In a fascinating
article today, the Washington Post explores the efforts of certain Evangelicals to reframe the broad issue of "environmentalism" in terms more palatable to Evangelicals: "Creation care."
Such "creation care" should be at the heart of evangelical life, [Reverend Leroy] Hedman says, along with condemning abortion, protecting family and loving Jesus. He uses the term "creation care" because, he says, it does not annoy conservative Christians for whom the word "environmentalism" connotes liberals, secularists and Democrats.
The article raises a couple interesting questions: (1) Is environmentalism -- or "creation care" -- an issue that the Dems could use to reduce the Republicans' Evangelical market share? (2) Even if it won't change votes, can Dems find common ground with Evangelicals on this issue and mount more effective, base-eroding resistance to future anti-environment Republican legislation?
More from the article below.
The article presents an interesting explanation for the suspicion that Evangelicals have traditionally held for environmentalism.
[Professor John C.] Green [of the University of Akron] said the evangelicals' deep suspicion about environmentalists has theological roots.
"While evangelicals are open to being good stewards of God's creation, they believe people should only worship God, not creation," Green said. "This may sound like splitting hairs. But evangelicals don't see it that way. Their stereotype of environmentalists would be Druids who worship trees."
Another reason that evangelicals are suspicious of environmental groups is cultural and has its origins in how conservative Christians view themselves in American society, according to the Rev. Jim Ball, executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network. The group made its name with the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign against gas-guzzling cars but recently shifted its focus to reducing global warming.
"Evangelicals feel besieged by the culture at large," Ball said. "They don't know many environmentalists, but they have the idea they are pretty weird -- with strange liberal, pantheist views."
Much of that explanation will ring true for anyone who has read What's the Matter With Kansas?
Despite these historical differences, the article offers tantalizing hints that -- at least for some Evangelicals -- environmental concerns are or could become a voting issue.
"It's amazing to me that evangelicals haven't gone quicker for the green," Hedman said. "But as creation care spreads, evangelicals will demand different behavior from politicians. The Republicans should not take us for granted."
There is growing evidence -- in polling and in public statements of church leaders -- that evangelicals are beginning to go for the green. Despite wariness toward mainstream environmental groups, a growing number of evangelicals view stewardship of the environment as a responsibility mandated by God in the Bible.
"The environment is a values issue," said the Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals. "There are significant and compelling theological reasons why it should be a banner issue for the Christian right."
...
There is little to suggest in recent elections that environmental concerns influenced the evangelical vote -- indeed, many members of Congress who receive 100 percent approval ratings from Christian advocacy groups get failing grades from environmental groups. But the latest statements and polls have caught the eye of established environmental organizations.
For those who don't recall (or who aren't old enough to know), the article offers this scary bit of recollection:
Even for green activists within the evangelical movement, there are landmines. One faction in the movement, called dispensationalism, argues that the return of Jesus and the end of the world are near, so it is pointless to fret about environmental degradation.
James G. Watt, President Ronald Reagan's first interior secretary, famously made this argument before Congress in 1981, saying: "God gave us these things to use. After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." The enduring appeal of End Time musings among evangelicals is reflected in the phenomenal success of the Left Behind series of apocalyptic potboilers, which have sold more than 60 million copies and are the best-selling novels in the country.
(Luckily, "Green said the notion that an imminent Judgment Day absolves people of environmental responsibility is now a "fringe" belief.")
Is there room for us to work with this emerging Evangelical theory? Can it be used to peel away at the Republicans' base, even a little? Or can it at least be used to get environmental legislation passed that the Republicans and their funding cronies would otherwise quash?
