{"id":2450930,"date":"2019-11-10T19:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T02:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/paul-andersen-climate-and-christianity-a-place-to-start\/"},"modified":"2019-11-10T19:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T02:28:00","slug":"paul-andersen-climate-and-christianity-a-place-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/paul-andersen-climate-and-christianity-a-place-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Andersen: Climate and Christianity, a place to start"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Getting to climate change through Genesis may seem like a far reach. What does the Bible\u2019s creation story have to do with carbon emissions?<\/p>\n

It may have a lot to do with it, and Christianity could become a sensible approach in making substantive change and inspiring action.<\/p>\n

If common cause can be found among Christians, then climate change could become the next religious crusade. Coalescing belief systems over a moral cause is more important than ever as the world faces critical tipping points associated with climate.<\/p>\n

Religion, for all the unity it should extoll, has been a divisive force and, throughout history, an underlying cause for genocide. But if Christianity can be identified by its compassionate roots through climate solutions, all that could change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a Christian family with a science-teacher dad who taught us that science is the study of God\u2019s creation,\u201d wrote Katharine Hayhoe in an op-ed in last week\u2019s New York Times<\/a>. Hayhoe comes from two seemingly conflicting backgrounds \u2014 religion and science. Where they intersect is where she has found her mission, in both roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we truly believe that God created this amazing universe, bringing matter and energy to life out of a formless empty void, then how could studying his creation ever be in conflict with his written word?\u201d<\/p>\n

This confluence of science and faith is a promising example of enlightened thinking on climate change. Instead of shrill arguments over the definition of \u201cdominion\u201d in Genesis, Hayhoe describes a meeting of mind and heart that makes a sacred argument for scientific solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose what to study precisely because of my faith,\u201d she writes, \u201cbecause climate change disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable, those already most at risk today. To me, caring about and acting on climate was a way to live out my calling to love others as we\u2019ve been loved ourselves by God.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Christians can accept this idea \u2014 that love for those who suffer most from climate change is a personal extension of the Christian doctrine \u2014 then taking a stand on climate means taking a stand for others who are less fortunate and therefore deserving.<\/p>\n

A shift from fear to compassion must occur in the way we view the swelling number of climate refugees who are flooding to U.S. boarders in hopes of salvation from starvation, violence and homelessness \u2014 people who have played a minor role in climate change because their carbon footprints are so much smaller than ours.<\/p>\n

Battling climate change to make the birth places of these migrants more livable would not only provide succor to their beleaguered nations, but could help ease border impasses. There are other reasons for today\u2019s mass migrations, but climate change is becoming foremost among them.<\/p>\n

To Hayhoe, helping those less fortunate is the Christian thing to do, and we live in a country that professes Christian virtues as founding principles.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change,\u201d writes Hayhoe, \u201cwill strike hard against the very people we\u2019re told to care for and love, amplifying hunger and poverty, and increasing risks of resource scarcity that can exacerbate political instability, and even create or worsen refugee crises.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s pollution, biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, species extinction: climate change makes all those worse, too. In fact, if we truly believe we\u2019ve been given responsibility for every living thing on this planet as it says in Genesis 1, then it isn\u2019t only a matter of caring about climate change: We should be at the front of the line demanding action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayhoe separates her religious beliefs from the divisive and polarizing politics that are driving ideological wedges between people. She makes a crucial distinction between faith and politics, pointing out that putting political ideology over theology diminishes deeper Christian values.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a theological evangelical, one of those who can be simply defined as someone who takes the Bible seriously,\u201d Hayhoe writes. As such, she expresses the gospel of compassion through good acts for those who need them, and that means victims of climate change, no matter their religious or political backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing concerned about climate change is a genuine expression of our faith,\u201d Hayhoe concludes.<\/p>\n

Amen!<\/p>\n

Paul Andersen\u2019s column appears on Mondays. He may be reached at andersen@rof.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting to climate change through Genesis may seem like a far reach. What does the Bible\u2019s creation story have to do with carbon emissions? It may have a lot to do with it, and Christianity could become a sensible approach in making substantive change and inspiring action. If common cause can be found among Christians, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2450930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 07:22:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}