We watched An Inconvenient Truth last night for Social Consciousness Movie Night. The six-page hand-out I gave each party-goer started with these thoughts:
1. As Christians, we take care of the planet because:
-God says that it is good (Genesis 1).
-God put us in charge of it (Genesis 1:28).
-God says stewardship is important (Matthew 24:45-51).
-God will punish those who are destroying the earth (Revelation 11:18).
2. We need a balanced, biblical view of creation care.
3. Global warming is only one segment of environmentalism (taking care of God’s planet).
4. Health is important to Christians. Planetary health affects personal health.
5. “Business v. Environment” is an over-simplified false dichotomy.
The study-guide also included this post from this blog, these nine "errors" in the movie, these resources, and this info on recycling. It should have also included this rough guide to sustainable living.
Regarding global warming, the following questions can help us work through the issue somewhat systematically:
· Is our planet warming?
· If so, why is it warming? (CO2 from human activity, methane from cows, solar flares, etc.)
· How might warming affect our planet?
· Who might suffer? Who might benefit?
· If it’s from human activity, how can we stop it (if we need to at all)?
· Should we be taking care of the environment even if global warming does not continue?
· Does the risk of not doing something override the risk of acting on a non-problem?
· How does God fit into this particular debate? (Revelation 16:5, Luke 21:11, 25, etc.)
After the film ended a friend shared the skeptical side of the issue as presented by Fred Singer, author of Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate. Here is an article Singer wrote for the San Francisco Examiner regarding the documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle.
2 comments:
It was a hot time in the old town last night.
Indeed!
Post a Comment