“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child.” [Proverbs 22:15a]

Most of us are aware of how Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg has become the world’s foremost voice on climate change. Credit, or blame, (depending on your view), goes out to all those teachers, including her parents, who apparently have no shame in exploiting Greta’s youth and gullibility. But the apocalyptic Thunberg has nothing on Story Warren. Warren is the latest teen to be set up as an expert spokesperson on a controversial topic. But unlike Thunberg, whose purpose in life is to sound the alarm over catastrophic climate change, Story Warren is focused on wolves.

After spending a summer as an intern with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, helping track wolves in Idaho and Washington, and meeting with the Washington state Wolf Advisory Group, Story Warren has achieved the status of “wolf expert” in much the same way Greta Thunberg has been programmed to be an expert on “climate change”. Both teenagers have memorized just enough blather about their subjects to sound informed and intelligent.

In the Bible, the book of Proverbs presents a collection of wisdom sayings, including multiple warnings about fools and foolishness. But it is the book of Timothy that reminds us that people actually prefer to hear lies and myths as long as those falsehoods conform to their own presuppositions and beliefs.

“In order to suit their own desires, people will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear, and will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” [2 Tim 4:3-4]

One can learn lots of wolf myths from Warren’s award winning websites and videos. In “What to expect if you encounter a wolf”, our young expert calmly tells viewers how to react in an encounter with a wolf, as if her perceptions and advice actually reflected the reality of her precarious situation or, heaven forbid, what others should expect under similar circumstances.

As you watch Warren’s video, think about how many other wolves may have been hidden in the woods only a short distance away. She only sees one wolf, but there could have been many more in the vicinity.

Ask yourself, would Warren’s “expert” advice about how to react to an encounter with one wolf translate to an encounter with a pack of wolves? And what if that lone wolf had continued to approach closer or displayed aggression? How would Warren’s encounter have changed if she had been riding a horse, or walking her dog, or tending a flock of sheep?

Would Story Warren’s positive feelings about wolves change if she were to become educated about the 150 different diseases and species of parasites that wolves are currently spreading across the landscape? What would she say if she could actually see the billions of wolf borne Hydatid worms and cysts infecting multiple wildlife species, livestock, and humans? Would her views change if she were to witness a wolf tearing an unborn fetus from the womb of a pregnant elk? Would this teenager watch with admiration as the wolf begins to consume the fetus while it is alive and still partially attached to its dying mother?

While I am saddened by the ignorance displayed by both of these young women, I am angered by the adults who shamefully exploit our youth in order to promote an agenda. As parents and teachers it is our job to educate our children, to share our knowledge and wisdom, not bestow praises or hand out awards when they regurgitate spoon fed lies.

https://www.youtube.com/user/kids4wolves

https://www.instagram.com/kids4wolves

https://www.thurstontalk.com/2016/05/02/story-warren-wolves/