On the oil spill

My heart goes out to the fishermen whose lives are on hold because of this fiasco, no greater than fiasco, this ginormous, ignominious oblivion to the safety and welfare of the world. They are suffering already and will continue to do so.

Those who know me know also that I am a greeny--not a tree-hugger, but someone who believes it is our Christian duty to treat the environment as the gift from God that it is, and to reflect in our treatment of it our reverence for its Creator. And my heart goes out to the critters who are suffering and who will die horrible deaths suffocating in the stench.

But if Mt. St. Helens gives us any clue as to the power of nature to renew itself and rebuild, the ones who will suffer most in the long run from this spill are precisely those whose livelihoods are being debilitated now and in the next five to ten years or so. Petrolium is a natural substance, and is naturally biodegradable. (The stuff we make from it isn't, but in its natural state it is.) Who knows--truly nobody knows--what will really happen in the marshes and swamps from this gooy mess. It may be truly awful--or, like with the volcano in the west, it may prove to be a boon in the long run.

Lets help out all that we can to minimize the damage, let's shore up our fellow men and women who are being impacted, let's hold BP and the other companies responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law (and no more,) and then let's wait and watch what nature does with the rest. We may be surprised.