A new holy war is growing within the conservative evangelical community, with implications for both the global environment and American politics. For years liberal Christians and others have made protection of the environment a moral commitment. Now a number of conservative evangelicals are joining the fight, arguing that man's stewardship of the planet is a biblical imperative and calling for action to stop global warming.
But they are being met head-on by opposition from their traditional evangelical brethren who adamantly support the Bush administration in downplaying the threat of global warming and other environmental perils. The political stakes are high: Three out of every four white evangelical voters chose George W. Bush in 2004. "Is God Green?" explores how a serious split among conservative evangelicals over the environment and global warming could reshape American politics.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Is God Green?
A few days ago Bill Moyer of PBS did an extended news feature on how some evangelicals are taking a more aggressive stand on environmental issues. This stand is in opposition to the long held belief by some conservatives that environmental protection issues and global warming are only liberal agendas intent on costing American jobs and hurting corporations. I do think Moyer’s suggestion of a “new holy war” is overly dramatic; however, this is an interesting and growing debate that is worth our attention. You can see the video of the stories here. Below is a summary from Moyer’s website.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Just an FYI: Video 3 and 4 are the ones that deal most directly with the mainstream Evangelical views on environmental issues. Just thought I'd clarify that for those of you who are curious to learn more on the issue and don't want to take the time to view all the videos.
Scott, I'm glad you posted on this topic. I don't have time to watch the videos, but wanted to offer my 2 cents.
It is biblical for us to be good stewards of God's creation. Like so many things, our environment is a gift from God that can be used wisely on one hand, or abused on the other. I'm glad to hear that more and more evangelicals are saying and doing more for the care of the earth.
--Brian
Thanks for the comments Brian. I believe that good stewardship of the earth’s resources should be common sense to the Christian. Unfortunately, it sometimes gets very difficult to sort out politically partisan agendas in contrast to the clear principles and teachings of the Bible.
It is true that the Bible teaches that one day all followers of Christ will worship on a new heaven and new earth, and that the earth as we know it will no longer exist. This is no excuse for harming our planet with the idea that “it will all burn anyway.” This would be like saying I should become a drug addict and never exercise because I know one day I will have a glorified body. I fear that we loose all credibility as believers when we don’t adequately care for the resources God has given us. If our mission on this world is to share the good news of Christ with every tongue, tribe, and nation, then it must start with a life that represents the gospel in both word and deed.
Post a Comment