A Conversation at Panera.  The Good Doctor and the Evangelical

Two men sat at adjacent tables there at Panera, the one, the good Doctor who had two years ago retired from government work, reading his newspaper, and the other man, the evangelical, with a Bible open in front of him.  The newspaper story was about the latest report from the United Nations on Climate Change.  600 top scientists on the panel from around the world with review by their governments, had concluded that we are currently headed toward a 3-degree Celsius warming that will create massive species loss, the total loss of tropical coral reefs and sea level rise as high as 2.5 meters by 2100.  A report by 13 Federal agencies to congress had seconded the conclusions and written that climate change will reduce the US economy by 10%.  The Good Doctor had devoted a 30-year career to NIH studying cancer diseases and the effect of toxins on our populations.  Reading the story an anger started to well up in him and he shook his head.  He had seen the man at the table next to him earlier with a group of bible thumpers doing their study in front of everyone.

He looked over at the man next to him, immersed in a page from Luke.  The man at the second table was a reading a passage in which, Christ, being pressured, to perform another miracle, this one to remove demons from a young man, says, “How long must I put up with this unbelieving and perverse generation?’

Out of the fullness of his heart the Good Doctor spoke, “how can evangelicals really care when the world burns around them and they do nothing to end it?”.  He knew as he spoke that it was judgmental and from a simmering anger, but it was nevertheless true and needed to be said. He had overheard the group talking idly earlier when they had settled down into their study about how terrible late term abortion was, and how gun control was a pointless way to address crime.  One had commented how well the President had done in his State of the Union Speech and then concluded with a quip, “ at least he didn’t have to give it in a snowstorm caused by global warming!”   The Good Doctor was tired of seeing hypocrisy around him while his children’s future was at stake and he had to watch the inevitable catastrophe  engulf the dear sweet earth he loved to walk among every day and longed to leave whole for the children he loved greater than life itself.

The Evangelical heard him and turned to look at him.  For a moment they looked at each other.  And the evangelical simply said, “what?”.

With that the flood gates broke;  “I just don’t understand how you can care about people, about creation, when it is going to Hell around you.  It just seems to me that it is like fiddling while Rome burns. I am a Doctor and research scientist by training, and I can tell you with certainty how we are headed for disaster.  This is something I have studied in depth and know with certainty.  It is the simple truth.  There is no denying that we are conducting an uncontrolled experiment on the one planet we have with disastrous effects.  Our brave men in our military, who will be on the front lines of climate wars, know that climate change (you can read their report on it), will destabilize nations around the world as refugees flee the effects of climate change causing wars, famine and disease.  Pulling out of the Paris Peace Accords was a crime against humanity and the President’s pride at being the number one producer of fossil fuels in the world in his speech the other night, while the oceans begin to drown whole peoples in the Pacific was callous at best and a crime on the scale of the holocaust at worst.  The sound from his fiddle was as loud and ugly as the black soot from a coal mine.”

He paused for a moment and had a moment to think better, saying;  “Sorry if I am rude, but I heard you talking earlier and I feel this passion and want to try to make you understand that this is an urgent issue you need to address.  I can not understand why you would care about the aborted child when you won’t care about the world he/she grows up in.  There I will stop.  I am certain of this problem and effects, and that we all have to act or condemn millions to death and our children to a world of pain and misery.”

There was silence for a moment. Then the Evangelical spoke quietly, asking; “Do you believe in God and the Love of Jesus Christ, His only son?” And he looked at him deeply.

“I believe in humanity, in caring for each other.  I do not believe that Christians possess the whole truth.  The great Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem faiths have as much truth. There is no demonstrable God in control of this universe.  I am a scientist.  The evidence for how life evolved, and man rose out of the primates is as clear as the day is long. God is most probably a delusion we create to make things more understandable and be less afraid and alone.  It is a convenience of evolution that allows us to thrive better, continue and sustain our existence more profitably.”

Looking again into his eyes, quietly the Evangelical continued;  “Then ultimately there is no great plan, there is no long-term specific meaning to life.  Existence is in fact a collection of arbitrary chance.  Even the logic you use to conclude the facts of climate change, and this evolution you speak of is created arbitrarily out of mindless forces of chance.  The morality and crimes you speak of are, eventually, merely a convenience.  There is no reason I should not have any belief I want with any concomitant action as long as I can get away with it, or if I just prefer it.  There should be no basis for you to fundamentally object to my morality for me, except your personal convenience, since ultimately there is no objective judge, no objective meaning, no objective right and wrong.”

Then he looked down at the book and appeared to read; “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

And then the Evangelical was quiet.  

The Good Doctor was both sad and still upset.  He had to make this man understand how important the issue was.  “Surely you do not think that a creator God want us to abuse his Creation?”.  He asked urgently. 

“Is it in God’s hands” whispered the Evangelical with a little longing and a tinge of resignation.

Suddenly the well broke again and the Good Doctor exclaimed;  “But He put it in our hands to care for!” “It is our charge to be good stewards of the earth”, said the doctor loudly, now a little confused where he was arguing from.

The shout made some heads turn and the two men looked down, a little embarrassed, realizing they had disturbed the ground around.

After a moment, quietly again the Evangelical spoke.  “You accept my Truth, the truth that sets you free, and I can act on yours”.

“Love God with all your heart and all your mind” one said from a third table and he picked up his plate took it over to the trash and walked out.