So you’re having second thoughts about global warming? Not convinced by Al Gore or a growing number of scientists that climate change is being brought about by the human contribution to carbon emissions? Then you’re no better than Josef Fritzl, according to the Church of England’s Bishop of Stafford, Gordon Mursell. Horrific stories have surrounded Fritzl, the Austrian father who allegedly locked his daughter in a sound-proof, underground cell for twenty-four years and fathered numerous children with her while he frolicked in holiday resorts in Thailand. But to make his point in a recent pastoral letter, Bishop Mursell writes:
And yet Josef Fritzl represents merely the most extreme form of a very common philosophy of life: I will do what makes me happy, and if that causes others to suffer, hard luck. In fact you could argue that, by our refusal to face the truth about climate change, we are as guilty as he is—we are in effect locking our children and grandchildren into a world with no future and throwing away the key. We are right to be disgusted at these crimes.
Mursell’s outrageous comparison has drawn criticism and praise, according to London Times religion correspondent, Ruth Gledhill. In an article on 2 June 2008, she records the outcry from advocates for those abused by Christian clergy while also letting Mursell offer an explanation for his words,
I think we have to try to find ways to get people to see the consequences of our failure to act on climate change. If we don’t face those, all I am saying is we are destroying the future of our children just as he did. Could you not argue that if there is no future for our children and grandchildren, we will have been guilty of committing the most appalling crimes as well?
Unfortunately, such pressure from religious leaders is not limited to the Church of England. Increased support for global warming is making huge inroads into evangelical, non-conformist chapels across the United Kingdom. Evangelical congregations are developing all sorts of policies and programs that leave the average parishioner with little room for the exercise of his/her own conscience on such things as climate change and environmental activism.
One new service called “ChurchCheck,” offers churches the ability to hire mystery visitors to attend their weekly services and provide detailed feedback to church leadership. Here’s a brief statement from their brochure, explaining how it all works,
Blending into the congregation, the ChurchCheck visitor will carefully assess factors ranging from the state of the noticeboard to the warmth of welcome, from the length of the sermon to the ease of involvement, from the after service conversation to evidence of fair trade.
Did you notice the last phrase, “evidence of fair trade”? The very presence of this assessment factor demonstrates how important such issues have become within the evangelical church in Britain, ranking right up there with the length of sermons and how warmly a church receives visitors—no mention of doctrinal integrity or missional impact.
Another example is the “Eco-Congregation” concept that encourages churches across the British Isles to participate in “greening the cornerstone” (gag!) with resources “to help churches put God’s House in green order.” The depth of action recommended in their 12-page “Church Check-up” makes for interesting reading. Here’s a list of the headings under which specific action points are suggested for each aspiring eco-congregation:
- Worship
- Theology
- Children’s Work
- Youth Work
- All Age and Adult Education
- Church Property
- Church Management
- Church Land
- Personal Lifestyle
- Community Outreach
- Overseas Concerns
In a recent post, “Christian Boycotts: Sitting in Judgment on Unbelievers,” I suggested that,
The Christian activist movement can only operate when an environment of fear can be created and maintained. We already look stupid enough without telling our non-Christian friends that we can’t meet them for coffee at Starbucks, or shop at Wal-Mart, or buy our gasoline at Texaco, or engage in free enterprise with dozens of other corporations on the hit list of some watchdog “ministry†that stands to gain from stirring up dirt on anyone they can.
So here in the UK, Christians are expected to make sure their food products are fairly traded and their churches are eco-friendly. These two movements within the church of Jesus Christ, although separated by the Atlantic Ocean, are related in many ways. They require church leaders to use fear and manipulation on the body of Christ, as if we’re too dumb to know where to shop, what to buy, how to travel, how to dress, and where to spend our holidays. If you think I’m being ridiculous, take a look at the Green Guide Online, a database that tracks nearly 14,000 eco-friendly goods, services, contacts, and organizations. They invite readers to use their “14-day plan to make your life greener.”
So do you know your carbon footprint? You can check it here. And remember the warning of Bishop Mursell, if you’re thinking bad thoughts about the whole global warming theory, your entire character is questionable and one day your children may consider themselves no better off than the daughter of the perverted monster-of-a-father, Josef Fritzl.
Got to say it, Bill, this is one subject (not the only one) where you and I see eye to eye. The idea of an Evangelical big brother judging me on meats, drinks, and holy days makes the hairs on my neck stand up. This is a topic that seems more important to a significant proportion of Evangelicals today than reaching lost men and women with the good news of Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no wish to be uncharitable to those who I consider my brothers and sisters in Christ, but this, as you quite rightly say, is for the conscience of the individual not the doctrines of the Church.
I have to say that I also agree with your viewpoint on this. I am tired of hearing all the eco-nonsense on the news and don’t need to hear more of it when I go to church. Often the arguments put forward for green and fair-trade issues are simplistic at best. It should be for the individual to decide whether or not to purchase ‘ecologically sound’ or ‘fair trade’ products according to their conscience and proper investigation into the facts rather than acting on hearsay.
Let’s remember that our main thing as Christians is to fulfil the Great Commission which involves seeing souls saved not saving the planet! I think many Christians who are caught up on the eco bandwagon have forgotten about the song ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’.
Glad you’re still hanging around these parts, Chris. I’m treading on holy ground for a lot of good friends here in the UK, but I think it’s a huge distraction (like the Christian boycotts and activism in America) from what God has called the church to do and be. Can you imagine Jesus or even Paul insisting on “fair trade” coffee for the gatherings of the ekklesia?
Welcome to my blog, Tim! Glad to have you weighing in, too.
Tolerance is something I think about a lot; especially as a Christian. It is one thing for the right to struggle with tolerance, but it is especially worrisome to me when leftist movements can’t tolerate discourse either. The whole “if you can’t come to grips with the truth then you’re a delusional idiot” logic of today’s green movement worries me.
Then again, this is a good window for the Church to be a place of welcome and diversity. That is, if we don’t fall in line with the mainstream lest we offend someone.
The great commission is to make disciples not save souls. If Jesus is Lord of all our lives then although we are free to choose how we live, our love for God surely makes us want to do things that bless other people rather than hurt them. If I have a choice as to whether to buy something for which someone has been well treated and fairly paid or to buy something which has involved unjust practices and oppression surely my love for God and my neighbour would weight my choice in favour of the former. Its not a matter of imposing these things on others whether believers or not but on informing them of the alternatives that we have as consumers. I think God would want us to to do all we can to promote His values of kindness and justice. The same goes for environmental issues. If the way I live is making life more intolerable for the poor and I am being greedy in my use of resources I can’t see that this is compatible with loving our neighbour as ourselves.
Maggie: I certainly appreciate the salient points of your argument…well stated, by the way! If we know for certain (versus rumor or third-party information) that injustice or oppression has played a key role in the production of goods and services, then I would personally endorse purchasing similar goods/services from alternative sources or else do without them altogether. In other words, I would quit eating bananas if there was only one source that employed slave labor to harvest their crops.
Unfortunately, there are numerous “Christian” agencies around the world that focus their entire “ministry” on targeting these sorts of abuses and we’re just supposed to take their word for it? Starbucks has been on these sorts of “hit lists” for years, yet no one asks about the impact it would have on coffee growers if Starbucks suddenly went out of business. And no one ever seems to read Starbucks’ annual Corporate Social Responsibility reports outlining their commitment to make a positive impact in the coffee-growing communities around the world. They belong to such agencies as Conservation International, Save the Children, Earthwatch, African Wildlife Foundation, and MercyCorps: sounds like they take these things seriously.
The same thing goes for environmental issues. Everyone in the West (who have all sorts of money to spend on alternative energy sources) wants to make it illegal for developing countries to burn coal, which many of these countries have in abundance, simply because of the “supposed” contribution to greenhouse gases and human-induced climate change—a theory, at best, that may soon collapse as more and more scientists question the validity of the underlying assumptions. How can global restrictions on CO2 emissions bless the poorest nations and reflect the kindness/love/justice of God when they can’t flip a light switch unless we allow them to generate electricity with coal-powered plants?
So I worry that Christians are being led to “bear false witness” in these sorts of discussions about where to shop, what to buy, etcetera. Surely that’s a form of injustice and oppression that we should avoid as well.
On the environment issue there is still debate not so much on whether global warming is happening but rather whether mankind can have any significant influence on it. Many ‘greenhouse’ gases are produced by our planet naturally so even if we completely cut our CO2 (and other) emissions global warming could still continue because the earth goes through natural cycles of heating and cooling. Unfortunately the environment seems to be an issue that is used by the government for political ends and revenue generation by supposedly green taxes.
One example of the eco-nonsense being pushed is the introduction of RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) in regard to the manufacture of electronic equipment. Leaded solder has been banned from all new electronic devices with certain exemptions being granted e.g. for military use due to reliability concerns. It is questionable whether leaded solder going into landfill is harmful in the first place but that aside, the use of lead-free solder is making and will continue to make our electronics less reliable because lead-free solder is more brittle and is also susceptible to the spontaneous growth of tin whiskers which can cause microscopic short circuits. The end result is that the environment is worse off because the less reliable equipment will have to be replaced more often creating more waste for landfill as despite any recycling efforts a good amount of electronics waste still goes into landfill. Most consumer electronics these days is so cheap to buy due to cheap labour manufacturing in the far east that it is not economical to have repaired so instead it is discarded when it fails.
I absolutely agree that we please God when we make right choices in what we purchase etc. When we listen a preacher we should read the Word for ourselves to ensure that what is preached is biblically correct. In the same manner, when we are told that we ought not buy a certain manufacturer’s product because it is not ethically produced we should be encouraged to investigate for ourselves so that we can make a personal decision according to our God given conscience rather than doing so because we are told to by the powers that be (whether that is the church or the government).
Bill
I would be interested to know who these numerous Christian agencies are whose main ministry is targetting companies with untrue allegations. I am not aware of who they are
Maggie
Tim: That’s my point exactly, that we should not depend upon second-hand or third-hand information (where I come from, we call that “gossip”) to make such sweeping judgments or encourage others to do the same. I wrote another article on “Christian Boycotts: Sitting in Judgment on Unbelievers” that speaks to this from a biblical viewpoint.
Maggie: Just google “Christian Boycott” and you’ll discover dozens of Christian activist groups. I wouldn’t accuse all groups of intentionally publishing “untrue allegations” as you put it, but they do spend a great deal of time pushing boycotts, calling Christians to action on the basis of their own research, and raising money to fund these religio-political crusades. And I’m questioning whether we should put the reputation of Christ and the Church on the line for second-hand information that (a) may be an exaggeration or misinterpretation of the facts, or (b) could be an isolated incident or mistake that these corporations (like Starbucks) are trying very hard to correct.
I am in agreement with you here, Bill. My main concern in this, as in every other thing in our Christian lives, is that we should try, test, prove all things for ourselves, not just accept as fact things that are told us. I’ve found myself in trouble many times in the past through applying that principle, but I’m too old to change now! But when we occasionally (and we will) reach differing conclusions to our fellow believers, that doesn’t put us beyond the pale or make us enemies.