Global Warming Doubted By Majority Of Pastors

A LifeWay Research survey found that 54% of Protestant pastors disagreed with a statement saying that global warming is real and man made. This figure was lower than for the same survey conducted in 2010 when it was 60%.

Image Credit: Public Domain, Wiki Commons
Image Credit: Public Domain, Wiki Commons

Democratic pastors mostly agreed that global warming is real and man made, while their Republican counterparts tended to disagree. Another split was identified by physical location: city pastors tended to agree that global warming is real and man made, while small town and rural pastors were much less likely to concur.

Less than half of all the pastors agreed that their churches had taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints. Again, it was the urban churches that were more likely to have taken steps to do so than the small town or rural ones.

While the survey results may seem a cause for despair or outrage, it should be pointed out that many churches have banded together to green their facilities and congregations. The Interfaith Power and Light organization is an example of churches around the country working together to help each other reduce their carbon footprints and engage in environmentally friendly practices such as recycling. They also publish a great deal of helpful information and even hold an event in San Francisco to celebrate the most energy-efficient churches.

‘IPL has shared their goals with everyone via their website: ‘The mission of Interfaith Power & Light is to be faithful stewards of Creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. This campaign intends to protect the earth’s ecosystems, safeguard the health of all Creation, and ensure sufficient, sustainable energy for all.’ (Source: IPL)

Society-wide change typically happens slowly, or has in the past, but today that rate might be increasing due to the great speed information travels all day and night. Furthermore, more and more people are coming online every day and participating in the vast array of unbounded Web discussions. So it seems likely that the pockets of resistance to change will shrink, because these isolated organizations can no longer control the flow of information.

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