Skeptic

Does anyone remember what color were we supposed to be before the admonition to go green? Is green the new brown or blue? Everywhere you turn there is something going green. Reusable grocery bags, squiggly light bulbs and hybrid cars exemplify this planet saving movement. Adherents to the green tsunami are quite passionate but many are unwilling to give ear to dissent on the issue.

To be certain I have no issue with anyone choosing to be green. Rather I give full throated support to the care and keeping of the environment for we have been entrusted with this duty by our mutual Creator. My natural curiosity though often leads me to question the greenies on what they believe and that tends to be unpopular. Can we really destroy the planet? Will the use of green products save the planet? Can no one be skeptical of the green movement? Is the end of the planet a foregone conclusion?

Similarly I find myself asking questions of those in my own arena. The world of nutrition is fraught with many claims subject to scrutiny and question. Like a number of issues with the green movement such as do humans even have the power to destroy God’s creation and even if we did would changing the type of light bulbs we use make a difference? Does eating less fat and having the right BMI guarantee good health and longevity? To my skeptical mind there are real questions.

In part these questions are born of observation. I myself have a BMI a little above the recommended range for good health yet I have no issues typically associated with this weight. I have observed this trait in a number of others therefore I am led to ask questions. One, are there others like me or am I a statistical outlier? Do health issues befall every one of us eventually despite our height, weight or diet? To the first I answer no and to the second a resounding yes. And the second I assert should be observable to all.

Questions also arise due to the nature of the messengers and the message. We live in the greatest country ever established in the history of the earth. There is less poverty and more wealth within our borders that anywhere else in the world. First rate healthcare and good nutrition is available to all who seek it yet a standard message heard is how our children may not have the quality of life we enjoyed and that we are in a steep steady decline in regards to health. Although I am not oblivious to the fact that there are those who need help I am also inclined to believe that this is not a problem unique to our modern society.

So where do nutrition issues and environment matters cross and why am I such a skeptic? Any school o thought that shuns debate or dissent is wide open to skepticism and both nutrition and environmental adherents are culpable. Moreover any set of ideas that cannot stand on its own merits and withstanding scrutiny leaves itself open to the questions of skeptics. Here again disciples of nutrition and the green movement often seem unwilling to allow anyone to peek under the façade.

All I seek is open and robust debate. What I wonder is am I the only skeptic left? Is there no one moved by simple curiosity to ask if what they are told is true? I want to know if we eat the right way and weight what we are told we should will we live to 100 or 150 years of age free of disease? If we recycle cans and swear off the incandescent light bulb will we be able to stop the planet from burning up?