Prophet or Profit?

In an article at NationalReviewOnline, Michael Barone characterizes Al Gore as something more akin to an Old Testament prophet than a scientist...

Al Gore likes to present himself as a tribune of science, warning the world of imminent danger. But he is more like an Old Testament prophet, calling on us to bewail our wrongful conduct and to go and sin no more.

And while I agree with Barone's premise that, like many others in the movement, Gore seems to adhere to the concept of "man-made" global-warming with the fanaticism of religious zealotry, I must disagree with his analogy of an "Old Testament prophet".

I think I can say with confidence that all of the Old Testament prophets were devout and principled men. They were chosen by God to deliver a message to the people of Israel typically because they were of greater faith, humility, and devotion to God, than were the general population.

Contrary to that image of the Old Testament prophet, Al Gore was chosen by no one to deliver his message. Al Gore is a self-appointed spokesman for a "political movement" that leans on faulty science, and which foists its "preconceived notions" on the world, all the while ignoring or pooh-poohing and sometimes even threatening legitimate scientists who hold differing views.

Contrary to the image of an Old Testament prophet who reveals God's Truth to mankind, Al Gore's book/movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" has been shown to be riddled with statements that are one-sided, misleading, exaggerated, speculative, or simply wrong. Go HERE to see a 140-page point-by-point analysis of such statements made in "An Inconvenient Truth".

And contrary to the image of an Old Testament prophet who is more faithful and devoted to his God and his religion than the general population, Al Gore might be more aptly described as a "Scribe" or a "Pharisee"...

(Jesus) began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." --Luke 12:1

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (repeated 5 times) --Matthew 23:13,15,23,25,27

Al Gore is clearly a hypocrite. While he preaches that we must all do our part to save the planet, he himself is unwilling to reduce his enormous "carbon footprint". While using excessive amounts of electricity and natural gas at his 20-room mansion with heated swimming pool, he also travels regularly on private jets which spew far greater quantities of carbon dioxide than the alternatives of commercial airlines, rail lines, or bus travel.

Apparently Mr. Gore does not believe his own rhetoric enough to practice that which he demands of others. He does not believe in his own religion enough to abide by its tenets. Or perhaps Gore has simply hijacked a theme from the environmental movement in order to further his political career, or to increase his income potential. In the best case, he is lying to himself. In the worst case, he is lying to all of us. In either case, he does not fit the image of an Old Testament prophet.

And finally, Al Gore's excessive life style hardly fits the image of an Old Testament prophet who walked from place to place, wore sackcloth (that is, burlap) and ashes, lived in the wilderness, ate wild locusts, or fasted for up to 40 days at a time. One look at his figure will tell you he's not even on Atkins, let alone fasting.