December 29, 2017Gronda Morin

aside What’s The Real Reason Behind Evangelicals’ Denial For Climate Change Science

Image result for photos of RICK WARREN
THE GOOD GUY

I have been asking myself how could mostly White Evangelical Christians continue to propagate the denial of climate change science to the detriment of our country’s well being and of the entire planet.

Once upon a time Evangelicals in 2005 were on the verge of affirming the science of climate change but the leaders of this thinking were blocked from implementing any action along these lines by  a group called the “Interfaith Stewardship Alliance.”

A per Wikipedia, The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation is a conservative  Christian public policy group that promotes a free-market approach to care for the environment that is critical of much of the current environmental movement. In particular, the Cornwall Alliance rejects claims of detrimental global warming. Originally called the “Interfaith Stewardship Alliance” it was founded in 2005 in reaction to the efforts of evangelical leaders (such as Rick Warren) to fight global warming. The name Cornwall come from the 2000 Cornwall Declaration.”

In 2000, a statement called the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship was put forward and has been signed by over 1500 clergy, theologians and others according to Cornwall Alliance. Signatories include prominent religious individuals from the Roman Catholic, Jewish and Evangelical worlds such as Charles Colson, James Dobson, Rabbi Jacob Neusner, R. C. Sproul, Richard John Neuhaus, and D. James Kennedy.”

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“The declaration states that human beings should be regarded as “producers and stewards” rather than “consumers and polluters”. It states:”

“The Cornwall Declaration further sets forth an articulate and Biblically-grounded set of beliefs and aspirations in which God can be glorified through a world in which “human beings care wisely and humbly for all creatures” and “widespread economic freedom…makes sound ecological stewardship available to ever greater numbers.”

“The declaration expresses concern over the “unfounded or undue concerns” of environmentalists such as “fears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss.”

The following narrative is a must read. Peoples need to understand the reach of these mostly White Evangelical cult like followers into the White House, the US Congress and the Republican Party, and to fully comprehend  the harm they are committing against their fellow American citizens.

llustration by Jim Cooke/GMG

Here is the rest of the story…

On August 8, 2017, Brendan O’Connor of Splinter penned the following report, “How Fossil Fuel Money Made Climate Change Denial the Word of God.”

Excerpts:

“In 2005, at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the National Association of Evangelicals was on the verge of doing something novel: affirming science. Specifically, the 30-million-member group, which represents 51 Christian denominations, was debating how to advance a new platform called “For the Health of a Nation.” The position paper—written the year before An Inconvenient Truth kick-started sense of public urgency around climate change—included a call for evangelicals to protect God’s creation, and to embrace the government’s help in doing so. The NAE’s board had already adopted it unanimously before presenting it to the membership for debate.”

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“At the time, many in the evangelical movement were uncomfortable with its close ties to the Republican anti-environmental regulation agenda. That year, a group called the Evangelical Alliance of Scientists and Ethicists protested the GOP-led effort to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, and the NAE’s vice president of governmental affairs Richard Cizik pushed for the organization to endorse John McCain and Joe Lieberman’s cap-and-trade bill. “For the Health of a Nation,” which Cizik also pushed, was an opportunity to draw a bright line between their support of right-wing social positions on abortion and civil rights and a growing sentiment that God’s creation needed protection from industry.”

“Evangelicals don’t want themselves identified as the Republican Party at prayer,” the historian and evangelical Mark Knoll said at the time in support of the platform.”

 “He was wrong. The rank-and-file membership rejected the effort. Like the oil and utilities industries, they decided that recognizing climate change was against their political interests.”
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“At the behest of a group called the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, the board buckled, releasing a statement in February 2006 “recognizing the ongoing debate” on global warming and “the lack of consensus among the evangelical community on the issue.” Just days later, an outside group of 86 evangelical leaders, under the aegis of the Evangelical Climate Initiative, issued a “Call to Action” declaring that climate change was real and that “millions of people could die from it in this century.”

“Conservative groups, funded by fossil fuel magnates, spend approximately one billion dollars every year interfering with public understanding of what is actually happening to our world.”

“For his trouble, Cizik was targeted by a collection of hard right Christians, who petitioned the NAE board to muzzle him or force him to resign. “Cizik and others are using the global warming controversy to shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time, notably the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage, and the teaching of sexual abstinence and morality to our children,” their letter read. ”

“The NAE didn’t silence Cizik, but it didn’t take up his cause, either. (Ultimately, his undoing was not climate change, but same-sex marriage. “I would willingly say that I believe in civil unions,” he told NPR’s Terry Gross in May 2007. “I don’t officially support redefining marriage from its traditional definition, I don’t think.” He was fired ten days later.)”

Republicans on Climate Change

“The NAE did eventually endorse climate action in 2015. But it was too late. By that time, a corps of right-wing Christians, funded by fossil-fuel interests, had hijacked the public and political machinery of the evangelical movement. They are now in the White House, where the anti-environmental agenda is dominated by Christian fundamentalists like EPA Commissioner Scott Pruitt while the more moderate views of former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson are ignored. This is the story of how they did it.”

“At a town hall in Michigan last May, Republican Rep. Tim Walberg assured his constituents that, while the climate may be changing, they don’t need to be concerned. “As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us,” he told them. “And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, He can take care of it.”

Climate Change vs. Gravity

 “This idea—that whatever happens in God’s creation happens with His blessing—has deep roots in the American evangelical community, especially among the elite fundamentalists who walk the halls of power in Washington, D.C. For years, an evangelical minister named Ralph Drollinger has held weekly Bible studies for members of Congress, preaching that social welfare programs are un-Christian and agitating for military action against Iran. (In December 2015, he expressed his desire to shape Donald Trump into a benevolent, Christian dictator.) Drollinger also teaches that climate change caused by humans is impossible in light of God’s covenant with Noah after the Flood: “To think that man can alter the earth’s ecosystem—when God remains omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent in the current affairs of mankind—is to more than subtly espouse an ultra-hubristic, secular worldview relative to the supremacy and importance of man,” he wrote recently.”

14 comments

  1. It seems unfathomable to me that Evangelicals can so easily deny science and dictate their religious/ political anti-environmental agenda. I suppose reason, sanity, self preservation is beyond their comprehension in regard to climate change. They are just encouraging Trump and his supporters to destroy the world in the name of profits.

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    • Dear !EarthUnited,

      The Evangelical Christians are a crucial segment of the republican party and thus, their power is magnified. I used to think that most of the White Evangelicals at least acted out of principled conviction.

      I started to question their sincerity over their strong resistance to climate change science.

      You are right. They are prepared to destroy the world in the name of profits.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Liked by 1 person

  2. And God will watch us as we surely destroy our own existence. I am not religious, but there are many parables told by Jesus in the Bible, and a few in the old Testament, that indicate that if you are given the tools to do good things for others, then that is exactly what we should do. Instead, today’s Christian majority expect God to bail them out of every atrocity that they have committed against the earth, its resources and its inhabitants. Guess what people?… The joke is on you. Yours will be a fiery end!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Colettebytes,

      I concur with your thinking. These Evangelicals are acting contrary to many of the basic tenets of their own Leader’s teachings. They ostracize anyone who questions the morality of their actions. They act more like a cult. But because they comprise a major portion of the republican party’s base, magnifies their power.

      They are doing real harm to this country.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Dreamer9177,

      That’s it in a nutshell.

      I guess they think they are ready for Armageddon. Many of these White Evangelicals believe in this pre-tribulation rapture (man-made) doctrine where they are going to be whisked up to Heaven before anything really bad happens on this earth.

      They do seem to live in a different universe where the truth and facts have no relevance in their lives and the heck with what happens to the rest of this world or the harm they impose on others.

      Thanks a million times over for your support and for this reblog.

      Hugs, Gronda

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    • Dear Dreamer9177,

      I want to take the time to wish you and yours a wonderful Happy New Year in 2018. Thanks a million for being a part of my blogging family.

      Hugs, Gronda

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  5. An open statement to The Evangelicals under discussion….
    Err…guys…God got cross with us for messing up the world once before…Flood. He did promise he wouldn’t do that again, so I guess He is up there now saying:
    ‘Toldja’
    (Irreverently yours Roger)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Roger,

      I appreciate your irreverence.

      It is more honest than what these so-called Christians going by the name of Evangelicals, espouse. I would advise all young people to avoid these cult-like figures like they have the plague because they can be that harmful.

      These folks are in no way representing God. They are guilty of using His Name in vain.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Liked by 1 person

      • I’m not very good at quoting biblical passage (I’m more receptive to messages than words)…but I seem to recall something about wolves in sheep’s clothing (in this context a bit of an insult to wolves)

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Gronda, thanks for sharing how easily religious leaders can be politicized. On the side of the Angeks, I would counter these funded positions with the Pope’s paper and position on doing something about the real threat of climate change. Unlike many religious and political leaders, the Pope is a scientist with a Chemistry degree.

    I have also been in two separate meetings led by a Rabbi, Priest, Baptist minister and Imam on God/ Allah’s words in religious texts to take care of the environment. I found their words encouraging. But, even without their reinforcing words, the science is compelling and we should continue the march forward as we are passed the tipping point on renewable energy. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Dear Keith,

    Would you believe that there are conservative Catholics who are challenging the Pope’s promotion of the reality of climate change science.

    I want the US to become part of the Paris Climate Accord again. The biggest resistance to this comes from our White Evangelical brothers and sisters. It is helpful to be armed with knowledge as to why many White Evangelicals are acting this way.

    We are going forward but is would sure be great if those who have been working against us, would start working with us.

    Hugs, Gronda

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    • Gronda, agreed. Climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer was on PBS Newshour last night calling the President on the carpet for his tweet conflating climate and weather as well as the cost of the Paris accord.

      I cannot explain the Catholic conservatives going against the Pope on this. It just shows how effective the Koch Bros are with their marketing. Keith

      Liked by 1 person

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