It's not surprising that Christian evangelicals can't decide on the reality of global warming or what to do about it.
A year ago, it looked as if Christian fundamentalists were going to join the fight to protect our "Eden" Earth from the impact of global warming, but these groups are apparently too divided over the issue to reach a consensus.
That doesn't surprise me for several reasons with which I am intimately familiar.
Theologically, many of them are convinced that we're living in the "End Times" and are waiting for the start of the "Great Tribulation", from which they personally hope to escape via the rapture. Rather than worry about their personal contributions to the condition of the planet, they plan to let God cleanse it with fire, instead.
There is also the subtext here that since the world is only 6,000 years old, that all this scientific talk about millions of years of geological time -- during which fossil fuels formed and life on the planet evolved, including the advance and retreat of ice ages -- is unbiblical and anti-Christian. So, scientific pronouncements about global warming can either be dismissed as philosophical vanity or chalked up to God's wrath.
I can speak with some authority on this topic because much of this is what I not only used to believe, but also taught my congregations as a church pastor for nine years until I started to apply a bit more critical thinking to both scripture and everyday life. More importantly I stopped viewing others as "deceived" and began to realize that if I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem. Rather than waiting for a divine remedy, maybe I should show a little maturity and start to "own the problem."
Interestingly, I just came across an article in the Los Angeles Times entitled, Religious Progressives, The Next Generation that suggests others share a similar view that could become the catalyst for solving problems instead of ignoring them.
Writes Diane Winston the LA Times...
"The emergent network -- encompassing progressive evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholics and maybe even Jews -- talks about sustainability. They seek to be responsible stewards, modestly working to honor all creation -- riding a bike instead of driving, welcoming a stranger, sharing a meal with a hungry family.
Who knows? They may be the kind of saints we need right now."