If God had wanted you to drive an energy-efficient car, He would have made Priuses grow on trees

Activities that produce carbon dioxide—such as "breathing, building a fire to cook or keep warm, driving a car or tractor, or burning coal to produce electricity … [are] morally good and necessary activities that God intended for us," said Wayne Grudem, research professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary. "It seems very unlikely to me that God would have set up the earth to work in such a way that these good and necessary activities would actually destroy the earth."

-- "Cool on Climate Change," Christianity Today, Aug 26, 06

Can't ... type ... refutation ... brain ... collapsing ... into ... vaccuum ... total ... lack ... of ... logic ... created.

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The main gist of the article is that the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance says fighting global warming will hurt the poor more than if we keep on with the God-given right to waste fossil fuels with impunity. They have issues with the Evangelical Climate Initiative's recent "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action." The ISA claims many of the issues are scientific. However, all of their arguments are rooted in the premises outlined in this document, which include:

Many people mistakenly view humans as principally consumers and polluters rather than producers and stewards. [...] Humanity alone of all the created order is capable of developing other resources and can thus enrich creation, so it can properly be said that the human person is the most valuable resource on earth. Human life, therefore, must be cherished and allowed to flourish.[...] Some unfounded or undue (environmental) concerns include fears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss.

In other words, the people who buy into this creed see no moral imperative whatsoever to preserve any of God's species save man. "Stewardship" just a euphemism for "self-preservation."

Frankly, using the poor as a human shield is a foul move, especially since the poor really are the people most likely to be affected by global warming. Alleging that Jesus would have seen nothing wrong in driving a gas-guzzling vehicle and smugly asserting that there's nothing immoral about wiping out other species? Well, those are just bonuses.

Comments

[Candice]

So horrifying.

[drunken monkey]

I seriously can't think of anything to say to that. It broke my brain.

[Becky]

"It seems very unlikely to me that God would have set up the earth to work in such a way that these good and necessary activities would actually destroy the earth."

Ack.

The problem is, you can't argue with people who think that. Nothing any of us could say will ever change his mind.

[Anne]

If God had wanted us to have cars and tractors, he would've put them in the Bible! Not in the Bible = not morally good or necessary, Wayne baby.

(I don't really think that, because it would be stupid, but it still makes just as much sense as Grudem's argument.)

[amanda]

If there is a God, perhaps this God made us so intelligent that we would know not to fuck up our planet, that we would be as smart as the animals and not shit where we eat, that we would realize that our role is one of caretakers, responsible for the welfare of both man and beast. Perhaps the fact that we do not know this proves that there is no God.

[foo]

wtf? I mean, if God let us make nuclear bombs we should use them? After all nuclear bombs just create heat and heat is good for us, it warms us when we are cold.

Are cars necessary?

[Kimberley]

Seriously, haven't these people ever been teenagers?

If your parents gave you the keys to the house, told you it was yours to take care of, then you had a huge party and trashed the place, wouldn't they be incredibly pissed?