The Old Paths: The love of money – The Stokes News

Do you ever watch awards shows and wonder what planet these people are from? Or maybe if you are on another planet? For example, I used to watch the Grammys back on the old paths, but when I looked at the lineup of performers for last weeks show, as well as the nominated singers, I recognized so few of them that I decided to forgo this annual event.

After my Facebook friends posted about the vulgarity of some performers, I was glad I opted instead to watch The Help on DVD with my hubster. I am also relieved I didnt bother with the recent Golden Globe awards after I heard how the hosts language often had to be bleeped out.

Sometimes I still watch the Oscars just to see if Ive even heard of the nominated movies. The artsy powers-that-be dont usually nominate the types of movies I frequent pictures from the Star Wars or Marvel superhero franchises, flicks that even kids could enjoy, faith-based films for the family.

However, occasionally the Emmy folks take into account some of the social justice movies I love, (although I still think Viola Davis shouldve won Best Actress for The Help back in 2012 no offense, Meryl). Yes, I am a sucker for a movie about a cause, but especially one based on facts.

I have seen some especially powerful ones in recent months. One was Dark Waters, starring my favorite Incredible Hulk, Mark Ruffalo, as corporate defense attorney Rob Bilott. I am beyond puzzled as to why it received no Oscar nod.

This riveting drama tells the true story of a lawyers fight to hold the giant corporation DuPont accountable for supposedly knowingly poisoning people with some of their household products, as well as with the wastes from making those products. The movie had some bad language and purposely-dreary sets and scenery, but it is a story everyone who owns a Teflon pan should acquaint themselves with.

This movies premise felt uncomfortably familiar to someone who has fought against improper disposal of coal ashthe toxic fly ash that once coated our cars, roofs, garden soil over in Dry Hollow where I grew up. When I mentioned the uncanny similarities to my daughters as we exited the dark theater, an older man walking in front of us suddenly turned to me and asked, Are you from West Virginia?

No, sir, I replied, explaining that I identified with big companies polluting the areas here in N.C. He told me he was from the very areas depicted in Dark Waters economically depressed regions in WV where big business could more easily dump on those they considered less-equipped to realize the risks and fight back. We two strangers spoke for a few minutes, feeling an unexpected kinship.

As a conservative who is very much pro-life, I find it extremely ironic that many national leaders of the same conservative party which fights against abortion dont seem very concerned these days with environmental pollutants that arent pro-life at all. If you are concerned about the life of a babe in the womb (as am I), shouldnt you be just as concerned about the lives of people outside the womb who are being slowly poisoned by the toxins some wealthy companies are producing and dumping?

In other words, why is it only wrong when a life is suddenly terminated before birth? Isnt slow and agonizing termination over many years just as bad or even worse? When the Bible said that the love of money is the root of all evil, it wasnt kidding. Money is not inherently evil; the love of it is as in greed that cares more about profits than humanity.

Dark Waters explores that type of greed where the bottom line obviously matters more than the people in poor rural areas who are having groundwater and farmland tainted with toxic chemicals. And these arent just toxins that will eventually fade away; they are called forever chemicals because they do not totally leave the bloodstream, thus slowly accumulating over a lifetime.

As part of the PFAS family of chemicals, these man-made toxins wear titles such as PFOA or PFOS. Studies have estimated that at least 98 percent of humans have some amount of these forever chemicals in their bodies already. The same is true of animals, as the toxins have been found even in seawater in remote locations.

(You should Google what happens to pet birds when a Teflon pan is heated to extremely high temperatures. The result might shock you.)

These chemicals were used for decades in stain-resistant carpets, microwave popcorn bags, carpet-cleaning liquids, Teflon products, upholstery, apparel, floor wax, textiles, firefighting foam, sealants and even some foods. Due in part to Lawyer Bilotts fight against DuPont, public awareness of forever chemicals has led to many U.S. companies ceasing to use them, but some imported goods may still contain these toxins.

Some populations at high risk of danger are those who live near industrial waste dumping sites IF the wastes were not properly disposed of. Studies have conclusively proven that such dumping sites tend to exist in rural areas where the citizens are poorer and more likely to be of minority status. The implication is that such people are of little value.

And that, my friends, is unethical. As one of my favorite movie characters Malachi Johnson (played by Danny Glover in the western Silverado) says, That aint right, and Ive had enough of what aint right.

Once again, the answer to all of this is found in the Good Book. If everyone yes, even big business interests and wealthy industries loved their neighbors as themselves, none of this would be happening. If you love your fellow humans as much as you do yourself, you would never dump toxic waste in someone elses backyard because you wouldnt want it in yours. You would not knowingly cover up the fact that the chemicals you are using to make it easier for us to fry food or clean our carpets have been proven to pile up inside our bodies and cause many kinds of cancers and diseases.

The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. In truth, it prevents sins, too. I pray that love for humanity will one day trump the greedy love of money. Miracles do happen.

Leslie Bray Brewer can be emailed at theoldpathsatwalnutcove@yahoo.com. Her blog is at http://timesofrefreshingontheoldpaths.wordpress.com.

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The Old Paths: The love of money - The Stokes News