Two seemingly unrelated events happened recently that have given me a deeper understanding of the radical environmental movement in this country and throughout the world.

The first happened with one of my students. A few weeks ago, towards the end of the current semester, I was working with my students to select a topic for their final research papers. When the students turned in their chosen topics for my approval, one caught my eye. It read, "I plan to prove the existence of God."

This intrigued me, so I pulled the student aside and asked, "How do you plan to prove God's existence?" He answered, "Just look at all of the miracles that happen! Last night I prayed for rain, and it rained. That proves that there is a God."

So I played Devil's advocate. "Wait a minute," I said. "My neighbor told me that she prayed for rain last week, and we didn't get any. How do you explain that?"

"Well," he said, "last week God's answer was, ‘No'." That also proves God's existence.

So according to my student, if you pray for rain and it rains, that proves there is a God, and if you pray for rain and it doesn't rain, that proves there is a God.

We'll skip the rest of my conversation with this student, except to say that I made him choose another topic for his research paper. Religion belief is not built on scientific proof; it's built on faith, and that's as it should be.

Now for the second event. In 2005 the United States experienced the worst hurricane season in history. There were 26 named storms that year, surpassing the record of 21 set in 1933. Thirteen of those became hurricanes, beating the previous record of 12. Seven of those hurricanes were "major" hurricanes.

Two of the deadliest storms, Katrina and Wilma, caused massive damage and loss of life. The death toll from Katrina alone was nearly 1,300, and the financial cost of the two will reach into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

I have a friend who is an environmental activist, and we often argue about such issues as global warming. During 2005's record hurricane season, he would often point his finger at me and say, "See? There's your proof! Global warming is increasing ocean temperatures, causing stronger hurricanes and more of them!"

I bumped into my friend a few days ago, and I asked him to explain-in light of his global warming views-the milder than normal hurricane seasons from 2006 through 2009. (Did you realize, for example, that there were just nine named storms in 2009, and only three hurricanes? Did you further realize that in both 2006 and 2009, not a single hurricane made landfall in the United States?)

My friend's answer was immediate: "It's simple: global warming has melted the glaciers, which has caused ocean temperatures to drop, causing less severe hurricanes and less hurricanes overall."

So according to my friend, if we have more and stronger hurricanes than normal, that proves the existence of global warming, and if we have fewer and less severe hurricanes than normal, that proves the existence of global warming.

Do you see any similarities between my student's response and my friend's?

Here's the deeper understanding part: radical environmentalism is not science; it's religion. It is based on faith, not fact. "Mother Earth" is this religion's god, the Kyoto Treaty--possibly soon to be superseded by the Copenhagen Treaty--is its Bible, and Al Gore is its prophet, a prophet who has made millions of dollars by driving the global warming bandwagon. When Gore pounds the pulpit and screams about global warming, he is not presenting a scientifically-based point of view; he's presenting a faith-based belief system.

So the next time some radical environmentalist gets on the news screaming about how we're destroying the planet, picture him or her as your least favorite televangelist, and get back to living your life in peace.