A Christian World-View Vs The Modern Environmental Movement
A Christian World-View Vs The Modern Environmental Movement
Is there a clash between a Christian world-view and a modern environmentalist world-view? I believe that there is. A key word here is “Modern.” The environmental movement has been around for a long time and there is no clash between a Christian worldview and moderate measures such as recycling, cleaning beaches, etc. However, in the 21st century, we are seeing a radicalization of extreme conservationism. What is this extreme conservation based on?
Modern environmentalists believe that we are experiencing a climate emergency, in which the whole planet is rapidly spiralling downward into destruction. To them, the only reasonable response is extreme conservationism, extreme expenditure of a country's financial resources, restrictions on peoples freedom and government regulation.
Is there more to it than that? I believe that there is. I believe that the modern environmental movement is based on a New Age world-view that rejects Christian faith.
What is the New Age Movement? In a nutshell, the New Age Movement is a world religion that rejects the Christian claim of one God, YAHWEH of the Bible, and supplants that with an eastern pantheistic view of deity in which we are all collectively god. New Age thought teaches the oneness of the body,mind, spirit and now, the environment. Its followers practice yoga, spirit channeling and other occult and eastern religious practices. Many New Age followers have an evolutionary world-view and are highly environmentalist.
More and more environmentalists are talking about “Spiritual Ecology,” which Wikipedia defines as; “...Spiritual Ecology is an emerging field in religion, conservation, and academia recognizing that there is a spiritual facet to all issues related to conservation, ,environmentalism and earth stewardship.[1]” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_ecology) Environmentalist David Suzuki says “"The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; ...then we will treat each other with greater respect.” (The David Suzuki Reader, p. 11. quoted in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_ecology#cite_note-23)
Many advocates of spiritual ecology blame Christian belief and practice for the environmental problems that we face today. The Wikipedia article on Spiritual Ecology sums up this sentiment by saying; “...pervasive patriarchal world-view, and a monotheistic religious orientation towards a transcendent divinity, is largely responsible for destructive attitudes about the earth, body, and the sacred nature of creation.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_ecology) Historian Lynn White Jr., lecturing before the American Academy Of Arts And Sciences, claimed that Western Christianity, bears a "burden of guilt" for the environmental crisis. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_and_environmentalism) Professor White laments that society has not accepted a “new set of basic values” to “displace those of Christianity” and claims that consequently “we shall continue to have a worsening ecologic crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man.” (Lynn White. The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis. 1967. Science 155: 1203-1207)
The modern Environmental Movement also places emphasis on preserving wildlife. We hear again and again in the media how mankind is encroaching on “their world,”
that is, the world of wildlife, as if the world belonged to them, and we are trespassing.
What else does this New Age, modern environmentalist movement look forward to and hope to achieve? It believes in a coming Age of Aquarius, which is supposed to last for 2,160 years. This concept comes from astrology. This age is supposed to be a kind of utopia where humanity is greatly advanced.
What is the link between the Age of Aquarius and radical conservationism? In the minds of many environmentalists, it links because the supposed climate emergency is threatening the Age of Aquarius. If they are going to get another 2,160 years out of this planet, then radical measures need to be taken to preserve and restore its environmental health. This is the reasoning.
How does this reasoning fit or clash with a Biblical world-view? Firstly, God is un-apologetically the God of the Universe and reveals Himself as YAHWEH of the Holy Bible.There is one God, (See Isaiah 45:21,43:10). God exists as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Pantheism is a lie and represents false religion.
The Bible is God's book and for us as Christians, the Bible is to define our worldview. We read “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16).
In the Bible's pages we see that the world did not evolve, but rather, God created it. God placed as the pinnacle of His creation, man, the only creation that was made in His image.
(see Genesis 1:26-27). God gave man dominion over the rest of the created world. The rest of creation was there to use, enjoy, subdue and provide for mankind's needs. We read of God's blessing on man and women; “ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
Throughout the Holy Bible we see God's attention to mankind. He creates mankind, He provides for mankind, He desires fellowship with mankind and when mankind fell away from Him through sin, He made a way to redeem mankind. That redemption came at the high price of the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is now working through His Church, Christians worldwide, to spread the Gospel. He is saving all of mankind who will come to Him through Jesus Christ, His one way of salvation.
What about the Earth? The Earth is there as a provision for humanity. He placed within it the resources needed to supply our natural, physical needs. He intended that we use those resources.
Is the natural world experiencing upheaval and perhaps, even catastrophe? There is a certain amount of climate upheaval occurring around us. That certain amount is not necessarily being accurately represented in the media or in our educational systems.
What about the certain amount of climate upheaval? Environmentalists tell us that it is because of global warming. What is the reason for the global warming? They would say carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses. Much of this information is baloney, propaganda, hysteria, fake science, fake news and your government misleading you.
If we have been fed a baloney sandwich by the environmentalists over why we have the certain amount of climate upheaval, then what is the real explanation? Consider the following interesting Bible verses; “ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of [a]corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:19-23 NKJ).
We are told here that creation is groaning and labouring. Why? It is awaiting and even yearning for “...the revealing of the sons of God.” This is speaking of a future time in which God's people will be resurrected. At that time there will be a whole new era in which Jesus Christ will rule and righteousness will prevail. At present we have the opposite. Clarification: Jesus is still Lord and still rules but He has not yet ridden the world of evil. Instead, we live in a pre-resurrection time of testings, trials and tribulations. In this time, wicked politicians exercise considerable amounts of authority and use that authority to take wickedness to deeper and deeper levels. Liberals put the peddle to the the metal advancing LGBT lifestyle, abortion, secularism, humanism, postmodernism, progressivism, und harmful vaccinations.
What is the result of all this wickedness and sin? Creation is groaning. It yearns for a better future time. I believe that the droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, ect are groaning of the earth. Our climate emergency is really a sin emergency.
What will the sin emergency climax in? The Bible gives us a glimpse of a future time of tribulation, the Great Tribulation, in which the world will be ruled by a man called the anti-Christ. He will be totally evil and he and his government will persecute and kill anyone they catch who does not commit to their worldwide kingdom by taking an identifying mark.Where does the idea of an evil one-world government come from? Read Revelations 13:1-7 and also verse 11. Here, it speaks of three figures who are working together in an end-time evil purpose. They are the dragon, the beast and another beast. Many consider these figures to be the devil, the anti-Christ government and the anti-Christ himself or, also, another evil individual, the “false prophet”. The idea of world government comes in when we read of the beast; “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” (Revelation 13:7). From this we see that the anti-Christ's rule is expansive and evil.
It can be said that in one way, the goal of modern liberal environmentalists and the goal of the anti-Christ government is the same, world government. Liberal environmentalists love organizations like the United Nations and the World Health Organization, Earth Summits, UN Framework Convention On Climate Change and they love the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference which resulted in the Paris Climate Accords. All of these things represent some level or degree of global government. They want global government to implement global restrictions on the populations of the world.
The Bible warns us of the future dark time of world government. If we are present during that time we are to resist the government and not take the mark of the beast.
What do liberal environmentalists aim to achieve by following the Paris Accords? Article 3 of the Accords require "ambitious efforts" towards "achieving the purpose of this Agreement" ("Paris Agreement". Article 3, United Nations Treaty Collection. Archived from the original on 5 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.)
What are the ambitious commitments involved in following this Accord? Following this Accord means changes to finance, technology transfers, capacity building and transparency with a stated goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C .
As a result of countries signing onto the Accords, this is now regarded as legally binding. We are hearing in the media that Canada is not doing enough to meet Paris Accord requirements. Doing enough means more regulations for us all to bear. The government of The Netherlands was actually prosecuted and found guilty of not doing enough to reduce their countries emissions. In these prosecutions it was deemed that failure to meet regulations was a human rights offence.
What is a real human rights offence? Human rights have more to do with human beings being denied their personal rights and freedoms and being denied the basic necessities of life. At the time of the writing of this article, December of 2021, world population is approximately 7.753 billion. How many people in that number are living in poverty? According to World Vision, approximately “1.3 billion people in 107 developing countries, which account for 22% of the world’s population, live in multidimensional poverty.” (https://www.worldvision.org/sponsorship-news-stories/global-poverty-facts#facts) However, 689 million people live in extreme poverty, subsisting off of $1.90 per day.
It was never God's intention that millions of people would suffer in intense poverty. I don't believe that it is His intention that over a billion people suffer in poverty at all. He created the world as a good place. He put within it all of the resources to provide for all of our physical needs. Those resources are still there today. No-one should be deprived of basic necessities. They are a human right.
Why are the resources of the world being held back from human beings who desperately need them. There is more than one answer to this question. However, one very large reason for the hold back is radical conservationism and environmental overspending. World governments in G-20 nations have enormous budgets and can allocate funds towards a cause in a greater way than individuals within society. Could they wipe out world poverty if they so chose to? Why don't they wipe out world poverty ? There is more than one answer to this question. However, one thing that they have chosen to prioritize is environmental spending.
How much does the government spend on environmental initiatives. I tried to get Canadian statistics. The government of Canada would give a 2016 statistic of a total spending of $12.6 billion. The United States provides more recent 2020 statistics of $9,057,401,000. Worldwide statistics for maintaining, securing and maintaining protected areas is estimated at 76.1 billion USD annually. Can you imagine if that amount of money was invested in alleviating world poverty? I believe that it would wipe it out.
As well as the actual dollars spent on environmentalism, what about our country's resources being given to the people? There are enough natural resources for everyone to have what they need for basic life. However, those resources are held back by governments and also to some extent, by organizational entities. Why? Again there is more than one reason. However, one very large reason is conservationism.
If people could obtain land, where we could grow food and live a more rural lifestyle, we would be more self sufficient and independent. However, the government knows that restricting people through regulations makes life more expensive and a financially burdened population is a population that is more dependent upon their government. A dependent population is a population that can be more easily controlled. In some ways those who live in a city are a slave. They are enslaved to the economy, the infrastructure and above all the government of that city. People living in rural or remote places have varying degrees of independence and freedom.
Liberal environmentalists have prioritized planet over people. While hundreds of millions of human beings are starving, liberal environmentalists are preserving the natural habitat of the animal kingdom. However the climate emergency is really a sin emergency, where the creation is groaning and conservationism does nothing to address this.
How will this end? Liberal environmentalists march onward with their New Age, conservationist world-view, building their one-world government one brick at a time. At just the right time the anti-Christ will take his place at the top of their system. However, instead of an age of Aquarius, they will fall off the ledge into the age of The Great Tribulation. Somewhere before, during or after the tribulation Christian believers experience a rapture and are taken away.
What will the Great Tribulation mean for environmentalism? Liberal environmentalists will have a hard time with this next part, but please understand, at that point God is really, really, really upset. He is YAHWEH of the Holy Bible, the one and only Holy God of the universe. New Agers have completely misrepresented Him. God has been providing for, redeeming and saving men and women for centuries. Liberal secularists have been resisting His efforts. He has patiently been giving large amounts of time for liberals, humanists, new agers and every other form of sinner to repent and be converted. Christians, those who He regards as His precious children, worldwide have endured much persecution and this persecution culminates with the persecution of the anti-Christ. At that time God's patience will have reached its limit and He steps in to intervene.
The book of Revelation contains an incredible account of a perilous period of time on Earth of unprecedented hunger, death, and war that also includes colossal ecological damage as a result of God's judgements being poured out on a rebellious world. There will be persecution and great battles between the Devil and the people of God.This incredible account stretches from chapters 6 to chapter 19. Most theologians consider this to be the Great Tribulation period. One very interesting detail is that in this period there will be great trumpet blasts to announce God's judgements. These begin in chapter 8 and end in chapter 11. The last trumpet actually is to announce the beginning of Christ's having acquired the kingdoms of this world and His eternal reign.
Consider some of these judgements. I will quote relevant parts of verses in chapter 8, but if you would like to read the complete verses I have provided the references. Early in chapter eight we read of an angel who takes a censer, and fills it with fire and casts it into the Earth and “... there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” (vs 5) This is followed by a dropping down of “... hail and fire mingled with blood, ...” (vs 7) and a third of the trees are burned up and all the green grass.
One thing that follows this, “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.” (vs 9). Next “ ... a great star from heaven,...” is going to fall “...upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;” (vs 10). This is going to result in a poisoning of the waters. In chapter nine we read that there will be an outbreak of locusts, which will torment men. There will be violence, war, fire and brimstone.
Liberal environmentalists did not count on God dramatically breaking in on their Age of Aquarius. However, this will be an unprecedented time in world history where God will be unleashing judgement and wrath with tremendous intensity.
What about all of the money and time that was spent on conservation and protecting the planet? Friend, the Bible speaks of a time when “The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage;...” (Isaiah 24:20). We read “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:17 NASB). God has planned to destroy the world, in judgement for sin. Let that sink in.
We read “ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:10-12).
The climate emergency is not a climate emergency. It is a sin emergency. The earth is groaning. God created mankind in His own special image, far above the rest of creation. All of the necessary provisions for mankind's natural, physical needs were put in the earth for us all to share. Instead governments, as well as other organizational entities, have been restricting and conserving them. God has been waiting for us to respond to His good news gospel of redemption through Jesus Christ. Many of us have and are now trying to spread the message. Spreading the message is made more challenging as liberals further restrict us and take wickedness to deeper and deeper levels, peddle to the metal in the direction of evil, the liberal radicalization of evil. This is our period of pre-resurection, pre-rapture trials and the earth is groaning. Maybe the reason that the globe is warming is because God is stepping closer and is soon to intervene.
Shawn Stevens
References
Unless otherwise mentioned, Scripture taken from The King James Version.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement#cite_note-Article3-50
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/budget
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/16-508-x/16-508-x2018002-eng.htm
https://atlas-for-the-end-of-the-world.com/world_maps/world_maps_conservation_spending.html