Jill%20Webb

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• Jill Webb
• Jill.Webb_at_gmail.com

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• Christian Evangelicals
• and Environmentalism

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What do Evangelicals Believe?

• Biblical authority and inerrancy
• Belief in the apocalypse
• High religious engagement (such as regular
  worship attendance)
• Preservation of traditional beliefs and practices
  moral absolutes

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Numbers of Evangelicals

• 50 million people.
• 24 of the U.S. population

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Why the reluctance to join environmental causes?

• We dont know the creator through the creation
  we know Him through Scripture
• Worries about nature worship and/or paganism

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Earth exists for Humans. Humans do not exist for
the earth.

• Trees are good because we can build houses with
  them.

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Connectedness v Hierarchy
God
People
Everything else
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Desire not to be associated with secular
environmentalists

• From a secular environmentalist point of view,
  which excludes God, the highest aim is to
  understand nature itself. How we treat nature,
  then, depends strictly on our own, relative
  ethics and preferences.
• (Dobson Focus on the Family)

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Humans cause natural disasters through sin

• Environmental disastersare resultant from the
  fact that humans have frustrated Gods best
  plan both for themselves and for the harmony of
  creation.
• We tremble to consider the consequences to a
  nation that spends billions for pure air and
  water, yet whose land .. is polluted by the blood
  of more than 40 million innocent preborn children

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The end times are here

• The Bible predicts massive environmental changes
  as the world nears an end.
• destruction of forests, the poisoning of waters
  and oceans, the destruction of wildlife, global
  warming and major changes in the seasons.
• Rapture index

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• Solutions

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Creation Care
500 Christian leaders signed the
Evangelical Declaration of the Care of Creation

• Land degradation
• Deforestation
• Species extinction
• Water degradation
• Global toxification
• The alteration of atmosphere
• Human and cultural degradation

Rick Warren
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Moderates Appeal to Conservative Evangelicals

• Respect marriage to ensure thoughtful procreation
  of children. Similar duty to nurture the home of
  children - earth
• Poverty is a cause and consequence of
  environmental degradation
• Willingness to understand what creation teaches
  about the Creator

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• All of creation belongs to Jesus
• The inevitable end times do not excuse us from
  our present biblical responsibilities
• We are stewards of the land

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• Asked for lawmakers to
• pass a law requiring
• that emissions of carbon dioxide be reduced.

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Rev. Barbara Williams Skinner National
Association of Evangelicals

• M.S.W. and a J.D.
• Executive director of the Congressional Black
  Caucus
• Christian Community Development Association and
  Evangelicals for Social Action.

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Created Coalition with Conservative Evangelicals

• Rev. Skinner received a standing ovation from
  National Association of Evangelicals.
• Emission Standards Proposal

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• Coalition between moderate and Conservative
  Evangelicals broken by Robertson, Dobson, and
  Republican Senators

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• Pat Robertson, Sen. James Inhofe
• Inhofe characterized Environmental Groups as
• Associated Environmental Liberation Front.
• Referred to as terrorist groups
• Jesse Jacksons group and ACLU, and all these

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Ingrams characterization

• But her whole message was, you have to give up
  your core values.
• You cant have a litmus test on gay marriage,
• You cant have a litmus test on abortion on
  demand, you cant have a litmus test on the
  Pledge of Allegiance,

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• You know, I was so excited that we were
  winning all of these things, and now we have this
  far-Left group coming in trying to capture the
  evangelical Christians.
• We cant let it happen, Pat

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• New coalition will have to be formed that
  includes Dobson and Robertson
• or wait until after Dobson and Robertson lose
  some of their power.

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Links

• Creation Care
• www.creationcare.org
• Focus on the Family Statement on the Environment
  
• www.family.org/cforum/pdfs/fosi/worldview
• Pat Robertson and Inhofe
• http//www.700club.com/cbnnews/news/050429a.asp
• Other sources
• http//www.theocracywatch.org/relig_inst_evangel_t
  imes_mar11_05.htm
• http//www.raptureready.com/rap2.html
• http//www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry
  /Clergy/ChristianEnvironmentalistsAreOuttoSavetheE
  arth.asp
• http//www.pagetwister.com/generic/templates/cej_n
  ews_wide.cfm?id594secversec1namepid33storyid
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