# evolution and global warming and "Christians" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207 "2006-08-03T16:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/21 "2006-08-04T21:29:30Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] > [@Der Trihs](#): > > 1. (R)egard it as their Christian duty to destroy all non-human life. > 2. They interpet “stewardship over the Earth” as “use up the Earth” > 3. and think that Jesus will come back when everything is dead. You had me for the first two sentences of your post but then I hit a speed bump. Do you have a citation for those statements I quoted? :dubious: [/QUOTE] I’m not sure how widespread those beliefs might be among certain Christians, but here is [Wikipedia on James Watt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Watt): > [@](#): > > Watt’s tenure as Secretary of the Interior was marked by controversy, stemming primarily from his alleged hostility to environmentalism and his support of the development and use of federal lands by foresting, ranching, and other commercial interests. And there was a controversy over this alleged quote (my emphasis added): > [@](#): > > Watt was reported as saying in public testimony: **“After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back.”** This quotation was used by Bill Moyers in a newspaper column. Due to the popularity of Moyers’ article, it is now widely believed that Watt actually said this in public testimony. However, the quote originated on page 229 of a book by Austin Miles, “Setting the Captives Free” (Prometheus Books, 1990). Watt denied he ever said those words. Watt subsequently demanded, and received, a public apology from Moyers. Some of the other Wikipedia quotes from Mr. Watt: “My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns.” – James G. Watt, The Washington Post, May 24, 1981 “That is the delicate balance the Secretary of the Interior must have: to be steward for the natural resources for this generation as well as future generations. I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns; whatever it is we have to manage with a skill to leave the resources needed for future generations.” – James G. Watt, testimony before the House Interior Committee, February 1981 “I never use the words Democrats and Republicans. It’s liberals and Americans.” – James G. Watt, 1982 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/22 "2006-08-04T23:41:16Z")
Great resource, that “Wikipedia”! Hey, did ya hear about the big rebound in Elephant population? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/23 "2006-08-05T00:12:15Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Great resource, that “Wikipedia”! Hey, did ya hear about the big rebound in Elephant population? 😃 [/QUOTE] 😃 Seriously though, since I got home from work a little while ago I googled around and found a few other articles that popped up when searching for “apolcalyptic christianity” and “environmentalism”. [The Godly Must Be Crazy: Christian-right views are swaying politicians and threatening the environment](http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2004/10/27/scherer-christian/) [Religious Wrong: A Higher Power Informs the Republican Assault on the Environment](http://www.emagazine.com/view/?757) [Bill Moyers is Worried About the Apocalypse](http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2005/03/bill_moyers_vs_.html) From the first link: > [@](#): > > Many Christian fundamentalists feel that concern for the future of our planet is irrelevant, because it has no future. They believe we are living in the End Time, when the son of God will return, the righteous will enter heaven, and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire. They may also believe, along with millions of other Christian fundamentalists, that environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded but actually welcomed – even hastened – as a sign of the coming Apocalypse. and > [@](#): > > People under the spell of such potent prophecies cannot be expected to worry about the environment. Why care about the earth when the droughts, floods, and pestilence brought by ecological collapse are signs of the Apocalypse foretold in the Bible? Why care about global climate change when you and yours will be rescued in the Rapture? And why care about converting from oil to solar when the same God who performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes can whip up a few billion barrels of light crude with a Word? > > Many End-Timers believe that until Jesus’ return, the Lord will provide. In America’s Providential History, a popular reconstructionist high-school history textbook, authors Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell tell us that: “The secular or socialist has a limited resource mentality and views the world as a pie … that needs to be cut up so everyone can get a piece.” However, “the Christian knows that the potential in God is unlimited and that there is no shortage of resources in God’s Earth. The resources are waiting to be tapped.” In another passage, the writers explain: “While many secularists view the world as overpopulated, Christians know that God has made the earth sufficiently large with plenty of resources to accommodate all of the people.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/24 "2006-08-05T00:28:30Z")
I’ve heard Rush Limbaugh say that we don’t have to worry about the environment because “God won’t let anything happen to the earth.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/25 "2006-08-05T00:29:53Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I’ve heard Rush Limbaugh say that we don’t have to worry about the environment because “God won’t let anything happen to the earth.” [/QUOTE] Then how does he explain himself? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/26 "2006-08-05T04:48:45Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Then how does he explain himself? [/QUOTE] (sigh) Okay, as a fat man I can make fat jokes, as much as it pains me. Okay, that disclaimer was totally disingenuous. It should read, “As a fat man I can **get away with** fat jokes.” But I cannot ignore a straight line. Rush doesn’t care about the Earth because he’s his own planet. _rimshot_ I got a million of 'em! ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207/27 "2006-08-05T11:24:48Z")
Most of the Christians I know do not believe the world is about to end,just a few 400 club believers. I believe the 400 clubbers and their ilk want the world to end because then they do not have to be a help to solving the problems that the world now faces. I think a lot of them are depressed people and the people they follow take advantage of this. But the New Testament states that; that generation would not pass away until all things were accomplished. The generation passed, so there had to be an explaination as to why Jesus hadn’t Come again. So it was taught that the generation was still to come. Monavis [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-global-warming-and-christians/367207.md?page=1)