A few recent events have led me to believe that Christians who view ecology as something important (in other words they are "green"), need to have thought through some ethical questions. How does one relate to those with whom they disagree? How far is one willing to go in pursuing "greener" goals?

One should honor and respect those who are not "green" because they are the image bearers of God, even if they disagree with you. Unfortunately, some people take their environmental agenda so far, that they are wiling to harm other humans who get in the way of their goals (see story here). This type of behavior must be condemned by Christians, even those who are "green". This is because of the Christian ideal of "treating others as you want to be treated" which is a proverb based upon biblical truth.

Still, the environmentalists (except for the deep ecology people) have as their goal the preservation of the planet for humans. So, how does hurting humans to save the planet fit in? It simply does not work. Their logic deconstructs.

A town in Spain has erected solar panels over a graveyard in order to pursue a greener supply of energy (see article here). Does this cross some sort of a line in respecting human dignity? Some would argue that this does cross a line. While I am not yet ready to take a position on this (I haven't thought it through enough) I do believe that Christians should respect human dignity. For me, this means that we should not engage in abortion or the euthanizing of the mentally challenged for population control. Of course, protestants have generally thought of birth control as acceptable (although one Southern Baptist recently went against this, here).

So there are several issues for the Christian to think through regarding the issue of how far one should go to pursue a green agenda. However, one can and should always treat other people in teh way that Christ did, with respect and honor -even those we disagree with.

First, a special thanks to shaapay (from Flickr) for letting me use his great photo.

I find it interesting that this week there are several environmental "problems" occurring at the same time. Global Warming advocates couldn't ask for a better set of circumstances this week.

As noted in my previous post, ocean temperatures are quite warm for this time of the year. An article also appeared on MSNBC.com about Giant Ice Chunks breaking off the Canadian Ice Shelf. In my area we experienced a serious heat wave, which created a slight shortage of electricity due to the increased demand for air conditioning. California has experienced relentless wildfires this summer. LA experienced a 5.4 earthquakeon Tuesday.

A person keeping up with all this would have reason to believe that "the earth is angry with us" as some "deep ecologists" would have you believe. For the Christian, and most people in the USA, the question becomes "does God make these things happen?". Theologians would point out that this is an entirely different question from asking "does God allow this to happen?". Does the Bible speak of God making the earth punish humans? Yes.

Hosea 4:1 Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear.

It is interesting that the minor prophets as a whole (though this one section is all that is cited here) seem to base ecological crisis upon humanity’s broken relationship to God. Does that mean then that hurricanes, famines, hailstorms, etc. are the result of a group of people’s collective disobedience to God’s laws? I don’t know. To be sure, this argument fits well within the traditional “Mankind is evil, so evil is in the world, therefore natural disasters happen because of evil” type of argument. This is a scathing indictment against humanity if this is really the meaning from the minor prophets.

In this sense, the current ecological crisis would be (at least partially) caused by humanities lack of obedience to God. So, in Joel when God talks about his ability to restore everything to a better state than before the disobedience occurred –if only the people will repent and return to God. In this way, is it possible that obedience to God, in connection with a ceasing of the exploitation of the earth, will present the possibility that God will restore earth to its former pristine state?

Obviously I have asked questions and provided few answers, if any. Scripture does report God using natural disasters for punishment. But, that doesn't necessarily imply that ALL natural disasters are "sent by God" as punishment. According to scripture, the earth is not necessarily humanity's best friend. In fact, the earth doesn't do our bidding, and causes us hardship from time to time. This is the point of Genesis 3 when it speaks of humanity's relationship with the earth being broken.

So, while global warming seems to be a debatable issue (though most agree the earth is warming), there is no debate when it comes to God allowing these things to happen. Some very few events may be expressly sent by God, but according to scripture these things regularly happen because of the broken relationship between humanity and hte earth.

In his article, Stu Ostro seems to suggest that the remaining hurricane season will present numerous storms. The problem is his "evidence" is anecdotal by his own admission.

His charts or pictures or diagrams or whatever are quite telling. He suggests that 2008 looks very much like 2005 (which created Katrina and Rita). However, anyone can see that it doesn't look the same. In fact, the gulf temperatures look very different. And, the SST's off the coast of South America (in the pacific) are much higher this year. I fail to see what he sees. To be sure, he is a meteorologist. But, if his "proof" is in two pictures looking the same, they had better look the same.

I think the main problem is that forecasts of the weather more than just a few days out are wildly inaccurate. We can't predict the precise path of a hurricane, or even how strong a hurricane will become with certainty. What makes people think that they can predict how many storms there will be in the future and where they will strike?

I fail to see the evidence for these types of assertions. I have mentioned before that Chaos theory suggests that the weather is much more complex than we think, and that accurate "forecasts" would require much more data and understanding than we currently have. I stand by that statement.

The phrase “evangelical ecology” may sound like a paradox, as does “conservative Christian ecology”. But, I believe that it is a possibility. Evangelicals have long been criticized rightly or wrongly for believing that the earth is going to be destroyed, so why worry about taking care of it.

Recently, the liberal agenda has taken up the cause of ecology and made it one of their foremost concerns. This has carried over into liberal theology as well. Terrence Fretheim released a book titled God and World: A Relational Theology of Creation, which fits well in this category of liberal theology. It considers creation to be the central theme of the bible and therefore ecology becomes one of the foremost concerns.

But, his understanding of creation texts in the Bible leaves something to be desired. Not only does he interpret clear metaphors in a literal fashion, but he also bends the meaning of some of the Hebrew terms. It seems that this is done so that he will have a proof-text for his presupposition of the importance of ecology. It results in making the world a living organism that is in relationship to God, much like humanity. Therefore, God would be somehow less god-like without creation, creation contributes to who he is.

I mention all of this because a truly evangelical ecology, or a conservative Christian ecology has vastly different foundations. First of all, it is founded on the belief that the environment would not be a concern if God had not made it. An evangelical theology believes that God created the world with humanity in mind. We are his image bearers and charged with ruling creation. This ruling should look like His king of ruling –a loving rule. In fact the idea is expanded in the second chapter of Genesis by describing humanity as supposed to till and keep the garden. For these reasons, ecology becomes important. Not because the earth is in relationship to God, for indeed evangelicals think otherwise.

Ecology takes a different shape too for a conservative Christian. It is not a primary concern, though it is a concern. Ecology falls under the realm of creation theology, which takes a backseat to other larger things. Evangelism and Ministry carry more weight than ecology, but it does remain important. This results in an ecology that appears more mild and balanced from the outside than liberal ecology does. But it does have the same goals in mind.