Essay on "Environment From a Christian Perspective"

Essay 4 pages (1243 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Laurel Kearns writes in the peer-reviewed Sociology of Religion that it was against the "anti-environmentalism of the Reagan administration" that Christians -- who, ironically were courted by Reagan -- began to become focused on the environment. Kearns asserts that some churches are interested in becoming "creation awareness centers" rather than "barren edifices surrounded by parking lots" (Kearns, 1996, p. 3). The "anti-science bias" that many Christians (in particular evangelicals) have previously embraced (i.e., doubts about evolution and climate change) must be replaced with common sense applications that are based on real science, Kearns explains.

Backing

While Kearns' assertions were offered in 1996, ten years later (Goodstein, 2006) an article in The New York Times reports that Christian leaders are getting organized and getting united when it comes to the environment. The Times reported that 86 evangelical Christian leaders "…have decided to back a major initiative to fight global warming" (Goodstein, p. 1). In fact among the 86 leaders were the presidents of 39 evangelical colleges and leaders of other Christian groups including pastors of "mega-churches" like Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. Pastor Duane Litfin, president of Wheaton College in Illinois (an "influential evangelical institution") said that Christians "…have not paid as much attention to climate change as we should, and that's why I'm willing to step up" (Goodstein, pg. 1).

Not all evangelical leaders signed on to the statement that endorses the idea of Christians taking action to mitigate global climate change. Some in fact have tried to "derail" action taken by the 86 evangelical leaders, Goodstein writes. Indeed, an opposition group of evangelical leaders -- called the "Interfaith Stewardship Alliance" -- argued in their petition, "…the science is not settled" on whether global climate change was real and on whether humans were causing it. Still, while so much empirical evidence is available that humans are producing the greenhouse gases that heat up the planet -- and that humans can help reduce those greenhouse gases by using less electricity -- the "Evangelical Climate Initiative" went ahead with their marketing ideas and produced radio and television commercials to advance their beliefs (Goodstein, p. 2).

Qualifier

David Neff writes in Christianity Today that "…Christians have consistently been end-of-the-world people" more interested in the "…second coming of Christ" than in the environment. That said, Neff believes that "…our present environment is God's gift to us" and hence, Christians should respect, cherish, and protect that gift. Christianity has been noted over the millennia for its "unbounded optimism about human resourcefulness," and now is the time for that optimism to transition into environmental action and sustainable practices (Neff, 2008).

Rebuttal

Neff recalls that Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, who was an evangelical Christian, famously remarked (in testimony before the U.S. Congress) "…protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ" (Neff, p. 1). That is of course an absurd position to take, but no more absurd than the bumper sticker seen in Boise Idaho that offered rebuttal to environmental action: "Forget 'Save the Earth -- What about your soul?" (Zaleha, 2009, p. 280).

Works Cited

Bible Gateway. 2011. Genesis 1:26-28 (New International Version). Retrieved July 5, 2012,

From http://www.biblegateway.com.

Goodstein, Laurie. 2006. Evangelical Leaders Join Global Warming Initiative. The New York

Times. Retrieved July 5, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007. Climate Change 2007: Working Group I:

The Physical Science Basis. Retrieved July 4, 2012, from http://www.ipcc.ch.

Kearns, Laurel. 1996. Saving the creation: Christian environmentalism in the United States

Sociology of Religion 57 (Spring), 1-12.

Neff, David. 2008. Second coming ecology" we care for the environment precisely because

God will create a new… READ MORE

How to Reference "Environment From a Christian Perspective" Essay in a Bibliography

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