I was speaking with my friend Mark who is an evangelical. He is a hard person to debate with since he is not bound by facts. The only way to argue with him effectively is to quote the Bible since he will not dispute anything the Bible says.
He was repeating the claim that "it is ridiculous to think that the actions of man could actually change the climate and be destroying the earth. That is just so ridiculous." He went on for some time on this theme.
I waited for him to finish his rant and then I drew on my knowledge of the Bible to ask him the following series of questions:
Me: Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?
Mark: Of course. Every word. (He then gave me a verbose definition of his beliefs in that area)
Me: But surely you do not believe the story about that guy with the big boat and all of the animals do you?
Mark: You mean Noah? Of course I do. It is in the Bible. (He then proceeded to give me a lengthy retelling of that story)
Me: Okay. I have read about that story some. It seems that not all of it is true. The flood that the Bible talks about was most likely just a localized flood. Right?
Mark: No! The Bible says that it was a global flood.
Me: A global flood? Why did that happen?
Mark: The Bible says that it was because of the wickedness of mankind.
Me: So you concede that the Bible says man's actions caused a global environmental catastrophe?
Mark: Uhhh. No. Yes. I don't know.
Me: Does the Bible not say that the next time God destroys the earth it will be by fire?
Mark: Yes.
Me: Does it not seem to you that droughts brought on by global warming will facilitate that? Are man's actions bringing us closer yet again to God's judgment?
Mark: You know, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Thank you for calling.
Me: You are the one who called me and brought up the subject.
I came up with this line of argument on the spur of the moment but it seemed to confound my normally argumentative friend. Especially the part about global catastrophes being in the Bible. Maybe this will help you as you deal with your evangelical friends and family members.
Whether or not you personally believe the Bible it is useful to know that world-wide, man-made environmental events have Biblical precedents. Most evangelicals tend to swallow whatever they hear on talk radio without bothering to examine whether it contradicts their doctrine.