The Conundrum of Oil

Maybe I'm missing something here, but crude oil is a natural resource composed of the fossilized remains of some earlier inhabitants of the ocean. If so, then what BP has done is taken a naturally-occurring substance that's safely contained in one place and spilled it in another. The only problem is that it's toxic to its new environment. Had BP not been so careless, this would've been prevented. However...how is this any worse than what Mother Nature does on its own?

Consider Eyjafjallajökull, that meddlesome volcano in Iceland.

I'm sure there was a bird or two killed by the ash plume and maybe some plant life killed near the blast zone of the volcano. Where's the furor over that and the initiative to create "clean" volcanic eruptions? What about floods or blizzards that deposit inches and feet of precipitation on land and kill people, animals, and plants? Or lightning fires?

BP's disaster is nothing compared to what Mother Nature unleashes on all forms of life on a somewhat regular basis across the planet, aside from the fact that they can actually be hauled into court to face a lawsuit. Somehow, as fragile as it is, life on this planet still goes on. As destructive as it is, God created a pretty solid place for us to live. He went to the trouble of dying so we could live, so why would he have dropped the ball when it came to making a place where we could do that? Granted, this world is still fallen, but it gives us a reason to hope for the day when he renews it and us too.

Even though BP could've prevented this mess, there's still nothing that says a fissure won't rip open another oil reserve on the other side of the world and cause ten times as much damage. No matter how much we try to keep our environment clean and perfect, it's never going to be enough, much like our ability to keep ourselves righteous outside of God. I'm not saying BP shouldn't try to clean up after itself, but I think demonizing them is a bit over-the-top. What makes their sins any worse than ours? They're greedy and selfish just like we can be. Their sins might be more far-reaching, but what do their sins steal from us that God can't provide?

In God's eyes, we, as humans, have screwed the earth up, the one thing he puts us in charge of. But I think he knew what he was doing and still chose to redeem us and our pathetic attempt at work. I think the correct response to all this is to forgive BP as God has forgiven us, ask God to forgive BP's people, ask him to forgive all of us for not maintaining his creation to the best of our ability, ask Him to show us all grace by helping us to not only clean up the mess, but help us do a better job in the future. Amen.

Now thanks for hanging in there. Here's your funny (and really vulgar) reward. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the late George Carlin on the planet.