Saving bees, Bernie Sanders and Jesus have common ground

Emily Wintringham.

We look to nature, in life forms and other things like the Fibonacci sequence, to learn how the world works. It appears you never truly know what nature has to offer until you seek it out and engage with it. According to the documentary “The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms,” bees have a unique skill. Mathematician professor Marcus du Sautoy unveiled the research being done to discover the traveling salesman’s algorithm, that is, the code to finding the quickest route from a starting point to all intended destinations, and back.  Researchers found that bees themselves don’t have this algorithm to their own disposal for pollinating numerous plants, but they come very close. The bees are very efficient with the heuristic way of conserving their energy as much as possible while making their rounds.

Bees can teach us a lot. Quite frankly, without bees, we may not be able to discover anything spectacular in the universe for a while. The extinction of bees could send us into another dark age.

According to Earth Unplugged, of the 100 crops that give nutrients to 90 percent of humanity, 70 percent of those are pollinated by bees. While academic sources suggest that we wouldn’t go completely extinct without our natural fertilizers, many plant species would, spurring a tremendous food shortage and a dramatic increase in their prices. According to BBC, the current bee shortage crisis is the result of “the loss of flower meadows, the crab-like varroa mite(s) that feast on their blood, climate change, and use of pesticides.”

Now, this wouldn’t be a wholesome opinion column without targeting a demographic to blame for this, right? Although, we could call this “waking up” instead. There have been a lot of pushes by politicians, such as Bernie Sanders, to encourage positives changes for the environment. A lot of people pretend to know what they don’t know, that is true. But even taking science out of the equation, it’s pretty accurate to say that taking care of something is better than not taking care of it. Preserving something is much better than letting it waste. Dissenting observers claim that the government is only trying to scare the money out of people’s pockets. Except regardless of how career politicians are taking advantage of this buzz topic, it doesn’t change the fact that carbon monoxide, lead, and nitrogen oxides released in great amounts into the air is inarguably bad, not good. So what makes a Christian, someone of my own faith, argue differently?

It’s odd to me that the people who believe that a divine creator put time and effort into crafting a beautiful world to enjoy life with together would be the ones to discount such agenda in favor of “economic success.” When I was in MHCC instructor Andy Gurevich’s Writing 123 class, I learned that the common argument from Christian people who are not in favor of a strong emphasis on protecting the environment is the notion that the sinful nature of the world is always going to put a damper on such efforts and thus render them useless. Supposedly, when the Messiah returns, the Earth will be re-created anyway, so why bother?

When Gurevich explained this, I suddenly understood the argument, but I still don’t understand why this argument is still spreading.

When taking into account the scripture that Jesus mentioned in his own prayer, before He ever left the Earth: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven,” if the original plan was for us to be good stewards of creation from the beginning, we should strive to be no less than that.

I do believe the whole world, regardless of anyone’s personal creed, loves this planet.

Even if one doesn’t necessarily believe the world was divinely created, it is still considered a gift. If we want to continue to explore, then we must respect what we are exploring: nature and bees and all that jazz.

Advocate Staff