Is belief in Christianity incompatible with being an environmentalist?

You'll hear a million takes on this.

In my view, Christians are (generally) as guilty as anyone else of shortsightedness and selfishness.

Dave RP said:

I ask this question out of genuine enquiry. Although I am a non believer, I regularly go to church with my partner (she is a committed Christian), and I listen to the sermons. I have never heard any thoughts of prayers or talks about the destruction mankind is wreaking on the planet, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of habitat, climate change, mass extinctions as well as the dreadful practices of industrialised farming techniques and how appallingly some animals are treated on farms.

This got me to thinking, as Christians would you be more likely to not care about this earth as you are all heading for a better place and god will make you a new body and a new earth. If you were a Christian why would you care what happens to the planet, it's only temporary anyway. Is this a possible reason why I rarely hear the church becoming involved in environmental issues?

Ditto population growth a contraception, if every life is a gift from god regardless of the impact on the environment, then would Christians rather see the world being ruined by over population than see proper and extensive birth control worldwide?

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There's nothing wrong with a 'green' faith. In fact, I can't see any reason, biblically speaking, why Christians shouldn't be good stewards of the bio-diversity that God has blessed us with upon this Earth.

If we want to talk about the 'destruction of mankind,' I can't think of a point more poignant than the one embedded in the following verse from the book of Revelation:
Green Peace,
2PhiloVoid

Dave RP said:

I ask this question out of genuine enquiry. Although I am a non believer, I regularly go to church with my partner (she is a committed Christian), and I listen to the sermons. I have never heard any thoughts of prayers or talks about the destruction mankind is wreaking on the planet, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of habitat, climate change, mass extinctions as well as the dreadful practices of industrialised farming techniques and how appallingly some animals are treated on farms.

This got me to thinking, as Christians would you be more likely to not care about this earth as you are all heading for a better place and god will make you a new body and a new earth. If you were a Christian why would you care what happens to the planet, it's only temporary anyway. Is this a possible reason why I rarely hear the church becoming involved in environmental issues?

Ditto population growth a contraception, if every life is a gift from god regardless of the impact on the environment, then would Christians rather see the world being ruined by over population than see proper and extensive birth control worldwide?

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No we should respect this world.. But if we place the value of a animal above that of a fellow human being then yes indeed it is a sin and a great sin..

There are environmentalists in this world who will shriek with terror at the sight of a whale being slaughtered and on the same day will shrug their shoulders and turn away when they see a report of a starving child in Somalia.. Thats Evil ...

Dave RP said:

But if the child is starving because of deforestation, man made drought, war, loss of biodiversity or just over population is that not a huge sin on behalf of humankind?

Incidentally I don't think that a person genuinely caring for the planet and animal welfare would shrug their shoulders at a child starving.

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It's a sin to sit back and do nothing to help that starving one..

Oh and i have witnessed people who where watching the TV news at a pub and they rolled their eyes at a report of starving children and later where almost in tears at a report of a lion being shot by a hunter in South Africa.... You better believe there are people who value the life of an animal above that of their fellow human beings..

Dave RP said:

I ask this question out of genuine enquiry. Although I am a non believer, I regularly go to church with my partner (she is a committed Christian), and I listen to the sermons. I have never heard any thoughts of prayers or talks about the destruction mankind is wreaking on the planet, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of habitat, climate change, mass extinctions as well as the dreadful practices of industrialised farming techniques and how appallingly some animals are treated on farms.

This got me to thinking, as Christians would you be more likely to not care about this earth as you are all heading for a better place and god will make you a new body and a new earth. If you were a Christian why would you care what happens to the planet, it's only temporary anyway. Is this a possible reason why I rarely hear the church becoming involved in environmental issues?

Ditto population growth a contraception, if every life is a gift from god regardless of the impact on the environment, then would Christians rather see the world being ruined by over population than see proper and extensive birth control worldwide?

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Caring for Earth and for biodiversity and environments and such is fully compatible with Christianity.

Perhaps it's more significant to answer in terms of real actions, and not merely theory. While being Christian, we do several things that are good for the environment: in no particular order: we've donated at times to organizations that seek to preserve natural habitat or protect the environment; we recycle all we can, and have actually very little waste for our family, most often just 1 13 gal kitchen garbage bag only for a week, so neighbors occasionally ask to put extra garbage in our usually mostly empty garbage bin for collection; concerned about the unusually high carbon footprint of airline flight, we have planned and begun to drive longer distances instead of flying, reducing the carbon output of our travel; we basically have stopped using insecticides except natural ones; perhaps more stuff.

All of this fits perfectly fine with being Christian.

Does the fact I know with certainty this world as it is will pass away change that?

Answer: not really, because I am under an instruction commanded to us by Christ in this way --> "So in everything, do to others as you would have them do to you" -- therefore I can't trash nature since other people depend on that same nature.

Knowing some harms I could do in specific information, I then am responsible to take that into account.

We have seen factually that it's possible to produce plenty of food for the world's population, and that typical environmental degradation isn't from larger population density -- high population density such as in Europe or Japan -- but instead from lack of information and laws and stable or good government. China could for instance pass laws that would sharply benefit its people by reducing environmental harms, but its government is too corrupt.

Dave RP said:

I ask this question out of genuine enquiry. Although I am a non believer, I regularly go to church with my partner (she is a committed Christian), and I listen to the sermons. I have never heard any thoughts of prayers or talks about the destruction mankind is wreaking on the planet, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of habitat, climate change, mass extinctions as well as the dreadful practices of industrialised farming techniques and how appallingly some animals are treated on farms.

This got me to thinking, as Christians would you be more likely to not care about this earth as you are all heading for a better place and god will make you a new body and a new earth. If you were a Christian why would you care what happens to the planet, it's only temporary anyway. Is this a possible reason why I rarely hear the church becoming involved in environmental issues?

Ditto population growth a contraception, if every life is a gift from god regardless of the impact on the environment, then would Christians rather see the world being ruined by over population than see proper and extensive birth control worldwide?

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Christianity is not incompatible with being an environmentalist, but environmentalism isn't encouraged either.

Although there is definitely a breed of Christian that treats environmentalism with disdain.

Halbhh said:

Does the fact I know with certainty this world as it is will pass away change that?

Answer: not really, ...

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Everyone agrees that this earth will not last forever.

Nihilist Virus said:

Everyone agrees that this earth will not last forever.

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Yes. But there is something that will if you would seek Him.

Halbhh said:

Yes. But there is something that will if you would seek Him.

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The existence of something is not contingent upon my belief in it.

Nihilist Virus said:

The existence of something is not contingent upon my belief in it.

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Exactly right!

Christians are not typically opposed to preserving resources, protecting endangered species and protecting the environment. There is another aspect to this, a profoundly political one. Madison commented once on the 'old trick of government, to use every contingency, for the accumulation of power. The left is decidedly antagonistic toward Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals, they have been for decades. At it's base the Democrat party is a confederacy of activists; women's issues, black civil rights activism, gay rights and close to it's political and social agenda environmentalism. Feigning some moral indignation they color Christians who hold to traditional Christian beliefs as a bloody throng, not appealing to them as decent concerned citizens.

Environmentalism isn't an isolated issue, our society is seeping this contentious rhetoric from every pore. Christians didn't abandon environmental issues, they were shunned by a Darwinian worldview that will not invite discourse or appeal to common ground. European in it's origins this secular philosophy naturalistic in it's orientation, legally, socially and politically adverse to traditional Christian theism.

I'm not unsympathetic to environmental issues, I'm as concerned about climate change as anyone. I'm a Democrat, always have been and always will be. I was shocked and dismayed when Trump withdrew from the Paris Accords. I neither approve nor support his actions and I was deeply disturbed at his response to Charlottesville. I really just don't appreciate being stereotyped, simply for being a Christian, as opposed to environmental activism.

Tone down the rhetoric and rest assured, Christians are just as concerned about environmental issues as you are.

Dave RP said:

I ask this question out of genuine enquiry. Although I am a non believer, I regularly go to church with my partner (she is a committed Christian), and I listen to the sermons. I have never heard any thoughts of prayers or talks about the destruction mankind is wreaking on the planet, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of habitat, climate change, mass extinctions as well as the dreadful practices of industrialised farming techniques and how appallingly some animals are treated on farms.

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It's not going to be a topic that comes up frequently in the context of church, but that doesn't mean that it isn't an issue; or that it isn't ever addressed liturgically. This likely depends on the church however, it also may depend on the time of the year (churches which follow the liturgical year typically emphasize different things at different times, for example Christmastide (the 12 days of Christmas beginning on December 25th) will be when there is a great deal of emphasis on the birth of Jesus--for what I think are obvious reasons. The Feast Day of St. Francis is often a time spent reflecting on God's creation because of Francis' own emphasis on the goodness of God's creation, a common practice is to bless animals on or around this day. Anyway, as just one example there's this (link here) from the United States Council of Catholic Bishops, liturgical resources for emphasizing concern and care for creation.

It's just that not all things are emphasized equally at all times. And further even where one might not hear anything mentioned during the service itself, there are certainly plenty of ways in which churches and Christians work together to focus on these and other big issues.

This got me to thinking, as Christians would you be more likely to not care about this earth as you are all heading for a better place and god will make you a new body and a new earth. If you were a Christian why would you care what happens to the planet, it's only temporary anyway. Is this a possible reason why I rarely hear the church becoming involved in environmental issues?

Ditto population growth a contraception, if every life is a gift from god regardless of the impact on the environment, then would Christians rather see the world being ruined by over population than see proper and extensive birth control worldwide?

Click to expand...

To not care about this world is heretical, because it amounts to a Manichean view. The orthodox Christian teaching is that God's creation is inherently good and that it matters, and so we are to care for and love it; further the simple social ramifications of not caring for creation has immediate and long term effects on our fellow human beings whom we are called to love and care. To be callous toward our planet is to be callous toward other people, especially the "least of these", and Christ has told us that at Judgment how we treated the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the refugee is what's going to matter most.

Callous attitudes and apathy toward God's creation is both sinful and heretical, and thus is antithetical to the Christian religion. Christians who do not care about creation or who encourage apathy or irresponsibility toward creation do so either on account of sin or out of ignorance (or both).

-CryptoLutheran

Dave RP said:

I have never heard any thoughts of prayers or talks about the destruction mankind is wreaking on the planet, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of habitat, climate change, mass extinctions as well as the dreadful practices of industrialised farming techniques and how appallingly some animals are treated on farms.

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As Christians we are commanded to care for the earth as stwards. So there should be an element of responcibility towards plants, animals and the enviroment.

May I suggest that you be the 'friendly atheist/agnostic' and start sking questions of the preacher.
Questions about the reasoning in the sermon and about Mans responcibility as stewards of creation.