The sin of exploiting the Earth

Pope Francis:

"This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation." 

"When I look at America, also my own homeland (South America), so many forests, all cut, that have become land ... that can no longer give life. This is our sin, exploiting the Earth and not allowing her to her give us what she has within her." 

 I know he speaks truth.

Three of my grandparents came from the coalfields of Kentucky and Virginia. I have hillbilly roots. My kin were active participants in the Hatfield-McCoy dustup. And I love Appalachia. Went to college there. Hiked it. Fought forest fires in it. And it just so happens Appalachia is the perfect set piece for the words of Papa Francis.

To get at a thin vein of coal near the surface of mountaintops, coal companies have destroyed 1.5 million acres of forest, much of it old growth, and dumped rock and other mining debris into 2000 miles of streams and rivers. This lovely practice is known as mountaintop removal mining. Large expanses of an incredibly diverse ecosystem are being dynamited and 'dozered' so a few coal company executives and shareholders can make a quick buck.



Mountaintop removal is back in the news thanks to a new study that shows how the mining process is destroying fish stocks in the region. Here is coverage from the Charleston Gazette:

Appalachian streams affected by mountaintop removal coal mining can have fewer than half as many fish species and a third as many total fish as other regional waterways, according to a new study published this week by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Using data from several time periods to track changes in fish diversity and abundance in West Virginia’s Guyandotte River basin, USGS experts observed persistent effects of mountaintop removal associated with water quality degradation and found no evidence that fish communities recovered over time. 

“The Appalachian mountains are a global hotspot for freshwater fish diversity,” said Nathanial Hitt, a USGS research fish biologist and lead author of the study. “Our paper provides some of the first peer-reviewed research to understand how fish communities respond to mountaintop mining in these biologically diverse headwater streams.”

This is corporate sin. This is profit-at-all-costs mentality. It is sacrilege.

But, but, but the coal companies promise to kind of, sort of, restore the land to original contours and reforest. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Standard operating procedure in the coal industry is to declare bankruptcy when a mine is no longer profitable. That is why we have hundreds of thousands of abandoned mining sites all over the country. (Note to frog - scorpions always sting. It is in their nature.) Soon there will be a toxic industrial wasteland covered with a thin layer of soil that cannot support tree root formation. It will be an inglorious monument to greed.

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Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for this miniature schnauzer, even when he steals low-hanging raspberries:

We Need Better Creationists

Many of the folks I know that call themselves "creationists" reject scientific evidence for biological evolution taking place over a billion years or more. They demand that our children be taught in school that God is the Creator and scientific evidence for evolution is meaningless. It is as if to say, "Listen up heathens, my creation story is far superior to yours."

The funny thing is that many of these self-professed creationists seem unconcerned about protecting God's creation. They seem perfectly content to sit idly by as corporations plunder and poison the handiwork of God in pursuit of ever larger profit margins. Some prominent Christian leaders even declared that humans are not responsible for climate change, climate science cannot be trusted, and all good creationists should pledge allegiance to fossil fuels. Of course, if human activity is absolved of a major role in climate change, then by extension any observed changes have to be God's fault. Careful there, brothers and sisters.

We need better creationists - ones that want to be better stewards of God's creation by preserving this planet's resources for future generations. The first step is to confess our sins and confront the reality that human beings have been doing a lousy job of caring for creation. Here is some of our handiwork.

"Current rates of extinction are about 1000 times the background rate of extinction." Awesome. Too many plants and animals are in the way of large scale agricultural operations.

The oceans are rapidly becoming more acidic thanks to carbon pollution. In fact that current rate of acidification, sliding down the pH scale, is considerably greater than anything in the geological record dating back at least 58 million years. Nothing says respect for creation like drastically changing the chemistry of the oceans. It burns said the starfish to the coral.

And then there is climate chaos. Climate science says we are headed to a 4 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures by the end of this century. What a brave new world we are leaving for future generations!

Yet all is not lost. A new breed of creationist is emerging.

A recent sermon from Pope Francis warns that failure to respect Creation will have dire consequences.

The first lies in the risk of considering ourselves masters of Creation. Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude”. 

And he urged people to nurture and safeguard Creation as God’s greatest gift to us, because while God always forgives, Creation never forgives and – he warned – if we destroy Creation, in the end it will destroy us!

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops demanded action on climate change. The National Catholic Register called "climate change is the church's No. 1 pro-life issue." Amen.

Blessed Tomorrow sprang up a month ago.

Longwood, FL May 7, 2014 – Today marks the launch of Blessed Tomorrow (http://www.blessedtomorrow.org), a new national interfaith coalition of religious leaders committed to inspiring and engaging people of faith to lead on climate solutions in their congregations, communities and homes. 

Blessed Tomorrow brings together some of the nation’s most preeminent religious leaders from the Evangelical, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant faiths who are personally dedicated to leading by example on stewardship within their organizations and engaging their faith communities to respond to climate change.

The list of individual religious leaders and partner organizations associated with Blessed Tomorrow is indeed impressive. This could be the start of a lovely chorus of voices from all over theological spectrum.

Blessed Tomorrow partners have been very active in the fight to protect renewable energy in Ohio and remind the governor of Florida what rising temperatures and sea levels will mean for the state.

Nothing like creationism for the 21st century.

Standing up for God's creation in Kentucky

I have hillbilly blood. My father's people were from Pike County in eastern Kentucky. It is coal country. It is home to mountaintop removal mining, one of the most destructive practices ever devised to plunder God's creation. Here is a nice description:

Mountaintop removal (MTR) is a radical form of surface coal mining that has expanded rapidly during the last twenty years. MTR blasts off the tops of mountains, often as much as a thousand feet deep, to reach multiple coal seams that either are too thin to be extracted by conventional means or can be mined more cheaply by this method. As massive machinery and blasting replace underground labor, coal production is nearing all-time heights in the region but with only a small fraction of the former coal mining workforce. Kentucky is the third largest coal-producing state in the United States, yet today Appalachian Kentucky has less than 15,000 miners employed in the industry. Touted by the coal industry as a boon to economic development, MTR actually eliminates jobs and has devastating effects on the local environment. More than 500 mountains and one million acres have been affected and nearly 2,000 miles of streams have been harmed or buried as the overlying soil and rock formations have been pushed off the sides of mountains into “valley fills.” These fills cover the headwaters of Appalachian streams and rivers, killing micro-organisms that biologists claim are essential to food chains and the health of down-steam waters. The loss of trees and top soil has been shown to cause increased annual flooding and hundreds of millions of dollars of property damage. In some Appalachian counties MTR has ravaged between one-fourth and one-fifth of the surface.

Greed is destroying one of the most diverse ecosystems in the US. It is also degrading streams and rivers that provide drinking water to quite a few mid-Atlantic states.

One of the most powerful voices condemning the wanton destruction from mountaintop removal mining is Father John Rausch, director of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia. He is one of the leaders of "The Cross In The Mountains"protest against mountaintop removal mining.

It was a reenactment of the Stations of the Cross within sight of an active MTR operation. Protestants, Catholics, and non-believers alike carried small, handmade wooden crosses bearing slogans about MTR’s destructiveness to symbolize Jesus’ long, arduous walk to his crucifixion. In following the traditional form of the Catholic ritual, participants stopped at make-shift stations to commemorate the steps leading to the crucifixion. The traditional theological meanings associated with each station were recast to illustrate the suffering caused by the practice and consequences of MTR. Examples included: “Jesus Takes Up His Cross: Corporate greed abuses the people and the land;” “Jesus Falls for the First Time: Water pollutes the streams and rivers;” “Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother: Earth mourns her destruction;” “Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross: Religious leaders and friends of creation speak out;” “Jesus Dies on the Cross: Death stalks our land in many forms;” and, “The Resurrection of Jesus: Hope springs from sustainable jobs and lifestyles.” At the end of the service a huge cross, with a heart-shaped lump of coal affixed to its center with barbed wire, was erected in view of the MTR operation and flowers were laid at its base.

In an article he wrote for the volume Sacred Acts: How Churches Are Working to Protect Earth’s Climate, Father Rausch reflected on this interfaith effort. “In the end, The Cross in the Mountains crystallized nearly a decade of public prayer by using a traditional devotion,” he wrote. “It combined elements of a demonstration, a celebration, and a time of prayer that meant conversion for some and a deeper commitment for others. The way to the heart seldom seems paved with facts and figures. That path appears filled with spiritual moments that, with the help of public prayer and symbol, deepen the presence of God among us.”

The protests are ecumenical, including Christians of every stripe and flavor. It is long overdue. The coal industry has taken the wealth from area, given nothing in return, and left an unfathomable wasteland in its wake. Poverty plagues every holler in eastern Kentucky. More need to speak out against these injustices.

All this conflict between Appalachian environmentalists and the coal industry means that Father Rausch’s ministry operates in an intensely polarized setting. “Fox News Catholics,” as he jokingly refers to them, routinely criticize Rausch’s liberal views in his column, which is syndicated in Catholic newspapers across the country. He responds by declaring that the Catholic Church does not endorse “big government” or “small government;” it should endorse “appropriate government” aimed at “stemming the suffering of the people.” Do people of faith share Rausch’s commitment to “appropriate government”? Do people share his belief that the authentic voice of the Holy Spirit can be found in the voices of the dispossessed? If so, why are not all faithful citizens outraged by the environmentally destructive practice of MTR? As Father Rausch put it: “Most people come to church to go to heaven. They forget that the reign of God is at hand.” 

"Forget that the reign of God is at hand" is nice framing, but I am not sure that 'forget' is the right word. People of faith that turn a blind eye to the destruction of God's creation and poverty in this area seem to know nothing of the reign of God. You cannot forget what you never knew. 

The other scourge of Appalachia is natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale formation. Like coal, mineral rights are bought up cheaply and the money flows out of the area with the methane. Here are more people of faith making a clear statement:

Two Roman Catholic communities, which collectively own more than 3,000 acres in Central Kentucky, are refusing to permit access to their historic properties for a proposed underground pipeline that would transport flammable, pressurized natural-gas liquids across the state. 

The Sisters of Loretto in Marion County and the Abbey of Gethsemani in Nelson County have denied representatives of the pipeline developers permission to survey their property and said they won’t consent to participating in the project.

And what is the word for people that love to talk about God as creator, but do nothing to protect that creation? How about bullshit artists? Nothing good will ever come from the destruction of God's creation, but there will be a price to pay for the sin. 

Food for thought

In today's world, you will find three types of people. You call tell them apart by their response to a major  tragedy or crisis in the world. Some will rush to help. Some will rush to profit. And the rest will breathe a sigh of relief that their lives have not been touched by it.

I wonder how which of these types Jesus would find acceptable. Rush to help? Check. Rush to profit? Toast. Kinda don't care? I would not bet on it.

Here is an easy question. Label the type of person represented in the following scenario:

In reaction to the drought- and heat-related crop failures and soaring food prices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa, the head of agricultural trading at the large brokerage house of Glencore said ...

"The environment is a good one. High prices, lots of volatility, a lot of dislocation, tightness, a lot of arbitrage opportunities.

"We will be able to provide the world with solutions... and that should also be good for Glencore."

Oh look, food prices are going to be outrageous and cause the folks at the bottom of the economic ladder to go hungry, if not get sick or die. Sucks to be them, but we are going to get rich on the pain.

Here is another question. How come we have many "Christian" politicians desperate to cut government programs designed to aid the poor while shrugging the suffering off to religious charities? That is a tougher call. Do they really believe that the body of Christ in America can pick up the slack? Or do they really not care whether the poor suffer as long as we can give tax breaks to the rich and increase our military might? I cannot say what is really in their minds, especially in the midst of one disastrous growing season after another and rising food prices. I am fairly certain the Lord will have an opinion. And you probably do not want to be standing in their shoes when that opinion arrives.

Please identify the source of the following passage:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

(Hint: Revelation 3)

Any questions?

One consequence of destroying tropical forests

Some Christians claim we have dominion over God's creation and we do can with it as we see fit. If we destroy or drastically change something, they honestly believe that God will fix their mess and there will be no consequences. It is infantile spiritual belief and practice.

In the real world, everything has a function and destruction will have consequences. Consider tropical forests, sometimes called rain forests. Scientists at the University of Leeds examined moisture produced from air masses in tropical regions. They found that fronts passing over forests produced twice as much rainfall as air masses over land with sparse vegetation.

We find that for more than 60 per cent of the tropical land surface (latitudes 30 degrees south to 30 degrees north), air that has passed over extensive vegetation in the preceding few days produces at least twice as much rain as air that has passed over little vegetation.

Based on measurements of the relationship between tropical forests and regional rainfall, the researchers were able to estimate the impact of continued deforestation of tropical forests in the Amazon basin watershed.

We combine these empirical relationships with current trends of Amazonian deforestation to estimate reductions of 12 and 21 per cent in wet-season and dry-season precipitation respectively across the Amazon basin by 2050, due to less-efficient moisture recycling.

The push to clear tropical forests is coming largely from industrial agriculture companies looking to expand production of soybeans, cattle, and palm oil. The irony is the impact on rainfall from clearing the tropical forests will make these agricultural activities inefficient and expensive as they rapidly deplete groundwater.

Greed has consequences. Unfortunately, the greedy typically keep the profits and pass the suffering on to everyone else.

Destroying mountains and streams

Too many in America think God is stupid. Out of one side of their mouth, they pretend to revere God as creator. Out of the other side, they allow that creation to be destroyed for greed. But if your heart is truly guided by the Holy Spirit, you know with certainty that the Lord is never ever fooled with double talk.

The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small — and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18

Nowhere is the flagrant hypocrisy better seen than in Appalachia. The most profitable form of coal mining (mountaintop removal) is to dynamite mountain tops, dump the rock into valleys, and use massive dragline cranes to extract coal seams a few feet thick. So far, 550 mountains have been reduced to rubble, more than one million acres of forest have been destroyed, and more than 2000 miles of streams have been buried. People living near these destroyed mountains are poor and suffer from high rates of cancer.



A new study from researchers at Duke and Baylor adds more to our understanding of the damage being done to God's creation to service greed. They took water samples from over 233 streams and correlated levels of minerals and metals with proximity to mountaintop removal sites. While all coal formations contain these potential toxic substances, surface mines dump the rock waste into streams, allowing for much greater contamination than from underground mines.

"Our analysis suggests that mining only five percent of the land surface is degrading between 22 percent and 32 percent of the region's rivers."

My family comes in part from Pikeville in the heart of the eastern Kentucky coal fields. To give you a sense of the scope of how mountaintop removal is creating wanton destruction throughout Appalachia, put Pikeville, Kentucky in Google and click on the Google map. Now zoom out three clicks. You will see many grey and brown scars all over the green. Those are mountaintop removal mining sites.

The growth of one malignant mountaintop removal mine site over 20 years can be seen in this series of NASA satellite photos. Now imagine that same destruction over 550 sites and you can get a sense of the scope across the region.

Some say this destruction creates jobs. This is mostly a lie. You can get as much coal from a few hundred workers using explosives and massive machines as you can get from 50,000 miners underground. It is about profit margin, not job creation. It is about greed.

Some say this destruction benefits the surrounding communities. This is another lie. Poverty is just as great in the areas around these mines as before they arrived. The profits do not trickle down, only the poisons, filth, and rock. The pittance these companies pay in taxes makes little difference in the lives of people living nearby.

Some say the destruction is necessary for lower energy costs. Another lie. More and more of the coal from these sites is exported to China and India. This is high BTU coal, also known as metallurgic grade coal. It is most valuable for manufacturing steel. The same coal can be mined underground with far less damage to the environment, but it is cheaper to destroy mountains and forests where people are too poor to stop it.

Some say the sites will be reclaimed and restored. Another lie. When mining sites are no longer profitable, the companies pack up and leave the mess. There are tens of thousands of abandoned mining sites all over the country that have not been restored over the past century. Most of those are much smaller in scope than the destruction created by mountaintop removal mines. Throwing a little dirt and grass seed on scarred earth does not restore mountains, forests, and streams.

And never mind the pollution that comes from burning coal, whether for electricity or manufacturing. Never mind the piles of toxic coal ash. Forget about greenhouse gases, mercury, soot, and sulfurous compounds released in the air. Keep your eyes on the profit and all will be well say the ones that claim control over God's creation.

But people love lies. My God, they love lies. Just remember, the father of all lies is Satan.

“The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.”  Isaiah 24: 4-6

It is amazing the damage a few corrupt politicians and corporations can do to God's creation. Their evil is plain to see. They are well-dressed vipers and experts liars. Death, destruction, and disease follows in their wake. Only a fool would be blinded to their evil.

Less obvious are the forked tongue people of faith that claim to revere God as creator but do nothing to protect that creation. The Lord is not blind.

It is interesting that the destruction of forests, mountains, and rivers is featured so prominently in the apocalyptic images found in Revelation 8: 7-11.

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water — the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

Explosions. Hail of rock. Forests destroyed. Mountains destroyed and pushed into waters below. Poisoned streams. Seems a little too familiar.

Those heretic scientists are at it again!

We all know that greed is good. It has become our gospel.

 

The apostles of greed preach consumption, deregulation, freedom from taxation, worship of the wealthy, and condemnation of the poor. They bow to the prophets from the Austrian School of Economics, especially Friedrich von Hayek, whose sermon on laissez faire capitalism still has hearts aflutter. Fortunately, the few heretics, academics like Jeffrey Sachs, have been ignored. Now, erstwhile scientists are daring to challenge the gospel of greed (pdf).

The Royal Society is Britain's most prestigious scientific organization. Their new report, People and the Planet, sounds like it was written by those dirty hippies at Bollocks to Poverty. Sir John Sulston, chair of the Royal Society study group examining the unholy trinity of overpopulation, resource consumption, and environmental destruction, summed up his anti-Gekko ideals this way:

"The world now has a very clear choice. We can choose to address the twin issues of population and consumption. We can choose to rebalance the use of resources to a more egalitarian pattern of consumption, to reframe our economic values to truly reflect what our consumption means for our planet and to help individuals around the world to make informed and free reproductive choices. Or we can choose to do nothing and to drift into a downward vortex of economic, socio-political and environmental ills, leading to a more unequal and inhospitable future."

Bollocks. Egalitarian pattern of consumption? Walk away from the gospel of greed? Make informed choices that limit consumption in wealthy societies, lend a helping hand to the 1.3 billion living in poverty, encourage contraception and family planning, educate all, and conserve and protect resources? It is heresy, pure and simple.

“Ultimately, we should all strive for a world in which every individual has an opportunity to flourish. Science can help us to achieve this goal, not only by developing practical solutions that improve our health and living standards and optimise our use of resources, but also by identifying potential problems, such as emerging diseases or the impact of greenhouse gases. However, science is not a panacea and scientists alone cannot solve the challenges we now face. Humanity must now act collectively and constructively if we are to face the future with confidence.” Sir John Sulston

These scientists want people to cooperate and work together to protect the most vulnerable. I would have thought that they would cheer cut-throat competition as part of social darwinism. How dare they suggest that our survival as a species on this planet may require sacrifices by the haves and help for the have nots!

These demons even want to increase access to contraception and family planning.

Reproductive health and voluntary family planning programmes urgently require political leadership and financial commitment, both nationally and internationally. This is needed to continue the downward trajectory of fertility rates, especially in countries where the unmet need for contraception is high.

Don't they know that the only morality that really matters is condemnation of homosexuals, contraception, and abortion? Any platform acceptable to religious fundamentalists must include these calls to culture war.

 Our salvation lies with Mammon. Ayn Rand told me so.

 

These Kids are Alright

In an event organized by the World Evangelical Alliance, students from four Christian colleges visited the White House to meet with representatives from the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. The students message was simple - environmental stewardship matters. An executive of the WEA noted that older generations have dropped the ball on protecting the environment.

Deb Fikes, Executive Advisor for the World Evangelical Alliance and a coordinator of the event, expressed regret on behalf of her generation and offered encouragement to the young people gathered. “I am grieved by my generation of Christians,” she said from the podium. “We haven’t been doing what we need to be doing. … What are school textbooks going to say about what we did in our lifetime to make a difference? You here are going to write that chapter.”

Older generations of evangelicals have not dropped the ball as much as been duped. There has been a very well-funded campaign aimed at making sure people of faith remain divided along political lines. The fear of these big money secular groups is that Christians might put their faith first and work together on issues like social justice, condemning greed, and protecting God's creation from corporate plunder. As long as people of faith are at each others throat over issues like abortion, contraception, and homosexuality, the Mammon worshipers are free to plunder and profit will remain the only real ethic.

One of the most powerful and well funded of these groups is the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD). As noted by Rev. Andrew Weaver, their first target was mainline Protestants.

The political right-wing, operating in the guise of a gaggle of so-called "renewal groups," particularly one named the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), has acquired the money and political will to target three mainline American denominations: The United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, and the Episcopal Church. The IRD was created and is sustained by money from right-wing foundations and has spent millions of dollars over 20 years attacking mainline denominations. The IRD's conservative social-policy goals include increasing military spending and foreign interventions, opposing environmental protection efforts, and eliminating social welfare programs 

In a document entitled "Reforming America's Churches Project 2001-2004," the IRD states that its aim is to change the "permanent governing structure" of mainline churches "so they can help renew the wider culture of our nation." In other words, its goal extends beyond the spiritual and includes a political takeover financed by the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife, Adolph Coors, the John M. Olin Foundation, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee.

When Robber Baron foundations talk about reforming churches, what they mean is to recreate them in the image of Mammon. Renewal is nothing more than a code word for keeping people of faith fighting culture wars and out of the way of corporate interests. A major goal of groups like IRD is to end environmental regulations and open up all natural resources to unfettered exploitation. In short, to hell with stewardship of God's creation. It is the story of the snake in the Garden all over again. This time the snake is hissing that God gave you dominion and that means you are free to use, waste, squander, and destroy without consequence or conscience.

The IRD and other corporate lobbying organizations were forced to expand their focus to evangelical groups in recent years. Under the guidance of Richard Cizik, the National Evangelical Association began to advocate environmental stewardship, including taking action on climate change. Those efforts started to bear fruit and build momentum, much to the chagrin of the corporate watchdogs. In 2006, prominent evangelical leaders created the "Evangelical Climate Initiative" to push for action on reducing carbon pollution. Almost immediately, some politically connected religious conservatives began to spout talking points developed by oil, gas, and coal companies.

Some of the nation's most high-profile evangelical leaders, however, have tried to derail such action. Twenty-two of them signed a letter in January declaring, "Global warming is not a consensus issue." Among the signers were Charles W. Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; and Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Back then, there was consensus across the political spectrum to move toward clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Over the next four years, thanks to billions spent on lobbyists and public relations campaigns, support for action waned among religious conservatives. One does not have to search particularly hard on Google to discover what the IRD has been pushing among evangelicals and other religious conservatives. It is all about culture wars with careful attention to make sure 'pro-life' is limited to the unborn. To hell with with the already born, especially the poor and the rest of God's creation.

Perhaps this action by the World Evangelical Alliance signals a rebirth of concern for stewardship for God's creation, particularly among younger generations. Other green shoots are not hard to find, such as ConservAmerica and the Evangelical Environmental Network. This editorial by David Jenkins of ConservAmerica does a marvelous job of framing the issue.

Does it not then stand to reason that God, after designing the earth’s processes to sequester excess carbon, would prefer that we respect his creation and find better ways to heat our homes and power our cars than using huge amounts of oil and coal? 

Climate skeptics -- particularly those on talk radio -- like to peddle the notion that the earth was created on such a grand and complex scale, it is impossible for mankind to mess it up. In other words, we can do anything we want without serious consequence. 

Does that sound like something God would say? 

Actually, it sounds a lot more like something the snake in the Garden of Eden would say.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/04/08/1977721/easter-stewardship-and-gods-climate.html#disqus_thread#storylink=cpy

That is spot on. The idea that we can use and abuse without consequence does not sound like God talking at all. You can imagine God's reaction if Adam and Eve had decided to cut down all the trees in the Garden of Eden, poison the waters with filth, and kill all the birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and insects.

Consider this parable. There is a wealthy couple with two children. The couple sets up a generous trust for each child that is meant to meet the their needs as well as the needs of future generations. One child uses only what they need, but the other one decides to squander the inheritance on mansions, fancy cars, private jets, yachts, and every possible creature comfort. Which child was a faithful steward of the great gift they received?

There is reason to believe that the group of college students that participated in the WEA advocacy campaign are far from alone. In fact, there is growing evidence that younger evangelicals are sick and tired of the culture wars. They are much more interested in social, economic, and environmental justice.  When people of faith come together to talk about what God wants and how best to help each other, then there is reason to hope. It is only when all we hear about is the virtue of greed, hatred of people we disagree with, and the glory of war that I start to wonder how long until the trumpets sound and the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse gallop across the face of the Earth.

Earth Day card

Amen.

[Source: Some Ecards]

A breath of fresh air from a Republican meteorologist

Rejection of climate science and human contributions to climate change have become articles of faith for many conservative politicians. It is a part of a clever stratagem. Fossil fuels companies realized that they did not have to buy off everyone; just enough to make political action impossible. So, in face of unprecedented changes in global temperature patterns, hydrological cycles, ocean acidification, and atmospheric chemistry, we have the most powerful conservatives demanding that we maintain carbon pollution business as usual. 

Meteorologist Paul Douglas, a lifelong Republican, dares to admit that carbon pollution is destabilizing the climate and is not a hoax concocted by Al Gore. Perhaps the reason that he has broken ranks with the politics of greed is because he takes stewardship of the planet, God's property, quite seriously.

How did so much of the Republican Party enter perpetual denial? We’ve turned climate science into a bizarre litmus test for conservatism. To pretend that heat-trapping gases can be waved away with a nod and a smirk is political fairytale. No harm. No foul. Keep drilling. 

I’m a Christian and ultimately come to Christ through faith. With climate change no faith is required. There is a large and growing body of evidence. The way nature works applies the same to Republican and Democrat, Christian and Muslim, animal, tree and stone. Why do people who profess to love and follow God roll their eyes? Luke 16:2 says “Man has been appointed as a steward for the management of God’s property, and ultimately he will give account for his stewardship.”

Amen, brother.

Powerful statement on stewardship of our natural resources

Mitch Hescox has written a powerful post, entitled "New Wine," for the Creation Care blog of the Evangelical Environmental Network. Read it and share it with friends. What had me shouting with joy was the elegant way Hescox summarized the fight between the old and comfortable with the new and transformative.

Our predisposition to "old wine" demonstrates why so many in the evangelical church openly resist many of the Christian social justice issues hotly debated in today's world. These issues become culture wars as they force us to consider how to press new wine versus the old vintage. The new wine presses us to reconsider our models, lifestyles, and understanding of the good news in Jesus, and perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than the reaction of some to climate change.

No one denies that cheap and abundant energy transformed the United States into a world power. Our inexpensive energy fueled a national sense of independence and self-reliance. Fossil fuels provided the individual freedom to get in our cars and go anywhere. The creation of the rural electric-cooperative powered even the most remote household with cheap electricity. These societal advancements quickly transformed from a blessings to idolatry. We became dependent on fossil fuel, and our energy addiction foils Christ's goal for the common good. As with all addictions, they transform into self-interest idolatry. Our self-interest for cheap energy fails to account for all costs, especially those dumped upon our neighbors.

Preference given to culture wars, self interest, and maintaining the status quo at all costs instead of being advocates for the common good and the most vulnerable is not just an affliction of the evangelical community. All who follow Christ have seen it in action. Until we reject old wine past its prime and the temptation to put the best new wine in the same old containers, change will be far too slow.