When a far
smaller splinter group of 80-90 evangelicals, calling itself the
Evangelical Climate Initiative, issued a demand for government
restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, which are thought to
trap heat within the atmosphere, the mainstream media leaped on
the story. “God’s Green Soldiers,” proclaimed
Newsweek approvingly, noting that a prominent member
of the group, Rev. Richard Cizik, is a former “foot soldier
for the Moral Majority” who only recently attended a prayer
breakfast at the White House.
Consider
the irony: for years the media has been expressing alarm over
the supposed intrusion of evangelical Christians (often confusing
them with fundamentalists) into the political arena. But now that
a rogue band of evangelicals has landed on the side of the global
warming angels, all is forgiven. Too bad most of the press didn’t
probe further into the roots of the Evangelical Climate Initiative,
much less the supposed theological authority for its “Evangelical
Call to Action.”
In point
of fact, the initiative appears to mirror the “creation
care” philosophy of yet another group, the Evangelical Environment
Network. That group, formed in 1994, brought us the infamous “What
Would Jesus Drive?” campaign. The self-same Richard Cizik
cited by Newsweek is identified on the EEN website as
an active member. (He also heads the government affairs department
of the National Association of Evangelicals, where he has been
pushing for “21st century activism”).
Nor did we
learn whether government rationing of carbon emissions might actually
achieve the desired goal. Al Gore’s famous Kyoto Treaty,
even global warming enthusiasts agree, would at best reduce the
presumed warming trend by a negligible amount, which is why it’s
always called a “first step.” But it would cost of
hundreds of billions to implement in the United States alone.
The burden
would inevitably fall most heavily on working men and women (and
poor nations). Where is the morality in that?
You won’t
find many Americans who don’t consider themselves environmentalists,
polls indicate. And popular pressure to fall into line with conventional
wisdom is strong. The press loves a good scare story, and global
warming can be portrayed as the mother of all scares. Then there
is Hollywood, which has been beating the drums for global warming
for years and which this spring will issue a 95-minute “documentary”
about global warming starring Al Gore. The film reportedly premiered
to the cheers of the liberal faithful at the Sundance Film Festival
last month.
But well-meaning
religious people need to be careful about whose brand of environmentalism
they sign up with. The so-called “deep environmentalists,”
for example, lay much of the blame for environmental degradation
on the Judeo-Christian heritage. Instead of a human-centered religion,
they say, what’s needed is a “biocentric” ethic
that acknowledges the equal rights of Nature. In the old days
this was known as paganism.
And many
global warming enthusiasts seem eager to act even at the expense
of traditional bulwarks of freedom as property rights –
a recipe for impoverishing society. Poverty is a great way to
make all environmental problems much worse.
As always,
true morality first requires clear thinking.
