Gore As Religious Figure

-By Warner Todd Huston

I can understand the appeal of the global Warming religion, I really can. For those who have disavowed conventional religion and have decided that man is the ultimate power — by which they mean themselves in particular, not just humanity in general — the thought that they alone can save the planet is heady stuff, indeed.

Who needs a god when they have placed themselves at that pinnacle? But merely accepting the fact and moving on with life is a dull proposition. There is no fun in that, for sure. It’s a dull, boring existence without some transcendent thing in which to believe, without some crusade to which they can flock to satisfy the need to congregate, proselytize for, and sacrifice for.

Enviroists have been gestating their religious fervor for a decade or more but it lacked a central, savior-like figure who they could all worship together. I think it is safe to say, though, that they have found their Christ redux.

For Al Gore has come.

The former vice president of one of the most scandal ridden presidencies since the Grant administration, Gore has come to his new role via the power of film. His transformation from a wooden, robotic, wonkish bore to the global warming guru cum “rock star” is complete if the reception he has gotten since his film was released is any indication.

On Saturday, May 5th, Gore spoke the words that sent him from advocate to religious figure. Speaking to an Architect’s convention in San Antonio, Gore likened his quest to a “spiritual crisis” and placed himself and his followers into the role of savior of the planet.

The former vice president referred continually to a “new way of thinking” that is emerging in the country and offered hope in the battle to control the effects global warming will have on the planet.

“It’s in part a spiritual crisis,” Gore told the crowd in the Convention Center at the American Institute of Architects national convention. “It’s a crisis of our own self-definition — who we are. Are we creatures destined to destroy our own species? Clearly not.”

Gore is no longer trying to advance a scientific theory and solution. He thinks of himself in messianic terms and views his followers as the last hope of the planet. At this point it is impossible to imagine that Gore can consider his detractors as honest opponents but must consider them a particular kind of evil akin to that of a fallen Lucifer.

I would suggest that it won’t be long before Al Gore turns the next corner taking him past fooling others and into the realm of fooling himself… if he hasn’t already gotten to that place.

He has already garnered followers who are considering Gore as so important to the world that he should not be allowed to hide his light under a bushel. They consider him the property of the world and feel he can no longer claim any such human need as privacy or any such incidental need of generating an income.

Consider the column written by one of Gore’s smitten believers after his savior spoke at the convention previously mentioned. Gore spoke as a paid speaker to the convention that was not open to the press. He got paid handsomely for his message, of course.

But, Bob Richter found pique with his savior for his mistake of not coming down from the mountain with his message to address the press.

Richter reports that his paper’s news editor, Robert Rivard, decided that Gore was too important to allow him to only address his paying customers. So he ordered one of his reporters to crash the venue.

“Al Gore and his crusade to raise awareness about global warming and climate change are issues of great public interest, and while he has the right to address the visiting architects behind closed doors, we have an obligation to make every effort to report on his speech to a wider audience.

“We take climate issues seriously at our newspaper and, frankly, it’s odd that he is adamant about shutting out the press.”

Richter agreed with his editor saying, “It is odd.” He went on to recount just how important Gore is and how he must become more a man for the people and not just one who speaks “only to elite groups who pay him well to hear it”.

No, Richter thinks Gore is “too important” to get so “muddled” as to try to make a buck. One can hear Bobbie wondering “what would Jesus do”. So, Richter thinks Gore is too important to be concerned about mere cash and scolds his savior for his desire to stay exclusive to those who hired him to speak.

Capitalism is so gauche in a savior, isn’t it?

Funny thing is, what more does Gore need to say that he hasn’t said in dozens of other papers, TV shows and movies? It is no longer the message that people like Bob Richter and his cohorts at the San Antonio Express-News need to hear. They yearn just to be close to their second coming. They are dying to prostrate themselves before Al Gore, to touch the hem of his robes.

They are long past the message. Now they have become the apostles of the new savior and they cannot stand to be separated from him. Even for him to make a buck.

Gore is no longer merely a failed candidate and past second banana to a corrupt president he is a “spiritual” leader who’s past life is overshadowed by the faith and love bestowed upon him by his followers.

Global warming is now a full-blown religion and Al Gore is their messiah.

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Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, men’snewsdaily.com and americandaily.com among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a guest on several radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston