Real Life Prophet Essay

When most people hear the word prophet what comes to mind is religious figures such as Jesus or Mohammed or fictional characters such as Neo or Obi-won. The truth is that there are many real life prophets out in the world who are striving to spread their messages to the ignorant masses. One of these prophets is Al Gore. Al Gore has been trying to spread his message about the collapsing state of the environment since he was in high school: “As I was entering high school, my mother was reading 'Silent Spring' and the dinner table conversation was about pesticides and the environment.” (Al Gore, WASHINGTON TALK; Greening of Democrats: An 80's Mix of Idealism And Shrewd Politics) Since then Al Gore has been fighting for the environment through published articles and the movie An Inconvenient Truth. When in office Al Gores primary ignorant masses which he was trying to convince were other politicians, but once he was out of office his masses became the entire world. His belief was that “The people of the world […] can make all the difference” for the environment.

Al Gore fits the criteria of a prophet according to the revelation trope. There is an unacceptable situation: “We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.” (Gore), and he attempts to spread the message to the ignorant masses, who in this case is the entire world that is ignorant about the environment, that there needs to be a change and that emissions of greenhouse gases need to be reduced: “Gore was one of the first politicians to grasp the seriousness of climate change and to call for a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases.” (Concord Moniter). So in the unacceptable situation, ignorant masses, and message and image of a new world criteria Al Gore fits the trope of a prophet quite well. He travels around the country and the world spreading his message to all of the ignorant masses, for example he constantly does speeches and presentations at environmental events (although to have this prophet speak you must pay him a large amount of money.)

As a prophet Al Gore has his fair share of opposition. Many politicians have attempted to discredit some of his speeches. John Coleman, who is the founder of the weather channel has called out Al Gore and made claims that global warming is a fraud for people like Al Gore to make money. “’I have a feeling this is the opening,’ Coleman said. ‘If the lawyers will take the case – sue the people who sell carbon credits. That includes Al Gore. That lawsuit would get so much publicity, so much media attention. And as the experts went to the witness stand and testified, I feel like that could become the vehicle to finally put some light on the fraud of global warming.’” (Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute) Like all prophets of the revelation trope Al Gore is under attack for being a fraud or a false prophet, but still spreads his message to the ignorant masses despite the criticism.