Is the Church now the Green Party at Prayer?
by David Robertson, Christian Today:
It was an inspiring, feel good video: a group of young people sending a message to world leaders gathering at the G7 asking them to act on climate change. The video, produced by Tearfund, in partnership with CreationFest and the Anglican Diocese of Truro, is a good and heartening example of young people having a say and I am encouraged by seeing young people getting so involved.
But what does this have to do with the Church and the Christian message? To many, that seems an absurd question to ask. After all, hasn’t the Pope consistently endorsed the UN environmental policy almost as a form of worship? If you watched the latest Church of Scotland General Assembly it was clear that a ‘cleaner, greener’ planet is at the heart of the Gospel message. And many worthy Christian organisations such as Tearfund are willing to lend their voices to those demanding climate action.
It’s true that most haven’t quite gone the route of the Swedish Church which suggested that Greta Thunberg should be made a saint, but it does appear as though the angels really are on side with the Greens.
Having written before about the possibility of climate change becoming a cult, I am deeply concerned at the danger that could be unleashed if the more extreme apocalyptic of the green movement is mixed in with the purity of the Gospel.
Of course, even to write such a thing immediately results in the labelling and angry denouncements of those who think that questioning any aspect of the new religion is unquestionably blasphemy. And there is the now all too familiar polarisation which occurs whenever you question someone’s sacred beliefs.
How ironic that a supposedly postmodern era in which there are no ‘metanarratives’ is turning into one of the most ideological times, where every favoured identity becomes a metanarrative which can be used to label, demonise your enemies and demonstrate one’s own righteousness!
Read also: Bishop of Oxford adds climate change questions to baptismal liturgy, Anglican Ink
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