POS 388 - Midterm Paper

               Recently, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their Sixth Assessment Report, stating that it is “unequivocal” that humans have had a distinct influence on global climate change (Masson-Delmotte, V., et. al., 2021). Almost as soon as the report came out, Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, released a joint statement, calling on political leaders and Christian faithful all over the world to come together to battle climate change, stating that this problem poses a grave threat to the global poor, whom they are called upon to keep safe (Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 2021).

               Though Christian influence in the environmentalism movement is not new, the Pew Research Center estimates that less than 50% of American Christians are concerned with environmental issues (Religion and Views on Climate and Energy Issues, 2015), and it would seem that the calls for bold climate action from the likes of Pope Francis in “Laudato Si” are on the fringe, when there is actually a deep relationship between Christianity and environmentalism. Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, offers a lesson in what they call “The Two Books Theology,” a philosophy that, through Biblical teachings, encourages environmental stewardship, which can be traced back to the earliest founding of the Christian Church. They reference two early saints who both preached that taking care of the environment was a testament of appreciation for God’s creation (Biblical Foundations for Christian Environmental Stewardship, n.d.).

               And yet, even with all of these Biblical teachings, Christians are still woefully behind on the international stage when it comes to the global climate crisis. According to an article in the Bulletin for Atomic Scientists, most American Protestants believe that the environmentalism movement has too many ties to the neo-pagan movement, and that, because “the end times” are near, there is no need to worry about the state of the planet (Zaleha & Szasz, 2015). In addition to this, because Christians tend to inhabit some of the wealthiest countries, there is a tendency to “export” environmental problems from their countries to less religious countries that have larger problems with pollution, like China (Skirbekk, de Sherbinin, Adamo, Navarro, & Chai-Onn, 2020).

               If we go back to the Pew Research study (2015), we also see a huge disparity between Catholics and Protestants on the issue of science and its compatibility with the teachings of the Bible. Hispanic Catholics, by and large, do not see a huge disparity between the teachings of the Bible and scientific fact. But White Evangelical Protestants do. As a religious person, though Jewish, and a woman of science, with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology already, the fact that nearly half of all Christians polled believe that humans have existed in our current form since the dawn of time completely boggles my mind. And then reading later down the same line that a third of those polled believe that science doesn’t think humans evolved made me even more upset. It’s no wonder that mainstream Christian’s believe that climate change is a hoax. If there isn’t even a consensus that science believes in evolution, why would there be a consensus on climate change? To the average, science-minded person, these beliefs just do not mesh well at all.

But science does not exist in the minds of an evangelical Christian the way it exists in the minds of an average American college student. For one, science is not fact. As stated in an op-ed for the Washington Post, science itself is an impressive means for ascertaining facts, but ultimately fallible and because it is, indeed fallible, one could argue that facts could exist independent of science (Schloss, 2015). This is ultimately the crux of the evangelical argument against evidence-based research on climate change.

So how do we reach the evangelical Christian community and bridge this gap? Clearly it is in the best interests of the wider Christian community to become more self-aware and responsible for the environment. We are hurtling ever faster towards a point of no return. With Christianity being the dominant religion of the Western World, it has become paramount that we reach this segment of society and get them to care about the world that their God gave them dominion over.

It lies within that single word: dominion. Encouraging new research, cited in an article for the Pacific Standard, states that when evangelical Christians are approached using terms such as “stewardship” and “dominion” instead of science-based terminology, they are much more likely to become engaged in the climate change conversation (Jacobs, 2019).  Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Emma Frances Bloomfield, lists “avoid relying on science” in her top three strategies for encouraging communication on climate change with evangelical Christians, along with treating conversations as dialogues and locating common values (Bloomfield, 2019). Moreover, even within the Evangelical community, stewardship and dominion are becoming buzz words with regards to conversations about the environment. Focus on the Family, a popular Evangelical radio broadcast program, has devoted an entire section of their website to answering questions about Christian perspectives of environmentalism and how the Bible encourages sustainability and conservation through the lens of dominion and stewardship (Christians and the Environment).

Christianity and environmentalism were never incompatible. It was always the language with which we chose to speak on these topics and the fervor with which we use science to back up our position. Changing how we approach the subject could not only help us secure a healthier planet but win ourselves allies in the political arena as well. As Dr. Evan Berry, of Arizona State University, states in his book, Devoted to Nature,

“Environmental ethics does not hinge on our ability to articulate political solutions but on our willingness to accept that environmental politics is tied up with the very problem of being itself. In the face of technopolitical certitude in contemporary policy debates about climate change, perhaps remembering that the environmental imagination is religiously rooted can help us remain mindful that our relationship to the natural world is fundamentally a cultural condition. Reclaiming and reappraising the ethicoreligious basis of American environmentalism can help refresh the imaginative possibilities with which we respond to contemporary challenges. (2015, p. 186).”

 

Works Cited

Berry, E. (2015). Devoted to Nature: The Religious Roots of American Environmentalism. Oakland, California: University of California Press.

Biblical Foundations for Christian Environmental Stewardship. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wayland Baptist University: https://www.wbu.edu/about/green-initiative/biblical-foundations.htm

Bloomfield, E. F. (2019, Aug 05). Understanding Christians Climate Views Can Lead to Better Conversations About the Environment. Retrieved from The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/understanding-christians-climate-views-can-lead-to-better-conversations-about-the-environment-115693

Christians and the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from Focus on the Family: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-qa/christians-and-the-environment/

Jacobs, T. (2019, Mar 22). How to Convince Christians to Take Action on Climate Change. Retrieved from The Pacific Standard: https://psmag.com/environment/how-to-convince-christians-to-take-action-on-climate-change

Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Pean, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J. B. R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekci, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.). (2021). Summary for Policymakers in: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. United Nations, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf

Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. (2021). Joint Statement for the Protection of Creation. Retrieved from https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/sites/abc/files/2021-09/Joint%20Statement%20on%20the%20Environment.pdf

Religion and Views on Climate and Energy Issues. (2015, Oct 22). Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/religion-and-views-on-climate-and-energy-issues/

Schloss, J. (2015, Aug 03). ‘Faith vs. Fact:’ why religion and science are mutually incompatible. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/science-and-theology/2015/08/03/77136504-19ca-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html

Skirbekk, V., de Sherbinin, A., Adamo, S. B., Navarro, J., & Chai-Onn, T. (2020, Oct 06). Religious Affiliation and Environmental Challenges in the 21st Century. Journal of Religion and Demography, 7(2), 238-271. Retrieved from https://brill.com/view/journals/jrd/7/2/article-p238_5.xml

Zaleha, B. D., & Szasz, A. (2015, Sept 01). Why Conservative Christians Don't Believe in Climate Change. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 71(5), 19-30. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0096340215599789

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Grade: 145/150

Professor Comments:  I must admit, it's hard to grade when your argument is so closely related to the topics in my own research. I have a bunch of things to say, but for the purposes of this class, this is strong work.