Posted on 07/05/2005 4:19:32 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Environmentalists are blaming US President George Bush and his friends in the energy industry for wrecking a G8 deal on global warming before he has even boarded the plane to the summit in Gleneagles.
Coming from his usual critics, this is unlikely to trouble the president as he heads for the summit, but he faces growing pressure to give greater priority to the environment from one of his most loyal domestic constituencies: the religious right.
Evangelical Christians form a crucial plank in Mr Bush's formidable political base (he is an evangelical himself) and care for the environment is becoming an important part of their agenda.
Green evangelicals first hit the headlines in 2002, when Reverend Jim Ball launched a campaign called "What would Jesus drive?", claiming that gas-guzzlers are ungodly.
His call for the US government to take action to protect the environment has since been taken up by powerful leaders of the evangelical community.
'Protect God's creation'
The 30-million-member National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) published a landmark document in November calling on conservative Christians to "labour to protect God's creation".
It stated that "government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation."
NAE president Reverend Ted Haggard discussed global warming with Tony Blair when the British prime minister visited Washington to drum up support for his G8 agenda last month.
Christianity Today, an influential evangelical magazine, backed a Senate bill calling for mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions, something the White House opposes.
The "greening" of the evangelical movement has its roots in biblical references to mankind's responsibility to care for God's Earth.
While the presence of committed environmentalists among supporters of a president the left dubs the "Toxic Texan" may seem surprising, for Mr Haggard there is no contradiction.
"We came to the issue because of the Bible," he told the BBC News website.
"New scientific evidence is raising concerns and, since we have so many evangelical Christians in government right now, we wanted to highlight that the environment is a worthy concern for evangelicals."
Suspicions remain
The repackaging of environmentalism under the banner of "creation care" makes it more acceptable to Republicans suspicious of the secular, liberal types who have dominated green politics in the past.
But not all Christian conservatives are happy about this new departure.
Focus on the Family, which has been at the forefront of campaigns against abortion and gay marriage, says it cannot support "any issue that seems to put plants and animals above humans".
"Some worry that enthusiasm for some of the longstanding issues that political evangelicals have dealt with will be diminished if we take on too much," says David Neff, editor of Christianity Today and one of the authors of the NAE manifesto.
This concern helps explain why "creation care" has yet to have an impact on White House policy. Energy security and economic growth have taken priority over protection of the environment in the Bush White House.
Although the president has promised certain reductions to greenhouse gases by 2012, using tax breaks and voluntary schemes, he opposes mandatory emission controls.
The State Department's 2002 Climate Action Report accentuates the alleged "uncertainties" of climate change science.
But Mr Haggard is convinced that green evangelicals will change Republican policy over the long term.
"It's a biblical mandate that this generation of Christians have to address," he says.
Evangelical power
Political scientist Professor John Green of the University of Akron agrees that "because evangelicals are so important to the Republican coalition" there is "great potential" for them to cause a shift in Republican policy in the next few years.
"The abortion issue is an example of how a well-organised constituency can bring about changes," he argues.
In the same way that the need for evangelical votes has pushed moderate Republicans to take up anti-abortion positions, sceptical Republicans may be persuaded to shift their position on the environment, Prof Green says.
According to the Pew Research Center, the political clout of evangelicals is on the increase - white evangelical Christians accounted for more than a third of all votes cast for President Bush in the November 2004 election.
While their electoral power alone may be enough to persuade fellow Republicans to give greater priority to the environment, evangelicals' distinctive approach to the issue could also help.
"Traditional environmentalists blame corporations where we want corporations and government to work together. The Republicans are missing it right now because they equate environmentalism with being anti-business," says Mr Haggard.
And evangelical Christians are not alone among Republicans who see global warming as a key priority.
Signing ambitious targets on cutting greenhouse gases into law last month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the global warming debate finished.
"We know the science. We see the threat," he said.
While President Bush's trip to Scotland could leave the environmentalists disappointed, they can at least console themselves that one of the most powerful forces in Republican politics, along with the Terminator, may be on their side.
GReen conservatives? ... (shuddder)
...and here we thought Islam was a buggerboo.
I don't think so.
While I believe that there are strong stewardship teachings that would lead to a green tendency for the believer, I think that it's stretching it to make this a political issue for Bush. Frankly, I just don't think that evangelicals are there yet. Stewardship/environmentalism still has the stink of the left on it and is not regularly taught from the pulpit. I think the BBC is really grasping here.
Ted Haggard was one of the "evangelicals" who wanted Franklin Graham to apologize for calling Islam an evil religion. Ted's another namby-pamby man-pleaser, which in my book is the antithesis of an evangelical. I fear the designation is getting hijacked by one fraudulent group after another.
i lived abroad in a country that is extremely friendly to the USA (australia). I found that the foreign media doesnt report what is actually happening in the US, but what they wish was happening.
As a result many foreigners are horribly informed about the goings on in the USA.
It's anti-human!
Joel 2
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
2 Peter 3
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
What a pant load.
what's next...? jesus was a whale-saving environmentalist...? i swear to god, the religious left is beyond comprehension in their moral stupidity...
what's next...? jesus was a whale-saving environmentalist...? i swear to god, the religious left is beyond comprehension in their moral stupidity...
This is a total front operation.
Funny. I don't recall this being an issue evangelicals (at least those crucial to election of Republicans) are widely concerned with. It's...interesting how these Liberal organs keep finding these "evangelicals" that are seemingly Liberal in nature rising up to the challenge the President. One might even think the Left is propping up fringe groups, attempting to give them legitimacy while at the same time comparing everyone else to the Taliban. Would the Left do this? Of course.
Just as they'll promote "Christians" legitimizing homosexuality. Are they? No. Leadership councils in Lberal churches with decreasing memberships are advancing it, but they aren't making a dent in real Christian congregations.
And, btw, I'm not the sort of person that claims you cannot be a Liberal, a Democrat and a Christian at the same time. You can. Nor are christians unconcerned with the environment. We're charged to keep good stewardship of the land. But these groups the MSM is fronting are more activist than Christian.
Currently Christians of all denominations are far more concerned with the Judiciary shoving cultural changes down our throats against will. They are concerned about the entertainment industry and the state of families in this country. They are concerned with persecution against people that proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. They are concerned with preaching His Gospel. School Choice and caring for the poor. Charities. These are current front burner activities.
I can't say I've heard anyone speaking of Global warming.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435537/posts
"The nation's main coalition of evangelical Christian churches is under internal pressure to adopt a Middle East policy for the first time, and observers expect the group to emerge more centrist and moderate than its current image."
'Centrist' and 'moderate' are, of course, leftist euphemisms for 'F*** them Jews!'
And now 'evangelicals' are hopping on the environmentalist bandwagon.
Anyone making book on what's next?
'Economic justice' maybe?
it's already been done... ever heard of living wage...? :D
Ironic, isn't it.
WHO IS FUNDING THESE PHONY "EVANGELICALS"??? there must be a nefarious Soros-type behind all this.
And was pronounced an enviro-heretic in short order for his infantile application of scripture to suit his personal agenda.
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