Science and Religion can work together

The Orlando Sentinel and several other newspapers are touting an alliance between science and religion to save the planet Earth from environmental and climatic catastrophe.

WASHINGTON - Unlikely allies - scientists and evangelicals - joined Wednesday to warn against the dangers of ignoring environmental problems, including global warming and species extinction.

Although short on specific solutions, the new coalition said it would press lawmakers and average Americans to change their attitudes toward environmental protection.

Instead of focusing on their differences over evolution, coalition members said, they will concentrate on issues such as conservation.

"God is putting together groups of people with a common cause who may have been adversarial at times in the past," said the Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla. "Protecting the environment is also a way for preserving life."

Hunter recently was slated to head the Christian Coalition of America. But he reneged on the leadership post in November after disagreeing on priorities for the group.

Among the issues Hunter wanted to address was environmentalism, or "Creation protection," as some religious leaders called it. At the conference, Hunter repeated his call for religious leaders to "cultivate and protect."

It was a common theme Wednesday, as Harvard scientists and evangelical leaders advocated a broad agenda of reducing air pollutants, cleaning up waterways and simply turning off the lights.

"Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world today," said biologist E. O. Wilson.

Protecting the environment "has to have a religious intensity," he said.

Environmentalists are lobbying Democratic leaders in the new Congress on a range of issues, such as renewable sources of power.

President Bush also is expected to address global climate change in his upcoming State of the Union speech.

We'll have to see how well this works. I'm a little concerned that they are 'short on specifics'. It's the specifics that matter. Many evangelicals preach that global warming is just another in a long line of scientific lies and have been generally reluctant to embrace environmental reform. Primary dissenters are young earth creationists. For those who don't want to read the entire Answers in Genesis link, here is a paragraph that sums up the views of some evangelicals:

Christians especially need to be cautious when it comes to the issue of global warming and other environmental issues. One of the reasons is that these issues have been hijacked by individuals who desire to change our way of life, and in particular, the Christian worldview that has guided the Western Hemisphere. Veith concluded: "A big part of the problem is that the current environmental movement has been hijacked by the far left." There are also pantheists involved. These groups have agendas for social engineering. Second, some environmentalists are promulgating misinformation, as will be documented below. It is important that we examine what is known for sure before we speculate on future climate scenarios. Third, those who believe we must act now dominate public discussion and are served by a biased media. Fourth, computer simulations of climate are not always accurate predictors of the future and, with a doubling of carbon dioxide, exaggerate the amount of global warming. But too many people take these simulations as authoritative. Fifth, doomsayers use ad hominem arguments against those who disagree with them?a sign of a weak case and a refusal to enter into reasonable dialog.

Note the derogatory use of 'far-left' and 'pantheists' followed by telling us to watch out for ad-hominem arguments. Sheesh!

CHeers

Joe Meert