Global Warming and the Religious Right

In 2006, the Evangelical Climate Initiative was launched, "which acknowledged humans cause global warming and argued Christian moral convictions demand an urgent response. The initiative, with more than 110 backers, has endorsed legislation to decrease carbon dioxide emissions."

A couple of months ago, a group of Southern Baptist "leaders" put out a statement declaring that global warming is a grave threat and we must not put off action while trying to determine whether, or how much of it, is caused by human beings.


We applaud such statements and actions to mitigate the damage of global warming. It warms out heart to know that some Christians are engaged in a righteous battle. Unfortunately, we still must deal with the wingnuts on the far side; the Religious Right kooks who always come out in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We're talking about James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Richard Land, the ultra-conservative poohbah of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the wacko Family Research Council, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a right-wing assignation operation, and the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, among others.

These people and organizations are striving to enlist one million fundamentalist Christians "to sign a statement questioning whether human-caused global warming is a real threat and arguing that restrictive environmental policies harm poor people."

This is, of course, a sham to cover up their corporate allegiances and their incestuous relationship with the Republican Party.

They call this effort the "We Get It!" campaign. They argue that "recent, slight warming" is an unproven threat that could lead to restrictions in energy use and drive up the cost of energy and food for the world's poor.

And if you believe they really care about the cost of energy (other than it keep going up to soothe the pocketbooks of their corporate allies) or food for the world's poor, well, there's that proverbial bridge in Brooklyn I'll happily sell you.

They are a group of religious neanderthals, shunting aside the massive majority of scientific opinion, research, and fact with regard to global warming and by doing so they are increasing incrementally the danger and damage from global warming...why would they do this?

Well, here's what they say: "Our stewardship of creation must be based on Biblical principles and factual evidence. We face important environmental challenges, but must be cautious of claims that our planet is in peril from speculative dangers like man-made global warming."


It's hard to know exactly how to respond to such stupidity. We are well aware that none of the people or groups mentioned in connection with this "We Get It!" campaign give a tinker's damn about "factual evidence." And what Biblical principles are they talking about? The one where God gets so pissed off at the human race he kills everyone in a flood? Are they saying that if global warming is real and destroys the planet, that's OK 'cause its based on a Biblical principle?

What is really too bad is that these sorry jackasses have the means to manipulate and abuse millions of people, by convincing them they know what they're talking about, that because they are "God's messengers," they can be trusted.


But they can't be trusted! They are absolutely and definitively wrong on this issue. The evidence is piled high against them. And there are no Biblical principles that apply to global warming. Jesus never once talked about the ozone layer. Moses was full of gas, but that's another story.

The truth is, their campaign slogan should be, "We Don't Get It!", because they really don't!