An Evangelical Backlash Against Environmentalism

New York Times ^ | 12/30/2010 | John Collins Rudolf

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Over the last decade, many evangelical Christians have embraced the doctrine called creation care, which uses a scriptural basis to promote good stewardship of the earth and its resources. For these believers, problems like climate change threaten to greatly intensify third-world poverty, making actions to reduce global warming emissions an urgent Christian issue.

“We are convinced that evangelicals must engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or humanity’s responsibility to address it,” hundreds of evangelical leaders declared in a 2006 statement on climate change.

But while a growing number of local and national nonprofit groups have formed to spread the “creation care” message, an increasingly fierce backlash against the mingling of Christianity and environmentalism has emerged from other quarters of the evangelical movement.

Leading the Christian counterargument on the environment is the Cornwall Alliance, an evangelical nonprofit that strenuously opposes action on climate change and describes the environmental movement as a “false religion” that Christians must avoid at all costs.

This December, the group released a 12-part educational video series, “Resisting the Green Dragon,” warning Christians that radical environmentalism “is striving to put America, and the world, under its destructive control ...

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Strangely enough, I have noticed through the years (I am a Christian) that many Christians are theologically conservative, but socially liberal. There is thus a most serious disconnect between what they say they believe, and what they actually practice politically or socially. In other words, even though Genesis 3 and Romans 1-5 clearly tells us that all of us are sinners down to every last man with no exceptions to the rule (except for Jesus Christ), many Christians have bought into the superficial, leftist cadre that communities are good and individuals are evil. This superficiality is a by product of a very weak understanding of the Scriptures, and has created any number of problems for us in the church, and in our country as well.

I know many Christians who voted for Obama in the 2008 election. I was stunned by this. I suspect that He would have never made it without them. But then again, many (if not most) Christians today are far more interested in music than they are in the Lord, or in the Bible, and that Obama was their 60’s rock star is thus hardly surprising. So, strangely enough, many Christians criticize Hollywoodism for their corruption of our society, yet every Sunday, big entertainment and massively expensive sound systems take over the church services so that it becomes a veritable Woodstock Christianity. It seems that much of our modern worship has almost degenerated to the point of Exodus 32 - operation golden calf when they rose up to play. This actually scares me far more than what I see going on politically and socially in our country precisely because no one senses that there is something seriously wrong here, and they defend it far more than they do the Christian faith.

[Olympiad Fisherman]

I did and do understand what you are saying and agree with you (but you overstated your case). The earth is never seen as an object of salvation, but people certainly are. The earth will be restored through the resurrection of the saints (Romans 8:18-23), of which Jesus Christ was the firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20-25).

[wbarmy]

I am beginning to think we are talking “past” each other.

The advertisements and articles about environmentalism almost always talk about our ability to “save” the Earth for future generations. Even McDonalds has this in one of their Green ads. This is why I complain when Christians buy into this, they begin to think they are helping in “saving” the Earth. This might only be a subconscious attitude, but it still plays out in their minds and spending.

I agree, the earth is never going to be “saved”, only people can be saved. Which is why the focus of the Green movement is so insidious, especially for Christians.

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Uh-huh. Yes, environmentalism is a romantic secular religion that has fooled many people, including Christians. Advertizements on saving nature has replaced saving people, which, of course, is all backwards.

Please check out this website which I trust you will find very interesting (www.rmarkmusser.com - yours truly).

Thanks!