At the same time as much as environmentalists were super excited that evangelicals might be coming on board, the other side had this whole group of people opposing action on climate change, pushing as hard as they could against it. Southern Baptists in the U. That ramped up concern. Without the Southern Baptists Environment and Climate Initiative perhaps it would have just kind of slowly fizzled. But that really suggested this movement was not going to go away. And we need to make sure that people know that what Biblically sound position on climate change is.
People like James Dobson, Dr. James Kennedy , who died in , Jerry Falwell : the environment was not a big deal to them. But they were also getting it in radio programs and TV programs directed towards Christian audiences. Why did they choose to go in that direction and not in the direction of supporting action against climate change?
They were getting pressure from their coalition partners in the Republican party, who were saying, this is your field. Evangelicals are getting taken from us, this is a big issue for us, and you need to deal with that problem. What do evangelicals who want to tackle climate change cite?
Scientific studies? The Bible? When I was looking at the Evangelical Climate Initiative, they were also engaged in policy conversation at that time, they were pushing for cap and trade legislation. Not just creation care and stewardship and ecological theology, but also bringing in theological perspectives around how the impacts of climate change hit the most vulnerable people first and worst. In some ways from that group, at that time, theology may have been leveraged more often. That was part of trying to pull this issue out of the left, out of the environmental movement, and into a more kind of centrist concern.
And you hear similar things from folks like [professor] Katharine Hayhoe [climate scientist and married to evangelical pastor]. KW: Certainly, the research that I did left me with some criticism of the mainstream, secular environmental movement or climate movement. And what our sense of responsibility is to this place and to one another. I think there are a lot of things that evangelicals do well, in terms of openly talking about values and beliefs in terms of storytelling, and in terms of taking issues that can feel really big and abstract and making them personal in some way.
RV: I agree. Listen to Richard Cizik and the story of his conversion to concern about climate change. I believe his faith really sustained that decision, so there is a power there. I do think that evangelicals are better talking to the common man and understanding basic concerns that people have, and environmentalists, unfortunately, have not been very good at doing that.
Most people care about the environment, no matter who you are. I think it was really effective [at] creating some uncertainty and suspicion about climate change.
Environmentalists have relied on the secular media to convey their message. So they are constantly doing this nimble dance between what it is my congregation believes, and where can I take leadership. They always have to stay really close to the grassroots. And I think that the structure of environmental communities is a little different, and maybe has made perhaps too much space to move away from basic communities and their concerns. Do you think evangelicals have the power to save the planet?
If enough see climate change as an issue, might Republicans see policies to tackle climate change as a way to win votes? Are they the key to tackling climate change? I think the way that young people are changing the story, opening up the cultural space that makes political action possible. Are evangelicals who are very concerned about climate change a small minority, and is that minority made up of young people?
And so, will young people from a range of different communities across society have to come together in order to tackle climate change? I have never seen [evangelicals concerns about climate change] broken down by age. We know that young evangelicals are more liberal on gay marriage, homosexuality, and that kind of thing. And there are these weird undercurrents of tension. Other people who look at religion and environmental activism have found that oftentimes evangelicals find themselves marginalized.
Environmentalists want their political clout, but sometimes are suspicious of them as well. Activism the expression and demonstration of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts Crucicentrism a stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as making possible the redemption of humanity. Defining Evangelicals in Research Evangelicals are a common subject of research, but often the outcomes of that research vary due to differences in the methods used to identify evangelicals.
It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior. Download the Methodology PDF. For Further Study. He had interviewed scores of people, many of them evangelical Christians.
Wronged by Mueller, wronged by the media, wronged by the anti-Trump forces. A passionate belief that he never gets credit for anything. Starting with the election and continuing with the conclusion of the Mueller report. Many said God has chosen him and is protecting him.
The data seem to bear this out. Approval for President Trump among white evangelical Protestants is 25 points higher than the national average. The enthusiastic, uncritical embrace of President Trump by white evangelicals is among the most mind-blowing developments of the Trump era.
How can a group that for decades—and especially during the Bill Clinton presidency—insisted that character counts and that personal integrity is an essential component of presidential leadership not only turn a blind eye to the ethical and moral transgressions of Donald Trump, but also constantly defend him?
Part of the answer is their belief that they are engaged in an existential struggle against a wicked enemy—not Russia, not North Korea, not Iran, but rather American liberals and the left. If you listen to Trump supporters who are evangelical and non-evangelicals, like the radio talk-show host Mark Levin , you will hear adjectives applied to those on the left that could easily be used to describe a Stalinist regime. Ask yourself how many evangelicals have publicly criticized Trump for his lavish praise of Kim Jong Un, the leader of perhaps the most savage regime in the world and the worst persecutor of Christians in the world.
Many white evangelical Christians, then, are deeply fearful of what a Trump loss would mean for America, American culture, and American Christianity.
0コメント