Faith Groups Shrug at Christian Right's Green Conspiracy Theories

After speaking with multiple environmentally-empowered Christian groups, the consensus around the Cornwall Alliance's "Resisting the Green Dragon" DVD series seems to be a big shrug.

The background: Two weeks ago, I wrote about the DVD, produced by a dream team of the Christian Right, which absurdly characterized the environmental movement as a "green dragon" worthy of slaying . The video called on Christians to resist brainwashing from environmentalists in order to "promote the true gospel of Jesus Christ."  Because this belies a strong movement of Christians who believe it is actually their duty to protect the Earth, I wrote a letter (that 460 people on Change.org signed) addressed to a number of these green faith groups, asking them to speak out against the Cornwall Alliance's rhetoric.

In the last 2 weeks, I've contacted a number of these groups. Their response? The whole thing is just too bizarre to warrant their outrage. As the Reverend Steven Martin of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good put it, "We're trying to ignore them as much as possible. They've made themselves a laughingstock."

In addition, Cassandra Carmichael, the Program Director of the National Council of Churches, leads a coalition of some 37 member congregations representing 35 million Christians of all denominations. She wouldn't even respond to why she was not responding to the DVD. In truth, I think she was a bit annoyed I even had to ask; or impatient to get to what their churches were doing for communities across the country.

These responses were encouraging for two reasons: They prove that sanity still lives even in troubled times, and that people can still recognize a laughingstock when they see one.

There are plenty of stories on the NCC Eco-Justice website to make even the greenest Grinch's heart grow three sizes; some more incredible than others.

For instance, the story of Minister King Hempel and his wife, who went on a two-year cross country tour. They promoted education about energy consumption and alternative fuels along the way. Then they worked with Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) "toward taking the used oil from fast food chains and converting it into biodiesel fuel."

What? Awesome.  If I knew that my Crunchwrap Supreme was made with oil that would later fuel someone's car, I would feel much less guilty about buying it at 2 am Sunday morning.

And when it comes to energy efficiency, you won't find a more supportive group than churches; because when you're building the house of god, why wouldn't you want it to be top of the line? Examples of churches that made retrofits or went whole hog for a renovation come with savings like $12,000 and 269,200 lbs. of CO2 a year. It makes good sense, and even ministries that would rather not be called environmentally savvy will find enthusiasm for it when the message is moderation and christian shrift.

However, curiously, even the groups proud to call themselves 'defenders of God's creation' decline the name 'progressive.' Yes, they have done fantastic work for the environment, have organized christian leaders all over the country to fight climate change, but when it comes to the 'L' word (liberal) they become shy. I'm not going to do them the dishonor of trying to pin-point why that is, but I think at this point we should all be wary of labels.

Again, Reverend Steven Martin:

"There's a strong incentive in Christianity to look at the benefits to the individual-- getting into heaven, ensuring the safety of my wife and family. But we use the assurance of God's love and God's grace to get past that. There's the same tension in democracy. Do I vote for my own self-interest, or do I vote for the benefit of others? We are assured of God's love and our place in heaven, but that's not so we can go drive an SUV."

Regardless of the label, I think we might be on the same page.

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