In answer to a question thrown at me more than once, and only occasionally with accompanying rotten fruit, “Yes, I do call myself a Christian”. The most recent inquisition came from a climate-change zealot after I questioned London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to expand the ULEZ zone.
“Call yourself a Christian and you want ultra-high emissions?!”
And so it always is when a Christian takes a position different from the received opinion of climate alarmism, but as Christians we should think carefully before partnering too quickly with the environmental lobby.
Much of the climate debate is not motivated by Christian concern for stewardship, but rather by something strongly anti-Christian, ideological, hopeless and not grounded in truth. Predictions over decades have been wildly incorrect, from warnings about nations being wiped out by rising sea levels to humans having less than ten years to save the planet (more than 20 years ago). The polar bears are still with us.
In 2019, child star Greta Thunberg said in a speech to world leaders that “the eyes of all future generations are upon you and if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you, we will not let you get away with this…”.
This is a profoundly un-Christian way of speaking. There is no forgiveness, there is no acknowledgement of the need for God’s grace to heal our brokenness, and there is no recognition of God’s sustaining providence over all creation. Some, like my zealous friend in London, even appeal to the Holy Father as a way of encouraging alignment with their cause, despite having shown no interest in papal teachings before.
What drives much of this ideology is something very different from Christian stewardship. It is an entire worldview, with its own theory of justice, human rights, immigration, humanity, democracy, and of good and evil.
Climate alarmism is one of the many disguises worn in the West by those who seek to destroy our Judaeo-Christian culture, and Catholics (especially young Catholics) can easily become sucked into an extremism that sees them striking from school, declaring that they will not have children and becoming vegan.
Stuart Basden, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion (XR), reveals the true intent behind the growing demands from climate activists: “I’m here to say that XR isn’t about the climate. The climate’s breakdown is a symptom of a toxic system that has infected ways we relate to each other… exacerbated when European ‘civilisation’ was spread around the globe through cruelty and violence over the last 600 years of colonialism… cultural myths justified horrors… it’s worth naming some of these constructed delusions: the delusion of white supremacy… the delusion of patriarchy… the delusion of eurocentrism… the delusion of hetero-sexism/heteronormativity… the delusions of class hierarchy.”
The problem with much of the climate-change rhetoric is that it doesn’t begin with an acknowledgement of God as the creator of all things. Our obligation to protect and use the environment with prudence comes from a recognition that everything is a gift from God to whom worship and thanks are due, and not because the environment itself is some kind of deity.
Reason allows us to consider both the intended and unintended consequences of proposed actions to combat climate change and won’t necessarily lead to universal agreement. It is true that the Holy Father has voiced strong opinions on the climate, but this should not be used to bully those Catholics who do not fall into expected lines.
“We are particularly enjoined to respect the judgements [on this matter] of those who hold a sacred office in the Church,” says Fr Jeffrey Kirby. “We are not, however, compelled to agree with such judgements or opinions. We are free to diverge (or even challenge) the prudential judgements or theological opinions of others, even of those who hold the highest offices in the Church.”
The Church has no authority in the realm of the natural sciences, so the Pope’s words, while worthy, cannot bind our consciences in matters beyond faith and morals. What is not beyond faith and morals are teachings about personal sanctity that, if heeded, would necessarily help to restore the lost harmony of the fallen world in which we live. Since God as creator of all things gave us the Church to guide us, it should come as no surprise that when we disregard her laws all of creation suffers.
Away from the macro-level discussion about fossil fuels and renewable energy, Catholics could make an enormous difference to the environment without the need to hitch ourselves to a wagon not headed heavenward, simply by following St John Paul II’s advice and “becoming who we are”.
Faithful Catholics have always abstained from meat on Fridays, long before the secular “Meatless Mondays” campaign began. In 1968, the prophetic voice of the Church spoke against the use of artificial contraception as a grave moral evil guaranteed to inflict profound damage on any culture that embraced it – and we now know that one of those areas of damage is to the environment.
While there are those who would argue that pollution from birth control is a price worth paying in order to reduce the population, there is now a very real crisis of under-population with experts sounding the alarm on declining birth-rates. Moreover, any environmental crisis cannot hope to be resolved by people not practised in self-control. Taking seriously the Church’s teaching on contraception not only avoids the pollution caused by the use of artificial contraception but also helps to develop the discipline needed to avoid the kind of excesses that lead to ecological disaster.
It is at this micro-level of personal sanctity that any discussion about the environment might more fruitfully take place. We cannot encourage the sacrificing of concrete persons before us to abstract causes in our heads. As Peter Kreeft says: “It is far easier to say that you love humanity than to love the awkward, smelly, difficult neighbour right next to you.” And it is far easier to demonstrate loudly outside BP headquarters, throw paint on a Van Gogh and punish the poorest with a high-profile road tax, than it is to quietly exercise the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
So yes, I do call myself a Christian, despite opposing Sadiq’s ULEZ proposals, and what I want to say to the next hopeless environmentalist activist I encounter is: “You want to save the planet? Surrender the glue and become a Catholic.”
Photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
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