Every now and then , over the past 17 months (since early July of 2015), I think about the friend of 30 years that told me one day “Do not contact me again”. I haven’t spoken with him since. We had often had long conversations about many things: politics, religion, philosophy, you name it. The guy kept a fairly even, fair perspective about our differences. Even prided himself on his “seeing both sides”.
But this seemed to end abruptly that July. I had just returned from a conference in California, “Seizing An Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization” in Claremont , CA in early June, 2015. That time period, following my return, my friend had started aggressively attacking scientific consensus and certainty, and insisted that there was legitimate reason to doubt the scientific findings.
But he refused to read ANY of the actual science. Instead, he Googled, and came up with basically every narrative of the Denial campaign, and totally rejected the thesis of the book “Merchants of Doubt”, which traced and analyzed the campaigns to cast doubt on science going back to the Tobacco wars.
I remember this friend recommending the Movie “The Insider” with Russell Crowe that told the story of a reporter who sought to blow the lid off the forces behind the efforts to cast doubt on the science that had been massively building to show the links between cancer and all sorts of disease from cigarette smoking. MY friend was more than willing to believe that the Tobacco companies were negligent and even corrupt in supporting and bankrolling the “fake science”.
But when “Merchants of Doubt” suggested that the creation of anti-Climate Science narrative was bankrolled by the fossil fuel industry, he was completely opposite, and scoffed at the idea. When I continued to ask him to consult the actual science and not just the “both sides are discoverable on the Internet” arguments (which , for him, seemed to lead him straight to the denier narratives on EVERY COUNT), he simply would not change his approach.
In the last few days before his abrupt announcement that I should not contact him ever again, he had been daily sending me attack pieces on Naomi Klein, whom he knew had been instrumental in launching me into this “extreme stance” on the Climate Crisis. He was echoing even right wing “Communist parents” charges made by right wing blogs and news sites.
This friend was an enthusiastic supporter of Obama, and even did some campaign work for him. He and I had numerous conversations about our support for him and defending him against the latest right wing attacks. And when asked about Climate Change, he claims he believes in it. But he maintains that it’s not as serious as it’s being made out to be. He “believes in man made global warming” but then decides that those same scientists who study that phenomenon and have continued to track its effects are wrong about the effects. He fiercely defends the fossil fuel industry as crucial to our economy.
It seems that my insistence that he consult the actual science, at the source, and not via the “arguments” of “both sides” that are being perpetuated by those who stand to profit from discrediting the science, was too confronting. He allowed that resistance to facing the facts about the Climate Crisis to end a nearly 30 year friendship. That is a bit disturbing, and raises serious questions about the strength of that friendship.
Here I am, on this, the obvious right (per Climate Science) side of the debate, but also willing to continue dialogue with him, having to allow him to go on his way, and honor the “ban” he placed on me. I had always assumed that he, with his “open mind” that he constantly claimed to possess, would always remain dedicated to allowing disagreements and differences, even in world views and philosophy and faith, and want to keep conversing as we had for years. To have him be the one to simply “cut off” all ties, apparently for good, is as ironic as it has been painful.
But it hasn’t been particularly severe, this pain. It’s more like “too bad” and often “I’ve probably gained a lot of time that I would have used continuing to talk to him and hang out with him when I visited Cincinnati. But this story presented itself to me as I sat here this morning, so here it is.
If you read the above article, or even part of it, please don’t tell me to “move on” or “don’t let it bother me” or “shake the dust off my shoes”….I have. I have accepted it and generally look at it as I mentioned in the above: “I’m likely better off in terms of much more time to do other things”. But I do remember how much I enjoyed the frequent debate/conversation. Mostly now, I miss the sports conversations the most.