"A Retreat and a Defeat:" Evangelicals Take No Stand on Global Warming

I think it's important that we keep people from getting to ill while on Earth. Where I live in Canada we have one of the highest cancer and heart disease death rates. I've already lost my dad to cancer and mother just beat it!
At the same time I know pollution won't affect my salvation, thankfuly.
But I still am concerned about how much damage enviroment can cause your body and you don't even know your breathing in it!
I could care less if any evangelist said anything about it because they might not live in an area of a country that has so much smog or pollution because their are some parts that are horrible and some parts that are o.k!
Are goverment needs to protect us!!

"At the same time I know pollution won't affect my salvation, thankfuly."

While I wouldn't tie environmentalism to salvation, I think that there is a clear Christian obligation to proper stewardship of the earth.

You'd think such a simple thing as protecting the environment would be an easy place to build bridges between the religious Right and the religious Left...

Though I can never reconcile the Christian-progessive message of promoting abortion and re-defining marriage and family (and basically socialistic politics) under the guise of tolerance and diversity, with Biblical truths, I can see the message of environmentalism as a place where there needs to be no division with Christians and unbelievers.

As long as private land ownership is not threatened, then the world and Christians need to address environmental concerns as a matter of improving the quality of life for the earth's inhabitants.

Mr. Dobson (whom I support on moral issues) and other "conservatives" need to be able to discern issues far better. It is not selling out the Gospel to take care of the environment.

AA

This article gives us good news and bad news. The good news is that a number of evangelicals are beginning to wake up to the fact that we need to start taking better care of our planet. After all, its the only one we've got! The bad news is that those who lead the evangelical community continue to let their political allegiances over-rule their better judgement. How strange that those who champion the literal interpretation of scripture can so easily over-look the fact the occupation of the first human beings was to be care-takers of a garden.

Billy Strain

Hi Al
YOU WROTE: though I can never reconcile the Christian-progessive message of promoting abortion and re-defining marriage and family (and basically socialistic politics) under the guise of tolerance and diversity, with Biblical truths...

As long as private land ownership is not threatened, then the world and Christians need to address environmental concerns as a matter of improving the quality of life for the earth's inhabitants.

KEITH; I hate to quibble, but I am weary of people overusing the word "socialist". I *am* a socialist and I have to point out that abortion and what we recognize as a family has nothing at all to do with socialism. Socialism is nothing more than the idea that society has the right to democratically set the economic rules to promote the common good, that private ownership of the means of production ought not be allowed to prevent this socialist aim. Socialism doesn't imply an all-powerful central government, gulags and reeducation camps, and it doesn't imply the elimination of free markets nor entepreneurial activities.

Private land ownership? That depends on who gets to call themselves the "owners" and what they are permitted to do to the land they claim. In Latin America "private property rights" means poor indigenous peasants are born into extreme poverty and die in the same economic state. Socialists don't want to take away the family farm or anything like that.

Well, thanks for letting me vent:-)

your friend
Keith

AA

As an evangelical, I'm disappointed that my brethren didn't take a stronger stand on the issue of global warming. It is indeed a "retreat and a defeat", hearkening back to a day when we thought that this world was quickly passing away and earthly life held no value for us, a theology closer to Gnosticism.
However, I don't believe that to be true. I believe that as Christians we're called to care for the environment as much as we can. I believe further that we will be asked by God, "What did you do with everything I gave you" and that includes the earth we walk on. We as Christians need to be concerned about our earth, and do as much as we can to care for it, which will serve as a witness to God's care for us.
Shalom,
Allie <><

This gets at the problems of internal governance that I wrote about when I reviewed the NAE's "Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility".

I think one inevitably has to weight the relative importance of the type one and two errors of acting vs maintaining the status quo wrt emissions and global warming.

One also needs to avoid claiming that a consensus among "evangelicals" is needed for action to be taken.

dlw

Al Ayeti wrote:

"Though I can never reconcile the Christian-progessive message of promoting abortion and re-defining marriage and family (and basically socialistic politics) under the guise of tolerance and diversity"

Those are blatantly false assertions Al. Nobody "Promotes" abortion. We just don't think anybody else has the ultimate right to make personal decisions for others, especially people who are prone to LYING about other peoples situations and motivations.

Clean up your own soul before you condemn others.

Thanks for all the great comments. Here's and exciting UPDATE!!

February 8, 2006
Evangelical Leaders Join Global Warming Initiative

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Despite opposition from some of their colleagues, 86 evangelical Christian leaders have decided to back a major initiative to fight global warming, saying "millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors."

Among signers of the statement, which will be released in Washington on Wednesday, are the presidents of 39 evangelical colleges, leaders of aid groups and churches, like the Salvation Army, and pastors of megachurches, including Rick Warren, author of the best seller "The Purpose-Driven Life."

"For most of us, until recently this has not been treated as a pressing issue or major priority," the statement said. "Indeed, many of us have required considerable convincing before becoming persuaded that climate change is a real problem and that it ought to matter to us as Christians. But now we have seen and heard enough."

The statement calls for federal legislation that would require reductions in carbon dioxide emissions through "cost-effective, market-based mechanisms" — a phrase lifted from a Senate resolution last year and one that could appeal to evangelicals, who tend to be pro-business. The statement, to be announced in Washington, is only the first stage of an "Evangelical Climate Initiative" including television and radio spots in states with influential legislators, informational campaigns in churches, and educational events at Christian colleges.

"We have not paid as much attention to climate change as we should, and that's why I'm willing to step up," said Duane Litfin, president of Wheaton College, an influential evangelical institution in Illinois. "The evangelical community is quite capable of having some blind spots, and my take is this has fallen into that category."

Some of the nation's most high-profile evangelical leaders, however, have tried to derail such action. Twenty-two of them signed a letter in January declaring, "Global warming is not a consensus issue." Among the signers were Charles W. Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; and Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Their letter was addressed to the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group of churches and ministries, which last year had started to move in the direction of taking a stand on global warming. The letter from the 22 leaders asked the National Association of Evangelicals not to issue any statement on global warming or to allow its officers or staff members to take a position.

E. Calvin Beisner, associate professor of historical theology at Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., helped organize the opposition into a group called the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance. He said Tuesday that "the science is not settled" on whether global warming was actually a problem or even that human beings were causing it. And he said that the solutions advocated by global warming opponents would only cause the cost of energy to rise, with the burden falling most heavily on the poor.

In response to the critics, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Rev. Ted Haggard, did not join the 86 leaders in the statement on global warming, even though he had been in the forefront of the issue a year ago. Neither did the Rev. Richard Cizik, the National Association's Washington lobbyist, even though he helped persuade other leaders to sign the global warming initiative.

On Tuesday, Mr. Haggard, the pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said in a telephone interview that he did not sign because it would be interpreted as an endorsement by the entire National Association of Evangelicals. But he said that speaking just for himself, "There is no doubt about it in my mind that climate change is happening, and there is no doubt about it that it would be wise for us to stop doing the foolish things we're doing that could potentially be causing this. In my mind there is no downside to being cautious."

Of those who did sign, said the Rev. Jim Ball, executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network: "It's a very centrist evangelical list, and that was intentional. When people look at the names, they're going to say, this is a real solid group here. These leaders are not flighty, going after the latest cause. And they know they're probably going to take a little flak."

The list includes prominent black leaders like Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, the Rev. Floyd Flake of the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in New York City, and Bishop Wellington Boone of the Father's House and Wellington Boone Ministries in Norcross, Ga.; as well as Hispanic leaders like the Rev. Jesse Miranda, president of AMEN in Costa Mesa, Calif.

The evangelical leaders are meeting Wednesday with senators or their staff members concerned with legislation on energy and the environment. Their letter commends senators who last year passed a resolution by Senators Pete V. Domenici, a Republican, and Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, both of New Mexico, which called for regulatory measures like a cap and trade program, a system in which industries would buy or trade permits to emit greenhouse gases.

In their statement, the evangelicals praised companies like BP, Shell, General Electric, Cinergy, Duke Energy and DuPont that it said "have moved ahead of the pace of government action through innovative measures" to reduce emissions.

The television spot links images of drought, starvation and Hurricane Katrina to global warming. In it, the Rev. Joel Hunter, pastor of a megachurch in Longwood, Fla., says: "As Christians, our faith in Jesus Christ compels us to love our neighbors and to be stewards of God's creation. The good news is that with God's help, we can stop global warming, for our kids, our world and for the Lord."

The advertisements are to be shown in Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia.

The Evangelical Climate Initiative, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars, is being supported by individuals and foundations, including the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Hewlett Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation.

The initiative is one indication of a growing urgency about climate change among religious groups, said Paul Gorman, executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, a clearinghouse in Amherst, Mass., for environmental initiatives by religious groups.

Interfaith climate campaigns in 15 states are pressing for regional standards to reduce greenhouse gases, Mr. Gorman said. Jewish, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox leaders also have campaigns under way.

I think it's incredibly important that we, as Christians, protect our environment. God gave us this glorious planet and all it offers to allow us to survive. I think it's abysmal that we continue to abuse this God given gift! Not only are we abusing it, but we are at war not to protect our natural resources but to continue to pollute the environment with petroleum based byproducts that do nothing to enhance this planet.

If we, as a nation, would pursue alternative sources of fuel, such as E85 and biodiesel, we'd have a leg up on this administration that is allowing our sons and daughters to die to protect oil. It's a sad state when a "Christian" would rather deplete natural resources that through consumption pollute our atmosphere and land rather than promote an alternative and fund it's research and implementation.

FP,
Thanks for the update. Hey, maybe there is some hope for the evangelical leadership after all. At least this will show the country that there is another Biblically-sound alternative opinion to the issues or our day.

Billy Strain

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