Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Evangelicals And Global Warming...
...there are some smart people out there on this issue.
Townhall published an excellent piece by Jennifer Biddison on the issue. (HT: SmartChristian)
One thing I did not know was that Jack Hayford was a signatory to the Evangelical Climate Initiative. I have presumed all along that the people that signed on to this thing were simply sincere but misguided, but there are some personal dealings with Hayford in the Blogotional background and I need to call that particular presumption into question.
Powerline has a message for our friends that signed this thing:
The gospel is about personal engagement - about God Almighty becoming a person to confront us directly. But that is terribly hard work, it can be terribly frustrating, and it is slow. But worst of all, if we seek to follow His example in ministry it demands so much of us, it demands that we be leading in our own personal and spiritual development. You see, when we engage people on that personal level, we must expose ourselves too. Those we minister to see us closely and can examine us, if our lives do not demostrate what we teach, our teaching is for naught
Ah, but organizing a movement, now that is easy. It's a fairly mechanical thing to do, and we can hide behind the organization itself. We are not exposed, we can hold fast to our weaknesses and the inconsistencies between our teaching and our practice remains shrouded.
Organizing a movement like this is effectively a distraction, not necessarily distractiing the public, but the leaders distracting themselves from the places they are being called to grow. They are misguided, but perhaps not simply in their understanding of the science and policy issues involved. Perhaps Wormwood, with guidance from his uncle Screwtape, is at work here, creating the illusion of good where it does not exist, convincing our friends of a holy mandate whilst diluting the message of Christ.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that we fight not just a policy or science battle here, but a spiritual one. Prayer is our strongest weapon in such a battle.
Related Tags: Evanglicals, global warming, science, policy, spiritual battle, misguided
Townhall published an excellent piece by Jennifer Biddison on the issue. (HT: SmartChristian)
Do you remember the day you found out one of your role models was imperfect? Perhaps you saw your mom punish the wrong sibling for breaking a vase, or you heard your kindergarten teacher swear. I'm finding myself just as disillusioned right now with several of our nation's prominent Christians.Jennifer cites many of the same studies and reports that others have like
In 2004, a group of leading economists from around the world gathered for the Copenhagen Consensus to prioritize world problems and to put together economic estimates of possible solutions. They ranked each of seventeen potential solutions according to a cost-benefit analysis of each one. The three proposed climate change solutions received the three worst rankings. The top-ranked solutions - in other words, the solutions that could do the most good at the best cost - included combating HIV/AIDS, providing micronutrients to those suffering from malnutrition, liberalizing trade, and controlling malaria.and work by The National Center for Public Policy Research, but she also has some other resources that I was unfamiliar with.
One thing I did not know was that Jack Hayford was a signatory to the Evangelical Climate Initiative. I have presumed all along that the people that signed on to this thing were simply sincere but misguided, but there are some personal dealings with Hayford in the Blogotional background and I need to call that particular presumption into question.
Powerline has a message for our friends that signed this thing:
The moral of the story is that the leading scientific journals have been taken over by liberals who value politics over truth. So any time you see a news report on a "scientific" journal article that ostensibly has political implications, you should greet it with skepticism.Yesterday I ranted about how this thing puts the gospel itself at stake. On further reflection, I am not surprized.
The gospel is about personal engagement - about God Almighty becoming a person to confront us directly. But that is terribly hard work, it can be terribly frustrating, and it is slow. But worst of all, if we seek to follow His example in ministry it demands so much of us, it demands that we be leading in our own personal and spiritual development. You see, when we engage people on that personal level, we must expose ourselves too. Those we minister to see us closely and can examine us, if our lives do not demostrate what we teach, our teaching is for naught
Ah, but organizing a movement, now that is easy. It's a fairly mechanical thing to do, and we can hide behind the organization itself. We are not exposed, we can hold fast to our weaknesses and the inconsistencies between our teaching and our practice remains shrouded.
Organizing a movement like this is effectively a distraction, not necessarily distractiing the public, but the leaders distracting themselves from the places they are being called to grow. They are misguided, but perhaps not simply in their understanding of the science and policy issues involved. Perhaps Wormwood, with guidance from his uncle Screwtape, is at work here, creating the illusion of good where it does not exist, convincing our friends of a holy mandate whilst diluting the message of Christ.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that we fight not just a policy or science battle here, but a spiritual one. Prayer is our strongest weapon in such a battle.
Related Tags: Evanglicals, global warming, science, policy, spiritual battle, misguided
