On last week's

http://www.livingonearth.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=05-P13-00042&segmentID=2

Living on Earth, which you should really be listening to anyway, Reverend Richard Cizik, director of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, laid out his organization's plan for helping the environment.

No, seriously. Stop laughing!

I'm as shocked as you are, but as Cizik points out, any biblical Christian really SHOULD care about the environment.

Quote :

"CURWOOD: Why add concern about global warming to the evangelical platform? CIZIK: That's a reasonable question. In fact, we have evangelicals around the country who're asking the very same question. We're doing it because of one reason: the Bible mandates us. Not as owners of this Earth, because we aren't owners. The Bible is very clear in Genesis 2:15 that we're simply stewards of what God has given us, and that we're to watch over and care for it. If we're supposed to do that, then we simply can't trash it. We can't simply say, "well, it's all going to be incinerated and, therefore, it matters not what we do with it." ... Well, Jesus says that, you know, you are to be stewards of the Earth. You are to be the salt and light in society, you are to be the leaven, you see, as in the bread that restores it, keeps it healthy. In other words, we are not to be agents of destruction but agents of His continual creation. And since we are taught by Scripture that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, how is it possible for us to love our neighbor if we are committing transgressions against what he has created and impacting people around the world in phenomenal ways?"

But won't this harm them politically? Well, it could, but the Reverend says he's gotten far more support than he expected:

Quote :

"So it's a call to care for creation that's rooted in the Scriptural tradition from beginning to end, and we're finding, frankly, enormous receptivity. Now, we've upset the apple cart politically to some folk, but at the grassroots, frankly, amazing support. In fact, the surveys indicate already that we've gotten surprising support for this initiative. ... CURWOOD: Now, I'm not much of a theologian so please excuse me, I'm probably going to get this wrong. But at the other end of the Bible you come to the Book of Revelation, that talks about pretty much everything being made new and that really it doesn't matter much what happens. CIZIK: Well, wait a second. The Bible does say a new heaven and a new Earth, a renewed Earth. It doesn't say the Earth is going to be destroyed and simply recreated from scratch, if you will, ex nihilo, as God did it the first time out of nothing. No, He's going to renew it. In fact, we see in the Book of Romans by the Apostle Paul that He is redeeming creation even now and that all of creation groans for the revealing of his son – that is, Jesus. And that, at some point, he will return – that's what we, as evangelicals, believe – to a renewed creation. So we simply can't trash what we have, although that is a prevailing wisdom among some, sad to say."

I, for one, applaud this move. Let's hope that the Reverend is serious when he says this:

Quote :

"If our constituency, the evangelicals, say this matters, it's not simply radical enviros who happen to believe the Earth is at stake, but we care about this issue, and the reason we care about it is because people matter. And if the poor around the world are gonna be impacted, shouldn't we do something? We must. And once we've put our imprimatur on this issue then I think we have the freedom to begin to sow some seeds here for a better energy bill in the long run. A better climate policy by the United States. And, frankly, there won't be a Republican running for the nomination, I don't believe, in 2008, who isn't going to hear from us."

By the way, if you want to read their

http://www.nae.net/images/civic_responsibility2.pdf

For The Health Of The Nation Report, that's where this environmental commitment comes from. From that report:

10/27/2005 11:23:28 PM

um... why does this surprise you?

christians have always been called to be good stewards of the earth

10/27/2005 11:25:14 PM

yeah, by the bible. Not by the evangelical sect.

I'm glad to see them actually taking the bible as it was mean tto be taken, but it IS surprising.

10/27/2005 11:31:50 PM

this is seriously old news.

evangelicals have been concerned about the environment for years now, although they also feel that abortion and gay suppression take precedence....

you're falling into the typical liberal elitist habit of stereotyping people who are different than you.



[Edited on October 27, 2005 at 11:36 PM. Reason : s]

10/27/2005 11:33:33 PM

um, no. I'm falling into the typical stereotype of people who call 'em like they see 'em. The guy himself even says that he was surprised about the amount of grassroots support, so stfu

10/27/2005 11:35:15 PM

maybe i just dont understand who you are calling "evangelicals" but i have a feeling this is probably just you not understanding christianity

10/27/2005 11:35:36 PM

maybe you'll also be surprised to know that evangelicals are also very concerned about increasing foreign aid to africa and other nations.

you've clearly got a lot to learn.

10/27/2005 11:36:32 PM

yeah, you're right. I don't understand christianity. That's what it is.

look, I, just like you, understand that a religion and the thoughts of the people following that religion (or trying to) dont' always match up. I KNOW that christianity calls for god's people to be stewards of the earth. That's why it's always so confusing to me when so-called christians don't think we should protect the environment.

from the interview:

Quote :

"So we simply can't trash what we have, although that is a prevailing wisdom among some, sad to say.""

Quote :

"CURWOOD: Why add concern about global warming to the evangelical platform? CIZIK: That's a reasonable question. In fact, we have evangelicals around the country who're asking the very same question."

and matthew, seriously, you can troll everyone else, but ever since I found out that was you, i've pretty much just found it entertaining... just like all your other aliases You're REALLY good, though, 'cause I bought the whole character until I discovered it was you.

[Edited on October 27, 2005 at 11:45 PM. Reason : .]

10/27/2005 11:43:45 PM

theres a difference between helping and protecting the environment and adding concern about global warming to their platform

no ones arguing with the first part

10/27/2005 11:53:02 PM

Quote :

"maybe you'll also be surprised to know that evangelicals are also very concerned about increasing foreign aid to africa and other nations. "

i.e. i don't wanna see you posting a thread in the future expressing shock - shock! that evangelicals hold humanitarian beliefs

10/28/2005 12:43:05 AM

god dammit

i'm not shocked that they hold humanitarian beliefs, and I seriously want to just stop respondingto you since I know you're trolling, matt, but I just can't help myself

I'm shocked that they outline environmental protection in their report.

and jon:

Quote :

""CURWOOD: Why add concern about global warming to the evangelical platform? CIZIK: That's a reasonable question. In fact, we have evangelicals around the country who're asking the very same question. We're doing it because of one reason: the Bible mandates us."

they discuss global warming in the interview, so though I don't see it specifically outlined in the report, the president of the association specifically says it's part of their platform along with the environmental protection.

[Edited on October 28, 2005 at 8:48 AM. Reason : .]

10/28/2005 8:46:42 AM

I'm not trolling.

liberals and the mainstream media are consistently confounded when they realize that evangelicals actually have very complex and nuanced political beliefs - and are not actually simple sheep led blindly by rush and fallwell

[Edited on October 28, 2005 at 10:09 AM. Reason : s]

10/28/2005 10:09:22 AM

I'm tired of telling people I'm not a liberal. I agree with liberals on alot of things, but I'm not a liberal. They get really pissed at me when I tell them racial quotas are reverse racism or that I like free trade or that I am against taxes, so I don't fit in with them either. I'm just able to be friendly with them more easily than conservatives; go figure.

Anyway, I'm not the least bit surprised that they have nuanced political beliefs, and you wont' find me saying anything like "evangelicals are sheep" anywhere at any time. Go ahead and try, because you won't find it.

You're setting up a strawman, but it isn't working. I'm surprised that this group, from the top down, has listed it in their national platform. I'm not the least bit surprised that there are some evangelicals who want to protect the environment.

10/28/2005 10:55:28 AM

I'm not setting up a strawman. You're the one who said

Quote :

"No, seriously. Stop laughing! I'm as shocked as you are"

when you discovered that evangelicals care about the earth.

10/28/2005 10:58:16 AM

i discovered that THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS officially stated it, not that it was even possible. I've already said that.

10/28/2005 11:02:14 AM

your statement

Quote :

"No, seriously. Stop laughing! I'm as shocked as you are"

came across as elitist and smarmy

10/28/2005 11:14:16 AM

i love the word "smarmy." Makes me think of pirates

as for elitist, I guess I can see why you'd think that, until you realize that I don't think I'm better than them, I just would normally think that sort of thing would be a joke. Simply trying to lighten the mood

10/28/2005 11:29:05 AM

I've heard of this before once in an article talking about how the evangelical movement can suprisingly cross traditional party lines. In part, I think that you start seeing the evangelicals moving into issues like environmental protection and human rights is a sign of the growing political sophistication of the movement.

You're right, while there were some "green" tendencies among certain evangelical Christian circles, I don't believe that it was until recently that they've started to become a more focused movement; most likely because the evangelical movement is beginning to think of issues outside of the initial mobilizing ones like abortion and gay marriage. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this...

10/28/2005 12:12:46 PM

The Catholic Church has pushed this stuff for a while now. People just don't hear the message because they obsess over our position on human life issues.

10/28/2005 3:59:57 PM