Why Christians and Environmental Stewardship Go Together

Evangelical Christians are often labelled as the ‘ones that vote for Trump and don’t believe in climate science’. But if you look up what an evangelical Christian is, it’s someone who believes in the complete word of God, which if you read the Bible, basically tells us to look after the planet and all its creatures.

So what Bible they are reading, is anyone’s guess.

Of course, there are really serious issues here. We have issues with many ‘Christians in England’ who seem to think that drilling for oil, building over natural habitats and releasing farm chemicals, is all okay (even if it destroys our land and native species). But so far, most of them don’t do it because ‘God is telling them to’, which kind of happens in the USA (Jesus Christ was actually Middle Eastern).

And denying climate science to ‘drill, baby, drill’ could have consequences not only in other countries, but worldwide. It’s ironic that Trump wants to buy the very country (Greenland) that has melting ice caps, often due to the oil-drilling countries, of which he is so supportive.

And if the ice caps melt, we’re all in deep deep trouble. We will have more floods  and freak weather, less food (so there will be more ‘boat migrants’ fleeing to us) and polar bears will go extinct.

This wasn’t part of God’s plan, was it?

Of course, there are some ‘true Christians’ who do indeed care for our planet. But you’re less likely to find them on pulpits, or celebrated by the media.

Reverend Sue Parfitt (eco-friendly Christian!)

Sue Parfitt is a former social worker, who has lost count of the times she has been arrested, for standing up for the planet. Now over 80, she’s a member of Christian Climate Action and says that sometimes she has so many pending court cases, she gets muddled up about which is when!

Inspired by Jesus (who she says ‘broke the law all the time’), her recent peaceful actions include travelling the country with her crucifix and walking stick to protest policy, she even chained herself to  the underside of a lorry!

We’re told by the scientists that even to slow the climate emergency down, to stop global warming by a fraction of a degree, will save millions of lives and huge amounts of suffering. That’s worth doing, isn’t it? Sue Parfitt

She has not yet caught up with Catholic Father John Dear in the USA, who has been arrested over 70 times for protesting against environmental harm, animal abuse and nuclear weapons.

Back in Sussex, Father Terry Martin is also ruffling feathers, as a major campaigner for animal welfare (and asking Pope Leo to denounce bullfighting which he won’t, due to many Catholic countries supporting the Vatican).

Vatican City even takes around 30,000 Euros in rent from a branch of McDonald’s, something that has appalled many of the Cardinals and Bishops.

Why won’t Christian MPs listen to climate science?

Ofcom has recently come under fire, for refusing to investigate an interview that GB News did with President Trump, when he dismissed climate science as ‘fake’. It’s not (97% of climate scientists say it’s human-induced, the others are mostly funded by the oil industry).

The channel recently interviewed Reform UK’s ‘climate expert’, who has not published any research papers, her views not on a par with climate scientists.

The campaign site 38 Degrees has a petition for Ofcom to change its minds, as it’s so important for correct unbiased information to be presented to people who will be affected by climate change.

The GB News interview with President Trump was the most blatant example of a British media organisation collaborating with the Trump administration, to undermine British democracy with this misinformation. Bob Ward (Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment)

Scientists’ best estimate is that roughly 100% of warming since the mid-20th Century is caused by human activity. The main producers of greenhouse gases are electricity generation and transport. If humans weren’t around, the climate would be cooling slightly. We need to stop burning fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy. Dr John Cook

Why are some Christians destroying the planet?

It’s strange. Those of us who believe in some kind of God would wonder why they aren’t (a bit like ageing dictators) a teeny weeny bit scared about ‘what comes next’, if they are peddling policy to kill the planet and all who live in it, by not listening to climate science.

Research that has delved into why it’s right-wing evangelical Christians that give out wrong information is due to:

• End-Times Theology (basically, they believe ‘Jesus is coming back to save us’, so they turn a blind eye to environmental issues).
• They confuse ‘dominion’ with ‘do what you like’. But of course we have ‘dominion’ over babies and animals, it doesn’t mean that we destroy them.
• Political Tribalism (this is the most common, with right-wing politicians believing that they have to have a set different policy from ‘the radical left’ that tends to care more about the planet’).

The upshot of course is this mad point: that the planet may actually cave and ‘all God’s children’ will die – simply because those who say they are ‘proper Christians’ will be making the policies that destroy it. What would Jesus say? He won’t be best please with them, that’s for sure.

But don’t lose hope, many Christians care deeply about our planet:

English priest Luke Larner used to be a climate science denier. A former bricklayer, he then read up all the facts for himself, and now campaigns for climate protection (and social justice).

Yorkshire’s Stanbrook Abbey has solar panels, rainwater harvesting and a sedum (living) roof. Green Sisters is a wonderful book about ‘eco-nuns’ who drive around in electric cars, and replace manicured gardens to  grow free food for parishioners. The best line comes from Mother Superior ‘anyone who saw the Divine in a potato, could never turn it into Pringles!’

Sr Dorothy Stang was an American nun, who lived with tribes in the South American forest, campaigning to keep their homes from loggers. She was murdered by two men, praying for their forgiveness as she died.

It is true that UK weather forecasts can sometimes go on longer than most people need or like. Most people simply want to know the weather!

But for the most part, most of the weather presenters on TV are qualified meteorologists, and know their onions, when it comes to both weather and climate science. Most trained at the Met Office.

After President Trump said that ‘climate change is a con’, ITV Morning’s presenter Laura Tobin has publicly offered to discuss climate science with him, saying she is available to go through the data with his administration.

She obviously frequently reports on human-caused climate change weather events, like floods, rising sea levels and melting glaciers. So far she has not received a response.

How much of climate change is caused by humans? Nearly all of it. Dr John Tobin (climate scientist)

Recently on GB News, one presenter (unbelievably the previous wonderful Coast presenter Neil Oliver who should know his nature) asked people to persuade him that ‘climate change wasn’t a scam’.

He said that the media and MPs were scaremongering people to be ‘‘frightened of summer’ predictions of at least 40 degrees.

Corrected by Tomasz (the science)

But BBC meteorologist Tomasz Schafermaker says this was air temperature (above 1 metre). Not ground temperatures, which will have been higher (sometimes in excess of 50 C). This is the problem when we have MPs and media pundits deciding how serious climate change is, rather than listening to scientists.

Tomasz is often called ‘the nation’s favourite weather forecaster’, using his highly trained mind to give easy forecasts. He even sometimes presents Radio’s 4’s Shipping Forecast (the nation’s lullaby). Born in Poland, he has a BSc (Hons) in Meteorology, so likely knows more about extreme weather and climate change than scaremongers and politicians who deny the facts.

Recently, when a GB News presenter called out wildfires in Greece as ‘scaremongering’ about higher temperatures and making people ‘terrified of the weather’, Tomasz gently corrected him:

This is absolutely not true.  The temperature being reported is AIR temperature above ground (over 1 metre) not the GROUND temperature. Ground temperature. This will have been even higher in many of those locations, well in excess of 50 C.

Here’s another statement from Bob Ward (policy and communications director at Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics:

GB News is letting down its audience, by giving platforms to individuals who have strong opinions about climate change, but are unable or unwilling to tell the truth about it. Robust debate about climate policies is good. But needs to be focused on facts and evidence, rather than ideology and propaganda.