Fundamentalists and Greens of the world, unite!

[Babbler]

US evangelicals boost green lobby
By John Shields
BBC News

Environmentalists are blaming US President George Bush and his friends in the energy industry for wrecking a G8 deal on global warming before he has even boarded the plane to the summit in Gleneagles.

Coming from his usual critics, this is unlikely to trouble the president as he heads for the summit, but he faces growing pressure to give greater priority to the environment from one of his most loyal domestic constituencies: the religious right.

Evangelical Christians form a crucial plank in Mr Bush's formidable political base (he is an evangelical himself) and care for the environment is becoming an important part of their agenda.

Green evangelicals first hit the headlines in 2002, when Reverend Jim Ball launched a campaign called "What would Jesus drive?", claiming that gas-guzzlers are ungodly.

His call for the US government to take action to protect the environment has since been taken up by powerful leaders of the evangelical community.

'Protect God's creation'

The 30-million-member National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) published a landmark document in November calling on conservative Christians to "labour to protect God's creation".

It stated that "government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation."

NAE president Reverend Ted Haggard discussed global warming with Tony Blair when the British prime minister visited Washington to drum up support for his G8 agenda last month.

Christianity Today, an influential evangelical magazine, backed a Senate bill calling for mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions, something the White House opposes.

The "greening" of the evangelical movement has its roots in biblical references to mankind's responsibility to care for God's Earth.

While the presence of committed environmentalists among supporters of a president the left dubs the "Toxic Texan" may seem surprising, for Mr Haggard there is no contradiction.

"We came to the issue because of the Bible," he told the BBC News website.

"New scientific evidence is raising concerns and, since we have so many evangelical Christians in government right now, we wanted to highlight that the environment is a worthy concern for evangelicals."

Suspicions remain

The repackaging of environmentalism under the banner of "creation care" makes it more acceptable to Republicans suspicious of the secular, liberal types who have dominated green politics in the past.

But not all Christian conservatives are happy about this new departure.

Focus on the Family, which has been at the forefront of campaigns against abortion and gay marriage, says it cannot support "any issue that seems to put plants and animals above humans".

"Some worry that enthusiasm for some of the longstanding issues that political evangelicals have dealt with will be diminished if we take on too much," says David Neff, editor of Christianity Today and one of the authors of the NAE manifesto.

This concern helps explain why "creation care" has yet to have an impact on White House policy. Energy security and economic growth have taken priority over protection of the environment in the Bush White House.

Although the president has promised certain reductions to greenhouse gases by 2012, using tax breaks and voluntary schemes, he opposes mandatory emission controls.

The State Department's 2002 Climate Action Report accentuates the alleged "uncertainties" of climate change science.

But Mr Haggard is convinced that green evangelicals will change Republican policy over the long term.

"It's a biblical mandate that this generation of Christians have to address," he says.

Evangelical power

Political scientist Professor John Green of the University of Akron agrees that "because evangelicals are so important to the Republican coalition" there is "great potential" for them to cause a shift in Republican policy in the next few years.

"The abortion issue is an example of how a well-organised constituency can bring about changes," he argues.

In the same way that the need for evangelical votes has pushed moderate Republicans to take up anti-abortion positions, sceptical Republicans may be persuaded to shift their position on the environment, Prof Green says.

According to the Pew Research Center, the political clout of evangelicals is on the increase - white evangelical Christians accounted for more than a third of all votes cast for President Bush in the November 2004 election.

While their electoral power alone may be enough to persuade fellow Republicans to give greater priority to the environment, evangelicals' distinctive approach to the issue could also help.

"Traditional environmentalists blame corporations where we want corporations and government to work together. The Republicans are missing it right now because they equate environmentalism with being anti-business," says Mr Haggard.

And evangelical Christians are not alone among Republicans who see global warming as a key priority.

Signing ambitious targets on cutting greenhouse gases into law last month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the global warming debate finished.

"We know the science. We see the threat," he said.

While President Bush's trip to Scotland could leave the environmentalists disappointed, they can at least console themselves that one of the most powerful forces in Republican politics, along with the Terminator, may be on their side.

I have a feeling this will end badly...

 

[Knight-Dragon]

I have read that political realists/conservatives/strategists are also jumping on-board; as they see the continued US reliance on Mid-Eastern oil an increasingly dangerous and risky strategic weakness...

 

[Keirador]

Hoorah! My father, a vibrantly green Christian fundamentalist, will feel ever so vindicated.

 

[amadeus]

"What would Jesus drive?"

Probably a Hummer. Every time he needed fuel he'd just go get some tap water and turn it into gasoline.

 

[FearlessLeader2]

You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

 

[Shadylookin]

the day I could call Bill Frist a tree hugging hippy woud be a very humorous day

You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

mabey it will put him in a better mood when he's casting souls into damnation

 

[Jawz II]

You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

how about wisecracking about paranoid doomsday prophets?

is that ok?

 

[FearlessLeader2]

That's fine.

 

[Rambuchan]

Goddamn this is good news!!! Ooops

Seriously, it is good news to see more a 'green shift' in US politics but why hasn't this happened earlier? Why were the religious lobbies all falling at GWB's feet in the previous election (and not mentioning climate change)? And why are they only taking climate change seriously now?

Three things that I am reminded of, and which I worry about:

1) Why is evangelism on the rise in a modern day society like America?

2) Why is it that many Americans still don't believe that climate change is a reality? (Oh, wait, I think I know this one hehe) Until I came on these forums, I thought it was a given around the world that climate change was the most pressing issue facing mankind. I'm quite aghast that so many Americans do not even consider it to be an issue worth worrying about. Now that is scary.

3) Is US foreign policy so short sighted that it takes the local vicar to point out that chasing oil is a quadruple edged sword which cuts the US with two sides, the Arab world with a third and the world's environment with the last?

EDIT = "What would Jesus drive?" Brilliant!

 

[The Last Conformist]

You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

It's good enough for me.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

Actually, that would be an excellent time to do it. And I thought you embraced the coming of the Armagedon


Remember, Jesus was a Jew, but only on his mother's side

 

[BasketCase]

Seriously, it is good news to see more a 'green shift' in US politics but why hasn't this happened earlier? Why were the religious lobbies all falling at GWB's feet in the previous election (and not mentioning climate change)? And why are they only taking climate change seriously now?

Because if they did, you'd be asking why they didn't do so in 2000. If they'd done so in 2000, you'd be asking why they hadn't done so in 1996.

First rule of politics: the Other Side cannot do anything right. Even if they do, it must be cast in a bad light at all costs.

This rule is used by both sides.

 

[Narz]

Sounds like good news to me. The zealots might as well put their bibles to good use.

The opposition sounds downright idiotic...

Focus on the Family, which has been at the forefront of campaigns against abortion and gay marriage, says it cannot support "any issue that seems to put plants and animals above humans".

Without plants and animals there would be no humans ya' nincompoop!

 

[Rambuchan]

Because if they did, you'd be asking why they didn't do so in 2000. If they'd done so in 2000, you'd be asking why they hadn't done so in 1996.

First rule of politics: the Other Side cannot do anything right. Even if they do, it must be cast in a bad light at all costs.

This rule is used by both sides.

It is used by both sides, yes, indeed we are all kicking ourselves that we didn't start dealing with this most urgent problem earlier.

 

[Gothmog]

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader2
You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.



On Topic:

Makes me wonder if they understand that most of the science which addresses the global warming debate also makes much of biblical literalism untenable. e.g. no global flood since humans have been on earth, radiodating, erosion leading to grand canyon, etc.

 

[CurtSibling]

You know, given how close we are to Armageddon, now might not be the best time to crack jokes at the Lord's expense.

Given how such mystical events have 0% proof to back them, perhaps you
should think twice before making ego-boosting faith-based announcements?

 

[farting bob]

I think its good that these bush supporters are standing up to him when he seems to ignorant of the damage pollution is doing to the planet.
Still, we know bush will just keep on saying "no, our domestic enconomy is much more important than the world of the future, after all, then someone else will be president"
Thast the problem. Its long term, so its easier to pass the buck to the next guy instead of doing something yourself.

 

[Gabryel Karolin]

"What would Jesus drive?". Ridiculous. But if thats what it takes...

 

[Mise]

how about wisecracking about paranoid doomsday prophets?

is that ok?

you win!!

Anyway, I'm not sure how good this is... I'll be pleased if the Greens gain more power, but displeased if the Christians gain more power. But since the Greens are desperately losing and the Christians already have lots of power, I think this is more good than bad.

 

[Sickman]

Man from no-man's land:
Now there is a development.

Even though many people cannot agree about certain things.
It's good they can agree about something and work together to achieve that goal (which still remain to be seen) rather than staying in the age old trenches and making useless offensives where ideas are just slaughtered to the ground by repetitive insults just because they come over from the trenches in the other side of "no man's land".