of the authority it had relied on for nearly two decades to regulate climate‑warming emissions from vehicles, power plants, and other major sources. This reversal removes the legal underpinning for federal greenhouse‑gas standards, opens the door to rolling back existing limits on pollution, and marks one of the most sweeping deregulatory actions in U.S. climate policy history. Critics warn that abandoning this scientific finding will accelerate climate risks and expose more people to harm, while EPA leadership frames the move as a reduction of regulatory burdens.