Posted on 09/29/2006 6:01:19 PM PDT by xzins
Press Releases
Evangelical Leaders Exploited by Global Warming-Population Control Lobby
Contact Jeff Walton
WASHINGTON and GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Why would a pro-abortion foundation want to fund an Evangelical Christian initiative to fight global warming?
That question is raised in "From Climate Control to Population Control: Troubling Background on the "Evangelical Climate Initiative," a new paper jointly released by the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty and the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
The "Evangelical Climate Initiative" (ECI) was launched in February in what was described by its organizers as a Bible-based response to global warming. The 86 prominent signers argued that "this is God's world and any damage that we do to God's world is an offense against God Himself." Moreover, ECI proponents claimed that "most of the climate change problem is human induced" and made predictions that "millions of people could die in this century."
What the publicity surrounding the ECI failed to disclose was that the initiative dangerously connects an Evangelical "creation care" ethic to those groups that are lobbying for population control and abortion-on-demand. Such efforts, if successful, would give anti-Christian ideologies unmerited moral and theological cover that they now lack.
"Our fear is that Evangelical leaders who in good faith associated themselves with the ECI are being exploited by organizations that not only deny their biblically-based value system, but hold such beliefs in contempt," said Jay Richards, Ph.D., a research fellow at Acton.
ECI signers include megachurch pastor Rick Warren, Christianity Today editor David Neff, and former National Association of Evangelicals Vice President for Governmental Affairs Robert P. Dugan.
One of the largest funders of the ECI effort was the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Hewlett Foundation, which contributed $475,000 to the ECI, is a major contributor to the causes of abortion and population control. The Hewlett Foundation funds both environmental and population control groups not by coincidence, but because it thinks that an increase in human population must degrade the environment. The foundation's population project is focused on "helping women and families choose the number and spacing of children, protecting against sexually transmitted infections, and eliminating unsafe abortion." Such language is a thinly veiled defense of abortion-on-demand, which the Hewlett Foundation supports generously.
James Tonkowich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, pointed out that there is a long history of environmentalist thinking that sees humans primarily as consumers and polluters. "That thinking leads many to insist that abortion rights are integral to any environmental agenda," he said. "By contrast, we affirm that Earth was shaped by a benevolent Creator to be the habitat that sustains and enriches all human life even as humans subdue and enrich the Earth through our creativity and industry."
ECI organizers cannot claim ignorance about the nature of the Hewlett Foundation's mission to solve global warming by promoting abortion-on-demand and other "family planning" policies. In a May 2006 speech to the World Bank, current NAE Vice President for Governmental Affairs Richard Cizik told the audience: "I'd like to take on the population issue, but in my community global warming is the third rail issue. I've touched the third rail . . . but still have a job. And I'll still have a job after my talk here today. But population is a much more dangerous issue to touch. . . We need to confront population control and we can—we're not Roman Catholics after all—but it's too hot to handle now."
The Institute on Religion and Democracy is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches' social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad. For more on IRD, please visit www.ird-renew.org/.
The Acton Institute is a nonprofit, ecumenical think tank located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Institute works internationally to "promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles." For more on the Acton Institute, please visit www.acton.org/.
###
Date: 9/28/2006
ping
Why not? Lunitics Unite In The International Community Stuggle!
Fools attract fools.
Your acronym doesn't make sense.
I know the Packards also give money to liberal causes.
This begs the question: why do all these high-tech entrepreneurs end up so liberal? It seems to be endemic.
It does make one wonder, doesn't it?
Corporate Welfare maybe??
Maybe he meant UNited
Lunitics Unite Now In The International Community Struggle.
Thanks. At least I know someone read it.
pro-life issue for your ping list
You're gonna hate me for this .. but "lunatics" is spelled with an "a".
Otherwise, nice effort!
lunitic should be lunAtic, shouldn't it?
"Moreover, ECI proponents claimed that "most of the climate change problem is human induced" and made predictions that "millions of people could die in this century."
I'll make a prediction; More than six billion will die this century...
Hi, I, too, am a United Methodist. (An ordained elder pastor in the midwest.)
I agree with you.
To say that global warming can be controlled through population control is an invitation to kill babies. Sad and it breaks God's heart.
Now I know that more than one person is reading my posts. I'll try to quit posting when I'm watching a football game and doing other things.
Bullseye! :)
Yep...."it is given unto man once to die and after this the judgment."
Seems a safe bet to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.