“Do you agree?”

Hmm, do I agree that Environmentalism is currently a religion?
Well, Mr. Crichton makes a compelling argument to bolster his position, but then what “ism” hasn’t been turned into a religion by men?
All in all, I think he is committing the same mistake many people make when dealing with subjects of this nature by determining the whole thing is contaminated, and end up throwing the baby out with the bath water.
I will say, admittedly, that it is easier to toss out the whole Global warming topic like so much garbage than wrestling with the details and nuances of the subject to find out what is true by sorting out the emotionalistic nonsense from the science.

”And how do you think the church ought to respond to the popular green movement?”

So, lets qualify this question.
Clarify, if you will, whether we are talking about the actual nuts and bolts of the science that is the under-girding of the whole subject, or the people involved in the green movement promoting their interpretation of the science?

The Genesis Creation Poem provides some important truths that must influence our stance, and actions, on the world’s growing environmental concerns.

1. God made the Earth, and God liked it. The physical earth is not bad. It is God’s creation, and God called it “good” a number of times. How should we treat something that was created by God, and belongs to God?

2. God made People out of the Earth. God made adam (human) out of adama (earth). In modern language, we are made out of the same elements. The way that we treat creation, is the way that we treat humanity. The notion of Human vs Nature is not found here. We are presented as a part of the community of creation.

3. God empowered People to care for the Earth. God chose to create humans in His likeness. God also empowers humanity to rule the earth in His likeness. In the reality that God created (also the reality that we live in) – Humanity has a real impact on the Earth. God calls us to use that power for good, and to care for and nurture the Earth.

While the creation poem does not give us details on how to care for creation, it makes it clear that we must care for the Earth. I believe that the people of faith should be leading the way in creation care, not in an attempt to be relevant or hip, but out of obedience, stewardship and love.

Mr. Gore has come up with the scam of the century. He is making Billions off the green movement and it could be said that it is a religion of the flesh.
Based on lies and deciet, this global warming, and if the cap and trade passes it will be the last nail in our coffin.
While it is a good thing to care for the earth and the inhabitants, it goes too far in that man is of lesser inportance than the other creatures. It goes to the rediculous.
The Church should speak out against such stupidity.

Jim,
Sometime you might wish read the Genesis account in it's entirety. It really helps to clarify the scripture you allude to. Here are some verses:

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31 KJV)

"Unto the woman he [God] said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow ... and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee'. And unto Adam he said, 'Because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, Saying, Thou shalt NOT eat of it; CURSED IS THE GROUND for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all they days of thy life." (Genesis 3:17 KJV)

If you use the verse in chapter one, do you also wish to embrace the rule of the husband over the wife? You can't have it both ways. We Christians love to squish and bend Bible verses to fit our own world view and the Bible simply refuses to cooperate. The only solution is to bend our worldview to fit the Bible. If you can find a passage of scripture that in any way advises Christians to 'protect' the earth, I would love to see it.

Is environmentalism a religion? Yes

I believe conservation is in all its manifestations a key to how we handle anything we are stewards of; finances, parenting, marriage and the world around us.

We can learn and make the appropriate changes when we discover things like dumping my used oil onto the ground pollutes the groundwater. It makes sense to recycle my cans and plastic to limit them from filling landfills and honestly is easier to arrange my garbage for pick up.

However, abstract cause and effect things like weather patterns are scientifically indeterminable. I will have no control over these things.

The day man can create a viable non-CO2 emiting engine or energy producing item that competes with fossil fuel is the day I will switch consumption behavior. Until then, I'd like to stick with my forced air furnace in Minnesota at the cheapest price made possible by market conditions. Any other mandate comes from the high priests of environmentalism.

This is a very interesting post.Michael Crichton is just touching on the extreme importance to be more than aware of these huge items that he has mentioned of...But, again to the extreme. Although I do not believe enviromentalism should be classified as religion perse', it should be held to by respect for God~this was His, He created it...and man is destroying all of it. Too the melting shores of the artic; to the careless expulsions destroying everything in its path. It IS greatly up to the scientists for further protection; but, just as well the green awarenesses needing to be held to account throughout church were our consciences are laid out bare. Therefore, understanding from the begining God created the first member of each kind, including the man and the woman,therefore, it is our responsibility to treat enviromentalism 'as if' it was a religion out of soul respect and honor to God~what he would expect from us anyways...Perhaps Michael prefers to focus on enviromentalism as a religion to help stem away others from the thought of evolution..but, rather a cure instead. These failures are our responsibility: Oil spills, sewage dumped, and more....This is Gods Creation therefore it needs to be respected~animals to be governed by humans...etc..
also Url~in regards 2 this being considered a religion...we as humans are capable of creating a system of religious thought by the use of reason, and by this I mean without the need for divine revelation--God expects this. Rahab

First, the Church should speak out looking for the truth in science, whatever that may be (in keeping with seeking for truth in general). I say this realizing full well that the scientific community is as divided over this issue as the Church is over many theological ideas, such as communion.
Second, the Church should embrace some of the good practices of the green movement not for the sake of being green, but for the sake of being good stewards of the creation which has been entrusted to our care! In practice, we should not focus on the debate, but use this as an opportunity to speak the often neglected truth that we are to care for this creation. The polishing brass on a sinking ship argument needs to die alongside the if we don't take charge then we're all doomed mentality. God is sovereign AND has given us responsibilities.
So let us start recycling as churches and encourage energy conservation as a part of being good stewards of this planet!

@chapp: isn't that putting more trust in capitalism than in anything else? do you use the same logic when deciding what food/clothes/anything to buy? right now we are at a time in history where it is not financially beneficial to be ethical with how we spend our money - goods made responsibly cost a whole lot more than those that are not. but shouldn't we look for better uses of our resources? not saying you don't do that. I'm just wondering your take on other sectors of economics.

@melody: doesn't God telling us to be stewards of the constitute a bible verse that instructs us to at least be mindful of our impact upon it? I'm reminded of something rob bell said in, I believe it was "Sex God:" how we treat the creation is how we treat the creator. he relates it to receiving a gift that his son made and how he treats it when he receives it. if he threw it away, what would that say to his son about how much he loves him? in the same way, we are called to respect and care for all of the things that God has created.

good argument by crichton, and one I've heard before. I agree with the first response though - most "isms" have become religions in themselves.

A Simple Environmental Christmas Story

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by the choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos"

The heart-stirring feeling usually kindled by the song wasn't there anymore on that Christmas morn. As Marie sipped her hot coffee, two big things engrossed her thoughts - the latest verbal brawl she had with her husband Joe re: his chain-smoking and the latest verbal brawl she had with her conscience re: her secretly-aborted first baby. Both were somehow connected - the enmity spurred by the former hounded her to commit the latter.

She mulled over such act as justified - her poor baby didn't deserve to breathe the smoke he didn't create - she mused. And hopeless was the feeling she harbored about Joe's chain-smoking - the hope for the "Greater Power" to cure his "spiritual malady" seemed to her a wacky stuff.

That morn, the twinge of the dual action of enmity and secrecy was still racking her brain. Suddenly, she made up her mind to give him a sort of a clue.

"Last night I had a dream...I dreamed...I had a baby," she broke the deafening silence as she cut a slice of ham.

"Really," Joe muttered as he browsed a stack of holiday mails.

"But I lost him," she instantly cut in. "You see, there's no more room at our smoke-filled inn."

"Oh-oh. You know what? He could have stopped me outright from my smoking," Joe said soberly as he lit his first stick of the day.

Lo! Staggered, Marie was. Joe's seemingly sheepish words struck her with awe.

An eerie lull pitched its tent...while playing out in the background was the Christmasy song - giving the final touch to the epiphanic morn.

"And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said
Many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you."

Melody,

Hi. I just saw your response.

If by, "read the Genesis account in it's entirety" you meant to say "spend years of study and research on the text" then yes I have done that. However, if you were just trying to belittle my comments, then I hope you will find a more charitable way to communicate with others.

As far as the two texts that you mentioned: I do not believe that we are to treat them the same way.
I understand Gen 1 & 2 to be God's intent for the world. I understand Gen 3 to be the results of sin - the broken world.
I believe that I am to live as a part of God's redemption of what was broken. Gen 3 does not tell me how I should live - it explains the mess that we find ourselves in.

If you are looking for verses (the way that we currently divide the scripture) then I would say that the intended meaning of Gen 1:26-28 & 2:15 is that humans are to care for the earth.
Side note - I think that Rev 11:18 shows that God was serious about it.

I agree with you about world view. The study of the scriptures has formed my view of the world. I have changed my way of thinking based on what I have found in study of the scriptures.

So, our disagreement on this issue is not rooted in my lack of reading the scriptures, nor is it rooted in my twisting of the scriptures to fit an idea that I already had in my head. What I stated in my first comment my understanding of what Genesis says about people and the earth.

Grace and Peace,
Jim

I agree with you Jim.

That verse you mentioned in Rev 11:18 - (God will) destroy those who destroy the earth.... The greek word is diaphtheiro - and one of the meanings is "to consume".

Us Americans are huge "consumers". "Consumerism" destroys the earth - without question. It's a life we're trapped in.

I also agree with other comments here - that much of the "green movement" is fueled by people who stand to gain huge amounts of money from exploiting it. I remember well how Y2K was - people who didn't have a clue - exploiting God's people with fear. Fear is not a good thing.

So the conclusion is a tough one - how do we stop destroying God's precious pocession - and yet not line the pockets of these greedy fear producers whose solutions will help nothing or no one? How do we get out of the vicous cylce of consumerism and actually learn to create and restore? Give millions to the UN (pun intended)?

Like always, I think the answer is to be led by the Spirit and not the flesh. Easy right?

@LindaLanouette The idea that climate change was an invention of Al Gore's imagination shows a degree of ignorance I'm afraid. I'm not especially a fan of Gore, but recognition of climate change has come from the scientific community, prior to Gore making any song and dance about it.