There is plenty of media spin on the climate wars:
Over the course of quite a few years I had a major involvement with the mainstream media, with many hundreds of interviews and the like. Because the MSM tends to be secular left, while I am a conservative and a Christian, it was often a rather tumultuous relationship.
With so much interaction with these folks, I quickly began to learn the various tricks of the trade. I learned how they seek to frame the agenda, push various causes, demonise opponents, misrepresent what you have to say, tear things out of context, and make you seem like a relic of the past.
All that of course is what we would expect from the MSM. What we do not expect is when the Christian media does some of the same. But sadly there are plenty of examples of this in fact happening. And often it comes from the religious left as they seek to discredit or repudiate those Christians who dare to not follow the usual leftist line on things.
I often ignore such folks, but when you are publicly focused on and misrepresented in order to push a narrative or sell a story, then sometimes it is worthwhile responding and seeking to set the record straight. A recent piece in an Australian Christian magazine is a case in point: https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/now-is-the-perfect-time-to-talk-about-climate-change/
The piece was on the environment, and how Christian leaders are getting on board the climate change bandwagon – except for a few reprobate dinosaurs like myself evidently. It was a two-part piece. One gal wrote the main article, which interviewed “ecotheologian” Mick Pope, a proud member of the leftist Red Letter Christians group that includes Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren.
The usual spin of the climate alarmists is presented there, including this line: “If we fail to change our approach to climate change, Pope – along with other experts – expects temperatures to continue to rise around four degrees Celsius by the end of the century.” Never mind all the other experts who do NOT believe this to be the case, and have made a solid argument as to why that is so.
And then the editor did a follow-up article supposedly looking at conservative Christians and their views on such matters. He tried to make the case that even conservatives are starting to join the chorus, but that I am the last troglodyte who is still resisting this new Christian consensus!
He writes, “Eternity has noticed that there are fewer and fewer Christian leaders in Australia willing to speak against climate change.” Um, guess what? One can say exactly the same thing about so many other key issues of the day:
-Eternity has noticed that there are fewer and fewer Christian leaders in Australia willing to speak against homosexual marriage.
-Eternity has noticed that there are fewer and fewer Christian leaders in Australia willing to speak against abortion on demand.
-Eternity has noticed that there are fewer and fewer Christian leaders in Australia willing to speak against creeping sharia.
Since when does having a lot of leaders agreeing to something mean it is in line with Scripture? Running with whatever is the latest trend that the world is pushing is usually what so many church leaders will get on board with. Many want to be seen as being with it and cool. Few want to rock the boat and go against the grain of what is currently fashionable.
The editor quotes one conservative Christian, David Robertson, as someone who is more ‘moderate’. But his views are essentially my views. Yet the editor tried to pit him against me, saying this: “The strict denialist view is still represented by blogger Bill Muehlenberg but it has become clear that in Australia, conservative Christianity is not rusted on to the denialist camp.”
Oh good grief. Like I say, this is the sort of treatment I routinely got from hostile secular media folks. That is one thing, but when those claiming to be Christian engage in the same unedifying and un-Christlike silliness, that is very disappointing indeed. In fact, notice all the pejorative language found throughout this one short sentence.
First, I am called a conservative (horror of horrors). But was Pope called a leftist (which he most certainly is)? Not at all. He is just presented as a great Christian voice on this, one who rejects those extreme conservatives such as myself. And I am also called a “strict denialist”. That is a fave leftist way of putting someone in the same category as those who deny the Holocaust.
And then to really thrust the knife in and twist it, I am “rusted on” to this. Wow, I really am an old crusty, rusty dinosaur that we all should ignore – or lock up for my own safety. Hmm, feel the Christian love here! And talk about bearing false witness!
Given that there are over 5000 articles on my site, with at least a hundred of them on the environment, had this editor bothered to read most of these first before writing what he did, he would have found a different take on things. I have said repeatedly in those pieces that yes, humans will have SOME impact on the climate, and of course Christians have a responsibility to be good stewards of planet earth.
And had he actually quoted from me instead of just stereotyping me, then all of his readers could have seen where I REALLY stand on this issue. Since I suspect that 99 per cent of his readers will not click on the link that he provided, let me show folks what in fact I said there, in part:
As to Christian considerations about the environment, a few bullet points can be offered here:
-God has given us dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28).
-God wants us to be good stewards of the world that he created.
-Because of the entrance of sin into the world, God has pronounced a curse upon the earth (Genesis 3:14-19). This in large measure explains what we are up against.
-Our environmental issues are at root a moral problem – due to human sin – and not something to be fully resolved simply by scientific, technological or economic means.
-While we must care for this planet, we are not to worship creation, but only the creator.
-Undue emphasis and exaggerated concern about the environment can easily lead to idolatry if we are not careful.
-We will one day be living in a new heavens and a new earth, so we must take care of what God has given us.
-Christians can and do differ on the science of climate change, so we need to listen carefully and prayerfully to what is being said, making up our minds based on the evidence, not on emotional alarmism.
-Biblically informed scientific evidence, rather than emotive outbursts from children or movie stars, should be what guides us here.
-Panic over an imminent end of the world or mass extinction is not compatible with the biblical truth that God is in control, and that the end of this world will not occur until God brings it about according to his own purposes and plans.
-Belief in God’s controlling hand over this world does not mean we are fatalists who do nothing. Christians are to responsibly use sensible means to help care for the environment.
-As always, there is an interplay of divine sovereignty and human responsibility that takes place here. https://billmuehlenberg.com/2019/10/19/christians-climate-and-catastrophism/
I would think that this is a quite balanced and biblically-faithful thing to say – something almost all Christians except those on the far left would fully endorse and go along with. Indeed, I might be biased, but I would have thought that the entire article is fully consistent with biblical teaching and has nothing to do with any sort of extremism.
But just like the mainstream media which always likes to find a bogeyman to attack, and to become the foil for all the “good guys,” it seems that is what we have here with this magazine. They needed someone that they could sink their arrows into as they make themselves out to be the voice of reason and Christian moderation.
Of course it is always easier to take pot shots than to engage seriously with contrary points of view. Because I have dared to join with the tens of thousands of scientists and others who question anthropogenic global warming and the various statist solutions which will radically limit human freedom while doing next to nothing about global temperatures, these folks want to pigeonhole me as an evil denialist, which puts me in the same camp as child-molesters.
It seems that simply running with pejorative terms, misrepresenting those they disagree with, and bearing false witness is how woke progressive Christians prefer to operate here. What a shame. As I say, I fully expect the hostile secular left MSM to routinely do this. I do not expect those claiming to represent Christ to do this.
Which is why I keep saying that CultureWatch and other alternative media sites need to exist. You will NOT get a fair hearing in the secular MSM, and tragically that can sometimes be the case with some Christian media outlets as well.
48 Replies to “Climate Change, the Media, and Culture Wars”
I read that article yesterday and thought to myself typical leftist drivel.
Bill, good article, thank you for standing strong. Prompted me to google for a little more on Mick Pope and found out that:
“Dr Mick Pope has a PhD in Meteorology from Monash University, and lectures in meteorology and climate. He is currently studying a masters degree in theology, looking at a hermeneutic for the Anthropocene.”
A hermeneutic for the Anthropocene! To me that says it all, really.
Compromise on Genesis and the Bible’s timeline, then don’t be surprised when the rest of God’s Word goes out the window.
Well said Bill, well said. One of the principle things that I admire about you Bill, [and this even goes back to the days when you were one of my lecturers at the old Richmond Temple] , was that you always produced SOLID EVIDENCE to support your teaching material. Not only that, as it was then, and still is today, you supply bibliographies from well known and identifiable theological and scientific sources. And as you’ve mentioned several times, quite often you get a trusted third party to run a “critical eye” over an article prior to publishing. Bill you’ve now published over 5,000 articles. If God’s Hand was not on your ministry you wouldn’t have survived this long, simple as that. I would like to think that there are thousands of “Home Connect/Cell Group” Leaders around the world involved in neighbourhood evangelism that are actively making good use of your articles month in and month out! If snow flake and moon beam disease are now infecting the “christian left” all we can do is feel sorry for them and pray for them. Bill you have my support and as always; KEEP DISHING IT OUT. Blessings, Kel.
I take everyhing I read in Eternity, The Guardian, SMH, ABC. SBS etc with a big grain of salt.
Having just read, albeit selectively, Douglas Murray’s THE MADNESS OF CROWDS, where he lists numerous points of difference within the LGBTQI+, i.e., they are not in unity, I’m not surprised at Eternity magazine’s stance, nor their ‘journalism’. There are many journalists who have set up blogs which they call ‘news’ outlets and Social Media gives everyone a chance to play at being one. It’s so easy not to reference the source of your ‘information’, if you have one. The Christians at Eternity magazine probably don’t know that ‘thou shalt not bear false witness’ is one of the Ten Commandments, but you would think their Editor might. One of the points in Murray’s book is that those who persecute opposing voices miss even a scrap of truth that might be on the table. The three wise men from Persia (the Magi) made it through Herod’s dragnet around Bethlehem and got back home. They are still represented at nativity scenes today as a reminder of their scholarship.
Wikipedia has deleted their list of, ‘Scientists arguing that global warming is primarily caused by natural processes’. (the list includes Australian Scientists)
This plausible ‘natural processes’ scenario needs consideration.
The Wikipedia list has been archived by the WayBackMachine – Internet Archive. It is available at:
Pastor Muhlenberg, we are approaching the end times and Tribulation.
Isaiah 5:20 is running rampant.
Dale Summitt
Trailblazing America
Hi John miller ,
I am told the Greens changed their policy of Hazard reduction from negative to positive in the last 6 weeks . Too little TOO Late. Great article Bill, 200% agree (if possible). Eternity magazine is intellectually light on and LEFT leaning. I tuned OFF when then started writing positive articles on EXTINCTION Rebellion. We are called to provide SALT and Light as Christians not be carried forward by a GODLESS and fallen World (UN ) view like flotsam.
Really disappointing. It’s a wonder Arthur Stace is not turning in his grave over the magazine’s compromised stance.,
God bless,
Phil
Regarding the current climate-change hysteria, I don’t believe it’s all part of a conspiracy as much as it is an example of group-think and deception. At bottom it is a worldview issue. As we know, in much of the Western world the foundational and once ubiquitous Christian worldview has been eroded and replaced with a secular evolutionary worldview.
In contrast to Christianity which sees Man as appointed by God to “rule and subdue” His Creation, the evolutionary worldview sees Man as an unwelcome and destructive intruder upon the natural world. Therefore the mining and burning of fossil fuels, even when it is to the obvious benefit of the Human race, is determined a priori to be destructive to the environment.
With this mindset it becomes a necessity to find a way to demonise fossil fuels and redefining anthropogenic CO2 as a pollutant achieved this. Now any climate related disaster, no matter how diverse, is employed to make the case against fossil fuels, but this was always the intention. It is the narrative that must be supported and the evidence is interpreted accordingly.
Ewan McDonald
Victoria
Look at the media’s disgraceful treatment of Craig Kelly. One of the few MPs that actually has a firm understanding of climate issues and tells the truth. Who would have the guts to debate him?
Christians on here need to support Kelly because his fellow Libs won’t. Follow him on FB you will get a wealth of great info on climate as well.
Does anybody read Eternity? I thought it was a rag handed out at a tiny number of left leaning churches (Anglican, Uniting etc) to be used for kindling in your wood burning heater. They’ve been promoting the work of atonement denying heretic Tim Costello for years… Safe to ignore them… everyone already does.
One of the world’s top climate scientists is Dr Roy Spencer from Alabama. He has been involved in worldwide satellite temperature measurements for over 40 years, and I believe he is a Christian.
The fires around 2002 affected twice the land area of this year’s fires. But in 1975, they were 10x bigger – close to 15% of Australia’s total land area! And according to BOM’s weather statistics, that year was wetter and colder than normal.
So, obviously climate change is the culprit!
Many thanks for this. Many churches appear to have forgotten the injunction, “Be not conformed to this world”. You refer to your involvement with the MSM in the past tense. Are there ongoing opportunities in this regard? (Your voice is much needed).
One of the reasons why “fewer and fewer Christian leaders in Australia willing to speak against climate change” is that it is not a matter of faith or morals. Christians are entitled to think whatever they like about climate change, and their leaders should not be pontificating about it.
(If you are interested, my take on it is at https://malcolmsmiscellany.blogspot.com/2019/08/global-warming.html .)
Sad news, Bill. These are emotional times, but you deserve much more respect from colleagues. You’re correct:’it IS easier to take potshots than to engage seriously with contrary points of view’.
Bill, I would have thought it would be courteous, showing journalistic integrity and plain simply Christian common sense for the author or someone at Eternity to have contacted you directly to get a direct quote rather than put their own spin by using ad hominem attacks on you.
I guess it’s the usual leftist tactic of Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, particularly Rule 13 when it comes to you.
Their eventual goal is 1984’s Duckspeak.
Thanks Michael. Some years ago they would at least call me now and then to do an interview. I would get one or two lines in the article. I was always described as a “conservative” commentator. But they never called leftist commentators “leftist” commentators! So this shows the leftwards shift over the years, just like Christianity Today in America has been shifting left over the years. Recall its recent attack on Trump and evangelical Trump supporters: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2019/12/21/trump-and-christianity-today/ .
So this is where we are now at: the entire culture shifts left and much of the church shifts left with it, thinking it is still somehow in the ‘middle’. No, it is as left-wing as the surrounding culture. It is a sad situation. The Apostle Paul warned about NOT being conforming to the world around us. We still need to heed that warning it seems.
Sorry Malcolm,
I disagree on the faith and morals statement. 10 million children die every year across the planet due to malnutrition, poor health etc. I have heard rough figures that $30 billion pa could eliminate this horrific death toll. That’s approx $3000 per child using simple maths. Now have a guess how much world governments spend on climate changing activities per annum. You will be shocked. I have seen figures of around $200 billion per annum. As a Christian I certainly have serious moral concerns that world governments can stand by and let 10 million children die yet spend obscene wealth on carbon dioxide reduction strategies that don’t appear to be effective. Have Christian pastors become immune to human tragedy and a lot more sympathetic to trendy climate change issues? Worth thinking about carefully I believe,
Regards Phil. PS Christopher Monkton has argued this issue for many years.
Denis V, good find!
I tracked down some more at the dubious Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_bushfires
At the end of that article is a section headed “Comparison with other major bushfires” and a list of major disasters and bushfires ranked by death toll.
Any serious research will show Climate Change to be up and down temp. occurrences over the centuries with little if any human effect. Your positions are clear, studied and patently Biblical. You are so correct. Churches have in large part joined the causes of their former opposition. God will have a voice. You reflect His views. You speak for Him. May God protect, encourage and empower you and increase your influence across nations! Godspeed.
As David Wood from Youtube Acts 17 apologetics says this is the 1 in 99 model. The 99 knuckle heads who sit there and agree with this dribble attempt to shame the 1 who is educated and has fact based logic to attack it with. Unfortunately they don’t realize there are more of us than them. Social media and msm are smoke and mirrors. God is sovereign and in control of the earth and it’s climate. If you don’t believe that then you do not believe the Bible as the absolute truth.
Romans 1
Revelation 3:14 – 22
Bill,
Please can I assure you that to be called a “conservative” is in no way an insult in Eternity. Most of our readers in line with church going Christians vote for the coalition.
In my piece I attempted to describe where conservative Christians are on the issue of Anthropogenic Global Warming. My observations are open to challenge but it seems to me there are a group of conservatives who believe that among the causes of bushfires AFW must be included. Articles in The Australian and Quillette say the same, it is hardly a radical notion.
Equally there are conservatives (theological conservatives and/or political conservatives) who don’t believe AFW is a factor. I was attempting to examine a shift. I used as neutral language as possible. Bill was not described as a troglodyte. Nothing disparaging in what I said- please go and check on the link in Bill’s piece. In fact Bill was cited because he is a credible representative of a point of view on AGW which many Christians hold. And we have published him in Eternity.
Does belief in AGW need to imply statist solutions. God question one worthy of a lot more discussion but we did not tackle that one. But possibly less and less likely as free market oriented groups get involved.
However as far as abortion is concerned the vast vast majority of Christians oppose it. Eternity has found no shortage of Christian leaders to speak out against it. similarly with Same sex marriage – there is no shortage of Christian leaders speaking out against it. Eternity has run several testimonies of LGBT people coming to Christ and embracing celibacy to follow their lord and Saviour. We have not run any the other way.
The issue of climate change is different. The Bible has no direct guidance if that. So I must agree with Bill – listen carefully to what Christians have to say about it and weigh the evidence. We can agree on that.
Thanks John, but what you attempt to give with one hand in your comment you have already taken away with your other hand in the article! I already pointed out how your one sentence alone about me is rather disparaging – as most readers can see. It was not exactly “neutral language” there. And when Eternity starts calling lefties “lefties, or stops calling us “conservatives,” then I might be more convinced of it being fair, even-handed, and not just becoming another mouthpiece for the left. And of course the word “conservative” IS now read as a pejorative term by so many anyway.
As to your claim about freedoms, we need to get real here. If you want to take your bicycle to work instead of using a car, that is up to you. But we are talking here about massive, grandiose government green policies to save the planet. They will cost trillions of dollars and will greatly diminish freedoms of all kinds. Governments will expand radically as a result, whether or not any environmental progress occurs. But see here for more on this: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/01/12/climate-action-statism-democracy-and-freedom/
One only need to observe the “fruit” of the climate-change alarmist brigade to get an indication of the “spirit” behind the movement. It is both covertly and overtly Marxist in its agenda. It betrays a sad lack of discernment that so many in the church are prepared to jump on this bandwagon and not care where it’s heading or where it came from!
May I also compliment Denis V. on the above link.
I tend to be cautious about citing web-sites which I don’t know (and, even more so, Wikipedia!). My caution was heightened this morning when I was talking to a firefighter at church (in Melbourne, Victoria) who was unaware that 1974/75 was a bad fire season.
So, I too started tracing the references and eventually came up with the perfect support – from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1995 Year Book.
“In 1974-75, lush growth of grasses and forbs following exceptionally heavy rainfall in the previous two years provided continuous fuels through much of central Australia and in this season fires burnt over 117 million hectares or 15 per cent of the total land area of this continent.” This explains why the data would not be in the Victorian stats. https://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article101995?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1301.0&issue=1995&num=&view=
To help those outside Australia to comprehend just how big 117 million hectares is, Texas is ‘only’ about 70 million, whereas it is 5 times the size of the UK.
Well done Bill..
I think this applies:
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
“Denialist” is indeed a pejorative word used in the Eternity article to belittle conservative Christians who are skeptical of AGW. To call someone “denialist” paints a false picture that there is no scientific debate about climate modelling on the probable effect of increased CO2, painting the “climate emergency” as an incontrovertible scientific fact that some stubborn people immorally choose to close their eyes to, when in fact it’s an uncertain prediction of the future based on fallible models with numerous debatable variables and assumptions.
Dear Bill,
I was equally unimpressed with John Sandeman’s feeble explanation. As a Christian magazine one would expect a higher level of performance in terms of balanced reporting on issues. I personally don’t rate Mike Pope was a world renowned expert on Climate, so he’s hardly a go to expert for me and I expect many qualified and astute Christians fell the same . Eternity Magazine calling someone rusted on to the denialist camp is a negative remark. FACT.
As an example of lack of knowledge, most demonstrators at the SACK SCOMO demo in Melbourne have probably never heard of the Indian Ocean Dipolar effect on Climate. This is typical of the limited knowledge that exists within the vocal activist community yet this is the event that the Main Stream MEDIA adores.
There are many articles from Judith Curry (B.Sc. in geography, Ph.D. in geophysical sciences) and others that also question the assumed connection between higher CO2 and higher temperatures. Here’s another
This Scientific Paper August 2019 provides robust data to support the case that there is no empirical evidence that increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere causes radiant warming. A critical assumption of IPCC consensus on CO2 concentrations is that it causes radiant heat to be retained in the upper atmosphere. This conjecture “lacks empirical confirmation.” Experiments continue to fail to show that CO2 is a factor in warming the atmosphere. WELL WORTH A READ.
Eternity magazine really needs to lift their game instead of writing provocative and potentially hurtful articles. Ian Barnes – Well said,
Phil
Bill,
If “ conservative” has become a disparaging term then we are in urgent need of a new word. Yet perhaps not. In a recent piece on Scott Morrison you wrote “As I said, I am no diehard Morrison fan – he is not the strong, consistent conservative leader I would prefer being in the top job. ” Clearly “conservative” is a desirable trait in that description of leadership. So I am puzzled by you objecting to it being used of you. I have used “conservative” to describe the theology of people like Glenn Davies. The surely describes a belief in the authority of Scripture, traditional marriage, traditional teachings such as opposition to abortion. I stand with him on these things. Conservative is no a “boo word” at Eternity. We use it the same way you do!
On whether climate change policy necessarily leads to statism – I suspect the left have over -reached on this one and that capitalism the most common force for human progress will emerge as the driver of change on this from. Consider the way companies are setting themselves up to lead changes (for example the auto industry) and the shift you see today in the Morrison Government. Nothing is a sure bet, but if there is a contest between a “green new deal” and free enterprise I think the latter is the most likely agent of real change. This is not really a comment about climate change but an observation about what has been most effective in getting people out of poverty.
Thanks John. When I use the word “conservative” it has a particular meaning and I of course know what that meaning is. This is quite often NOT the case when others use the word – many do indeed use it in a derogatory sense. But that is not the issue of course. You refuse to address my main point. As I keep saying, when Eternity starts regularly using the adjective “leftist” to accurately describe the many leftist authors and commentators it frequently features there, just as it always seems to label me and others like me as “conservative” commentators and the like, then I will start to see a bit more balance. But I won’t hold my breath to see that happening there.
And I already said there were other pejorative terms being used such as “rusted on” and “denialist”. All moderate thinkers on climate change such as myself use the term “climate realist”. It is the hyper-left that attacks us by calling us “denialists”. It is just like the pro-aborts calling us anti-choice when we are actually prolife. When Eternity keep running with leftist terminology and classifications, it really does reveal its true colours. However I am not going to belabour this all day with you so we will leave it at that thanks.
Well you are in good company. The article also criticizes Martyn Iles and all of the forest management experts I have spoken to who all agree hazard reduction burns are essential. (We have to wait for God for the Brad Hazzard reduction burn.)
This is also from the group that criticized Israel Folau for having the gall to suggest, in public, that the scriptures are correct and that we should be following the Apostles’ Doctrine.
I seriously think the Eternity publicists have very little knowledge of, nor respect for, the truth. You would think a self-proclaimed, Bible Society web page would actually want to promote the Biblical view but obviously there has been some sort of coup in that organization and they now want to promote an anti-scriptural stance.
BTW the last Anglican minister I spoke to, after I quoted the Eternity web site, stated emphatically that he does not read “Eternity” and made his disdain quite obvious I thought. I really think the “Eternity” publicist has very little credibility from what I have seen.
There are, of course, two final, eternal states described in the Bible.
Ian Barnes, well said! And very skillfully bringing the AGW dogmatism back to the core issue.
Thanks Bill,
I write as one who knew Mick Pope when he studied theology through Tyndale College—a distance education operation, when it was still functioning (based in Hunter’s Hill, NSW). MIck at that time was on the staff at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), and held a degree in Meteorology (I can’t remember whether it was Bachelor’s or Master’s). I was his Old Testament tutor for his Th.L programme. However, I remember when he came to my home one time that I asked him about the accuracy of weather forecasting, in particular concerning rain (this was during the drought of the first decade of this century). He had to admit that the record over the previous year to 18 months for rain forecasts was poor, but he tried to insist that temperature and wind forecasts were accurate. While I demurred at that confident claim I asked further, if forecasts for the coming week lacked accuracy, how he could hope to forecast the climatic pattern 90 to 100 years from now, since climate alarmists were insisting that awful doom awaited us by that time if we did not act now. His answer was as I recall, equivocal, but he merely gave me the mantra that “the science was settled” or something similar, and it was not for me to question it.
Of course, at Tyndale College his climate alarmism fell on fertile soil with the strong support of Ward Powers, a “green evangelical”, who was very forthright on the whole climate change issue. Well, Mick Pope graduated with a Th.L, and has since gone on to do a Master’s degree. Meanwhile, I put up with Ward’s advocacy on climate change and population reduction until I could stand it no longer and resigned from Tyndale.
As for Mick Pope’s views, we can attribute them on the scientific side to the grants gravy-train that is the BoM these days, and theologically to the heavy green propaganda push which he got from Ward Powers in his Ethics course (the notes for which I have seen).
The upshot of all this? The battles of the C20th (inspiration of Scripture, the higher critical approach to Scripture, the validity of the miraculous, etc.), as far as evangelicals are concerned, are largely over. What we face now is the far more insidious undermining of the faith from post-modernism—as evident in the emerging church and large sections of the charismatic movement, and the absorption of green ideas, which at root are outright paganism—pantheistic nature worship. Is it any wonder that we have pagans in the pews?
Thanks for all that Murray.
I would rank ‘Eternity News’ as being slightly to the right of ‘The Guardian’.
Note the ethical, ‘neutral-point-of-view’ reporting.
One other thing:
The climate activists last Friday carried a large banner calling for “climate justice”. What on earth is that piece of nonsense supposed to mean??
I know about “justice”, about which the Bible says quite a lot. But “climate justice”? And then there’s “social justice”. I remember an American commentator responding to a question on this some years ago, and he remarked that justice is something we all understand, but as soon as you attach an adjective to it you have an agenda, usually a Marxist one.
Thanks again Murray, and yes, quite right. Last night I pulled a bunch of books by Ronald Nash from my shelves to revisit. One is his 1983 volume, Social Justice and the Christian Church. It is still a very good read.
Denialist is derived from Holocast Denier. Climate skeptic would be more accurate, but lacks the smear factor Regressives want.
Yes Andrew, it is a term of contempt thrown around by the left. As I mentioned in a comment above, I prefer the more accurate term, “Climate realist”.
Does the ‘Global Warming denier’ insult actually mean:
1 Denying the globe is warming ?
2 Denying anthropogenic globe warming ?
3 Denying that if Australia reduces its carbon emissions by X tonnes per year, this will impact the world temperature by Y degrees in Z years ?
4 Denying the predicted catastrophic sea level rising or ice melting etc etc ?
5 Denying the current bushfires are a result of Global Warming ?
6 Denying the current bushfires have added 350 million tonnes of CO2, in the past three weeks, almost two thirds of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions (plus volcanos) into the atmosphere ?
7 That, no reason is needed – “you are a just a troglodyte, Global Warming denier” !
Many Thanks Murray,
Really appreciate your contribution.
Disturbing information on the undermining of faith in our Christian training institutions,
Phil
It is very wrong for Murray R. Adamthwaite to roundly criticize charismatics, who are overwhelmingly conservative in their world view, and attempt to group them with the Greens.
He is, however, correct about attaching adjectives to the concept of justice. There is, and can only be, one justice.
Thanks Michael.
I stand by my strictures on the Charismatic Movement. I could say a lot more in that regard but this website is not the forum for that debate. Suffice it to observe that you did not read carefully my statement: I associated the Charismatic Movement with post-modernism, not necessarily with the Greens—although Green ideology has infected the movement to some extent, perhaps to a considerable extent.
Bill ,
I’m a Mallee hen from SA and NT over the last 50 years! Looking at land management in WA SA NT has a different take about it to the green .Eastern seaboard city dwellers!
Unfortunately ,a lot of people living in that part of the world never knew ,or have forgotten that God’s gift of land needs to be cared for and managed in ways that give us all a future!
Writers like Eternity seem to have forgotten that another world exists outside their lived experience the urban east!
It might be worth a story about how Arnhem land aborigines use fire to manage land!
Thanks for that Mary.
Don’t worry Bill, one day those Christ deniers will have a lot to answer for.
I read that article yesterday and thought to myself typical leftist drivel.
Bill, good article, thank you for standing strong. Prompted me to google for a little more on Mick Pope and found out that:
“Dr Mick Pope has a PhD in Meteorology from Monash University, and lectures in meteorology and climate. He is currently studying a masters degree in theology, looking at a hermeneutic for the Anthropocene.”
A hermeneutic for the Anthropocene! To me that says it all, really.
Compromise on Genesis and the Bible’s timeline, then don’t be surprised when the rest of God’s Word goes out the window.
Well said Bill, well said. One of the principle things that I admire about you Bill, [and this even goes back to the days when you were one of my lecturers at the old Richmond Temple] , was that you always produced SOLID EVIDENCE to support your teaching material. Not only that, as it was then, and still is today, you supply bibliographies from well known and identifiable theological and scientific sources. And as you’ve mentioned several times, quite often you get a trusted third party to run a “critical eye” over an article prior to publishing. Bill you’ve now published over 5,000 articles. If God’s Hand was not on your ministry you wouldn’t have survived this long, simple as that. I would like to think that there are thousands of “Home Connect/Cell Group” Leaders around the world involved in neighbourhood evangelism that are actively making good use of your articles month in and month out! If snow flake and moon beam disease are now infecting the “christian left” all we can do is feel sorry for them and pray for them. Bill you have my support and as always; KEEP DISHING IT OUT. Blessings, Kel.
I take everyhing I read in Eternity, The Guardian, SMH, ABC. SBS etc with a big grain of salt.
Some alternative (and plausible) views:
https://youtu.be/B_tn8f0uaB4
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2020/01/fight-fire-with-fire-controlled-burning-could-have-protected-australia/
Greens website, 14 December 2019: (via Wayback Machine)
“let us kill off the furphy of clearing trees to protect homes. Trees around your home make very little difference to fire risk . . . ” https://web.archive.org/web/20170716013738/https://greens.org.au/bushfires
Greens website, 6 January 2020:
“The Australian Greens support hazard reduction burns and backburning . . . ” https://greens.org.au/bushfires
Having just read, albeit selectively, Douglas Murray’s THE MADNESS OF CROWDS, where he lists numerous points of difference within the LGBTQI+, i.e., they are not in unity, I’m not surprised at Eternity magazine’s stance, nor their ‘journalism’. There are many journalists who have set up blogs which they call ‘news’ outlets and Social Media gives everyone a chance to play at being one. It’s so easy not to reference the source of your ‘information’, if you have one. The Christians at Eternity magazine probably don’t know that ‘thou shalt not bear false witness’ is one of the Ten Commandments, but you would think their Editor might. One of the points in Murray’s book is that those who persecute opposing voices miss even a scrap of truth that might be on the table. The three wise men from Persia (the Magi) made it through Herod’s dragnet around Bethlehem and got back home. They are still represented at nativity scenes today as a reminder of their scholarship.
Wikipedia has deleted their list of, ‘Scientists arguing that global warming is primarily caused by natural processes’. (the list includes Australian Scientists)
This plausible ‘natural processes’ scenario needs consideration.
The Wikipedia list has been archived by the WayBackMachine – Internet Archive. It is available at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20191115154603/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scientists_who_disagree_with_the_scientific_consensus_on_global_warming
Pastor Muhlenberg, we are approaching the end times and Tribulation.
Isaiah 5:20 is running rampant.
Dale Summitt
Trailblazing America
Hi John miller ,
I am told the Greens changed their policy of Hazard reduction from negative to positive in the last 6 weeks . Too little TOO Late. Great article Bill, 200% agree (if possible). Eternity magazine is intellectually light on and LEFT leaning. I tuned OFF when then started writing positive articles on EXTINCTION Rebellion. We are called to provide SALT and Light as Christians not be carried forward by a GODLESS and fallen World (UN ) view like flotsam.
Really disappointing. It’s a wonder Arthur Stace is not turning in his grave over the magazine’s compromised stance.,
God bless,
Phil
Regarding the current climate-change hysteria, I don’t believe it’s all part of a conspiracy as much as it is an example of group-think and deception. At bottom it is a worldview issue. As we know, in much of the Western world the foundational and once ubiquitous Christian worldview has been eroded and replaced with a secular evolutionary worldview.
In contrast to Christianity which sees Man as appointed by God to “rule and subdue” His Creation, the evolutionary worldview sees Man as an unwelcome and destructive intruder upon the natural world. Therefore the mining and burning of fossil fuels, even when it is to the obvious benefit of the Human race, is determined a priori to be destructive to the environment.
With this mindset it becomes a necessity to find a way to demonise fossil fuels and redefining anthropogenic CO2 as a pollutant achieved this. Now any climate related disaster, no matter how diverse, is employed to make the case against fossil fuels, but this was always the intention. It is the narrative that must be supported and the evidence is interpreted accordingly.
Ewan McDonald
Victoria
Look at the media’s disgraceful treatment of Craig Kelly. One of the few MPs that actually has a firm understanding of climate issues and tells the truth. Who would have the guts to debate him?
Christians on here need to support Kelly because his fellow Libs won’t. Follow him on FB you will get a wealth of great info on climate as well.
Does anybody read Eternity? I thought it was a rag handed out at a tiny number of left leaning churches (Anglican, Uniting etc) to be used for kindling in your wood burning heater. They’ve been promoting the work of atonement denying heretic Tim Costello for years… Safe to ignore them… everyone already does.
One of the world’s top climate scientists is Dr Roy Spencer from Alabama. He has been involved in worldwide satellite temperature measurements for over 40 years, and I believe he is a Christian.
His latest blog article ( http://www.drroyspencer.com/2020/01/are-australia-bushfires-worsening-from-human-caused-climate-change/ ) looks at Australian bushfires over the past 100 years, using data from Wikipedia.
The fires around 2002 affected twice the land area of this year’s fires. But in 1975, they were 10x bigger – close to 15% of Australia’s total land area! And according to BOM’s weather statistics, that year was wetter and colder than normal.
So, obviously climate change is the culprit!
Many thanks for this. Many churches appear to have forgotten the injunction, “Be not conformed to this world”. You refer to your involvement with the MSM in the past tense. Are there ongoing opportunities in this regard? (Your voice is much needed).
One of the reasons why “fewer and fewer Christian leaders in Australia willing to speak against climate change” is that it is not a matter of faith or morals. Christians are entitled to think whatever they like about climate change, and their leaders should not be pontificating about it.
(If you are interested, my take on it is at https://malcolmsmiscellany.blogspot.com/2019/08/global-warming.html .)
Sad news, Bill. These are emotional times, but you deserve much more respect from colleagues. You’re correct:’it IS easier to take potshots than to engage seriously with contrary points of view’.
Bill, I would have thought it would be courteous, showing journalistic integrity and plain simply Christian common sense for the author or someone at Eternity to have contacted you directly to get a direct quote rather than put their own spin by using ad hominem attacks on you.
I guess it’s the usual leftist tactic of Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, particularly Rule 13 when it comes to you.
Their eventual goal is 1984’s Duckspeak.
Thanks Michael. Some years ago they would at least call me now and then to do an interview. I would get one or two lines in the article. I was always described as a “conservative” commentator. But they never called leftist commentators “leftist” commentators! So this shows the leftwards shift over the years, just like Christianity Today in America has been shifting left over the years. Recall its recent attack on Trump and evangelical Trump supporters: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2019/12/21/trump-and-christianity-today/ .
So this is where we are now at: the entire culture shifts left and much of the church shifts left with it, thinking it is still somehow in the ‘middle’. No, it is as left-wing as the surrounding culture. It is a sad situation. The Apostle Paul warned about NOT being conforming to the world around us. We still need to heed that warning it seems.
Sorry Malcolm,
I disagree on the faith and morals statement. 10 million children die every year across the planet due to malnutrition, poor health etc. I have heard rough figures that $30 billion pa could eliminate this horrific death toll. That’s approx $3000 per child using simple maths. Now have a guess how much world governments spend on climate changing activities per annum. You will be shocked. I have seen figures of around $200 billion per annum. As a Christian I certainly have serious moral concerns that world governments can stand by and let 10 million children die yet spend obscene wealth on carbon dioxide reduction strategies that don’t appear to be effective. Have Christian pastors become immune to human tragedy and a lot more sympathetic to trendy climate change issues? Worth thinking about carefully I believe,
Regards Phil. PS Christopher Monkton has argued this issue for many years.
Denis V, good find!
I tracked down some more at the dubious Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_bushfires
At the end of that article is a section headed “Comparison with other major bushfires” and a list of major disasters and bushfires ranked by death toll.
Any serious research will show Climate Change to be up and down temp. occurrences over the centuries with little if any human effect. Your positions are clear, studied and patently Biblical. You are so correct. Churches have in large part joined the causes of their former opposition. God will have a voice. You reflect His views. You speak for Him. May God protect, encourage and empower you and increase your influence across nations! Godspeed.
As David Wood from Youtube Acts 17 apologetics says this is the 1 in 99 model. The 99 knuckle heads who sit there and agree with this dribble attempt to shame the 1 who is educated and has fact based logic to attack it with. Unfortunately they don’t realize there are more of us than them. Social media and msm are smoke and mirrors. God is sovereign and in control of the earth and it’s climate. If you don’t believe that then you do not believe the Bible as the absolute truth.
Romans 1
Revelation 3:14 – 22
Bill,
Please can I assure you that to be called a “conservative” is in no way an insult in Eternity. Most of our readers in line with church going Christians vote for the coalition.
In my piece I attempted to describe where conservative Christians are on the issue of Anthropogenic Global Warming. My observations are open to challenge but it seems to me there are a group of conservatives who believe that among the causes of bushfires AFW must be included. Articles in The Australian and Quillette say the same, it is hardly a radical notion.
Equally there are conservatives (theological conservatives and/or political conservatives) who don’t believe AFW is a factor. I was attempting to examine a shift. I used as neutral language as possible. Bill was not described as a troglodyte. Nothing disparaging in what I said- please go and check on the link in Bill’s piece. In fact Bill was cited because he is a credible representative of a point of view on AGW which many Christians hold. And we have published him in Eternity.
Does belief in AGW need to imply statist solutions. God question one worthy of a lot more discussion but we did not tackle that one. But possibly less and less likely as free market oriented groups get involved.
However as far as abortion is concerned the vast vast majority of Christians oppose it. Eternity has found no shortage of Christian leaders to speak out against it. similarly with Same sex marriage – there is no shortage of Christian leaders speaking out against it. Eternity has run several testimonies of LGBT people coming to Christ and embracing celibacy to follow their lord and Saviour. We have not run any the other way.
The issue of climate change is different. The Bible has no direct guidance if that. So I must agree with Bill – listen carefully to what Christians have to say about it and weigh the evidence. We can agree on that.
Thanks John, but what you attempt to give with one hand in your comment you have already taken away with your other hand in the article! I already pointed out how your one sentence alone about me is rather disparaging – as most readers can see. It was not exactly “neutral language” there. And when Eternity starts calling lefties “lefties, or stops calling us “conservatives,” then I might be more convinced of it being fair, even-handed, and not just becoming another mouthpiece for the left. And of course the word “conservative” IS now read as a pejorative term by so many anyway.
As to your claim about freedoms, we need to get real here. If you want to take your bicycle to work instead of using a car, that is up to you. But we are talking here about massive, grandiose government green policies to save the planet. They will cost trillions of dollars and will greatly diminish freedoms of all kinds. Governments will expand radically as a result, whether or not any environmental progress occurs. But see here for more on this: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/01/12/climate-action-statism-democracy-and-freedom/
One only need to observe the “fruit” of the climate-change alarmist brigade to get an indication of the “spirit” behind the movement. It is both covertly and overtly Marxist in its agenda. It betrays a sad lack of discernment that so many in the church are prepared to jump on this bandwagon and not care where it’s heading or where it came from!
May I also compliment Denis V. on the above link.
I tend to be cautious about citing web-sites which I don’t know (and, even more so, Wikipedia!). My caution was heightened this morning when I was talking to a firefighter at church (in Melbourne, Victoria) who was unaware that 1974/75 was a bad fire season.
So, I too started tracing the references and eventually came up with the perfect support – from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1995 Year Book.
“In 1974-75, lush growth of grasses and forbs following exceptionally heavy rainfall in the previous two years provided continuous fuels through much of central Australia and in this season fires burnt over 117 million hectares or 15 per cent of the total land area of this continent.” This explains why the data would not be in the Victorian stats.
https://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article101995?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1301.0&issue=1995&num=&view=
To help those outside Australia to comprehend just how big 117 million hectares is, Texas is ‘only’ about 70 million, whereas it is 5 times the size of the UK.
Well done Bill..
I think this applies:
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
“Denialist” is indeed a pejorative word used in the Eternity article to belittle conservative Christians who are skeptical of AGW. To call someone “denialist” paints a false picture that there is no scientific debate about climate modelling on the probable effect of increased CO2, painting the “climate emergency” as an incontrovertible scientific fact that some stubborn people immorally choose to close their eyes to, when in fact it’s an uncertain prediction of the future based on fallible models with numerous debatable variables and assumptions.
Dear Bill,
I was equally unimpressed with John Sandeman’s feeble explanation. As a Christian magazine one would expect a higher level of performance in terms of balanced reporting on issues. I personally don’t rate Mike Pope was a world renowned expert on Climate, so he’s hardly a go to expert for me and I expect many qualified and astute Christians fell the same . Eternity Magazine calling someone rusted on to the denialist camp is a negative remark. FACT.
As an example of lack of knowledge, most demonstrators at the SACK SCOMO demo in Melbourne have probably never heard of the Indian Ocean Dipolar effect on Climate. This is typical of the limited knowledge that exists within the vocal activist community yet this is the event that the Main Stream MEDIA adores.
There are many articles from Judith Curry (B.Sc. in geography, Ph.D. in geophysical sciences) and others that also question the assumed connection between higher CO2 and higher temperatures. Here’s another
This Scientific Paper August 2019 provides robust data to support the case that there is no empirical evidence that increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere causes radiant warming. A critical assumption of IPCC consensus on CO2 concentrations is that it causes radiant heat to be retained in the upper atmosphere. This conjecture “lacks empirical confirmation.” Experiments continue to fail to show that CO2 is a factor in warming the atmosphere. WELL WORTH A READ.
Eternity magazine really needs to lift their game instead of writing provocative and potentially hurtful articles. Ian Barnes – Well said,
Phil
https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/06/scientists-the-co2-greenhouse-warming-effect-rides-on-mere-assumption-and-lacks-empirical-verification/
Bill,
If “ conservative” has become a disparaging term then we are in urgent need of a new word. Yet perhaps not. In a recent piece on Scott Morrison you wrote “As I said, I am no diehard Morrison fan – he is not the strong, consistent conservative leader I would prefer being in the top job. ” Clearly “conservative” is a desirable trait in that description of leadership. So I am puzzled by you objecting to it being used of you. I have used “conservative” to describe the theology of people like Glenn Davies. The surely describes a belief in the authority of Scripture, traditional marriage, traditional teachings such as opposition to abortion. I stand with him on these things. Conservative is no a “boo word” at Eternity. We use it the same way you do!
On whether climate change policy necessarily leads to statism – I suspect the left have over -reached on this one and that capitalism the most common force for human progress will emerge as the driver of change on this from. Consider the way companies are setting themselves up to lead changes (for example the auto industry) and the shift you see today in the Morrison Government. Nothing is a sure bet, but if there is a contest between a “green new deal” and free enterprise I think the latter is the most likely agent of real change. This is not really a comment about climate change but an observation about what has been most effective in getting people out of poverty.
Thanks John. When I use the word “conservative” it has a particular meaning and I of course know what that meaning is. This is quite often NOT the case when others use the word – many do indeed use it in a derogatory sense. But that is not the issue of course. You refuse to address my main point. As I keep saying, when Eternity starts regularly using the adjective “leftist” to accurately describe the many leftist authors and commentators it frequently features there, just as it always seems to label me and others like me as “conservative” commentators and the like, then I will start to see a bit more balance. But I won’t hold my breath to see that happening there.
And I already said there were other pejorative terms being used such as “rusted on” and “denialist”. All moderate thinkers on climate change such as myself use the term “climate realist”. It is the hyper-left that attacks us by calling us “denialists”. It is just like the pro-aborts calling us anti-choice when we are actually prolife. When Eternity keep running with leftist terminology and classifications, it really does reveal its true colours. However I am not going to belabour this all day with you so we will leave it at that thanks.
Well you are in good company. The article also criticizes Martyn Iles and all of the forest management experts I have spoken to who all agree hazard reduction burns are essential. (We have to wait for God for the Brad Hazzard reduction burn.)
This is also from the group that criticized Israel Folau for having the gall to suggest, in public, that the scriptures are correct and that we should be following the Apostles’ Doctrine.
I seriously think the Eternity publicists have very little knowledge of, nor respect for, the truth. You would think a self-proclaimed, Bible Society web page would actually want to promote the Biblical view but obviously there has been some sort of coup in that organization and they now want to promote an anti-scriptural stance.
BTW the last Anglican minister I spoke to, after I quoted the Eternity web site, stated emphatically that he does not read “Eternity” and made his disdain quite obvious I thought. I really think the “Eternity” publicist has very little credibility from what I have seen.
There are, of course, two final, eternal states described in the Bible.
Ian Barnes, well said! And very skillfully bringing the AGW dogmatism back to the core issue.
Thanks Bill,
I write as one who knew Mick Pope when he studied theology through Tyndale College—a distance education operation, when it was still functioning (based in Hunter’s Hill, NSW). MIck at that time was on the staff at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), and held a degree in Meteorology (I can’t remember whether it was Bachelor’s or Master’s). I was his Old Testament tutor for his Th.L programme. However, I remember when he came to my home one time that I asked him about the accuracy of weather forecasting, in particular concerning rain (this was during the drought of the first decade of this century). He had to admit that the record over the previous year to 18 months for rain forecasts was poor, but he tried to insist that temperature and wind forecasts were accurate. While I demurred at that confident claim I asked further, if forecasts for the coming week lacked accuracy, how he could hope to forecast the climatic pattern 90 to 100 years from now, since climate alarmists were insisting that awful doom awaited us by that time if we did not act now. His answer was as I recall, equivocal, but he merely gave me the mantra that “the science was settled” or something similar, and it was not for me to question it.
Of course, at Tyndale College his climate alarmism fell on fertile soil with the strong support of Ward Powers, a “green evangelical”, who was very forthright on the whole climate change issue. Well, Mick Pope graduated with a Th.L, and has since gone on to do a Master’s degree. Meanwhile, I put up with Ward’s advocacy on climate change and population reduction until I could stand it no longer and resigned from Tyndale.
As for Mick Pope’s views, we can attribute them on the scientific side to the grants gravy-train that is the BoM these days, and theologically to the heavy green propaganda push which he got from Ward Powers in his Ethics course (the notes for which I have seen).
The upshot of all this? The battles of the C20th (inspiration of Scripture, the higher critical approach to Scripture, the validity of the miraculous, etc.), as far as evangelicals are concerned, are largely over. What we face now is the far more insidious undermining of the faith from post-modernism—as evident in the emerging church and large sections of the charismatic movement, and the absorption of green ideas, which at root are outright paganism—pantheistic nature worship. Is it any wonder that we have pagans in the pews?
Thanks for all that Murray.
I would rank ‘Eternity News’ as being slightly to the right of ‘The Guardian’.
and today, a typical ‘The Guardian’ report:
Drag queen storytime at Brisbane library disrupted by rightwing student group
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/13/drag-queen-storytime-at-brisbane-library-disrupted-by-rightwing-student-group
Note the ethical, ‘neutral-point-of-view’ reporting.
One other thing:
The climate activists last Friday carried a large banner calling for “climate justice”. What on earth is that piece of nonsense supposed to mean??
I know about “justice”, about which the Bible says quite a lot. But “climate justice”? And then there’s “social justice”. I remember an American commentator responding to a question on this some years ago, and he remarked that justice is something we all understand, but as soon as you attach an adjective to it you have an agenda, usually a Marxist one.
Thanks again Murray, and yes, quite right. Last night I pulled a bunch of books by Ronald Nash from my shelves to revisit. One is his 1983 volume, Social Justice and the Christian Church. It is still a very good read.
Denialist is derived from Holocast Denier. Climate skeptic would be more accurate, but lacks the smear factor Regressives want.
Yes Andrew, it is a term of contempt thrown around by the left. As I mentioned in a comment above, I prefer the more accurate term, “Climate realist”.
Does the ‘Global Warming denier’ insult actually mean:
1 Denying the globe is warming ?
2 Denying anthropogenic globe warming ?
3 Denying that if Australia reduces its carbon emissions by X tonnes per year, this will impact the world temperature by Y degrees in Z years ?
4 Denying the predicted catastrophic sea level rising or ice melting etc etc ?
5 Denying the current bushfires are a result of Global Warming ?
6 Denying the current bushfires have added 350 million tonnes of CO2, in the past three weeks, almost two thirds of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions (plus volcanos) into the atmosphere ?
7 That, no reason is needed – “you are a just a troglodyte, Global Warming denier” !
Armageddon is coming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming
Thank goodness we have Greta.
Many Thanks Murray,
Really appreciate your contribution.
Disturbing information on the undermining of faith in our Christian training institutions,
Phil
It is very wrong for Murray R. Adamthwaite to roundly criticize charismatics, who are overwhelmingly conservative in their world view, and attempt to group them with the Greens.
He is, however, correct about attaching adjectives to the concept of justice. There is, and can only be, one justice.
Thanks Michael.
I stand by my strictures on the Charismatic Movement. I could say a lot more in that regard but this website is not the forum for that debate. Suffice it to observe that you did not read carefully my statement: I associated the Charismatic Movement with post-modernism, not necessarily with the Greens—although Green ideology has infected the movement to some extent, perhaps to a considerable extent.
Bill ,
I’m a Mallee hen from SA and NT over the last 50 years! Looking at land management in WA SA NT has a different take about it to the green .Eastern seaboard city dwellers!
Unfortunately ,a lot of people living in that part of the world never knew ,or have forgotten that God’s gift of land needs to be cared for and managed in ways that give us all a future!
Writers like Eternity seem to have forgotten that another world exists outside their lived experience the urban east!
It might be worth a story about how Arnhem land aborigines use fire to manage land!
Thanks for that Mary.
Don’t worry Bill, one day those Christ deniers will have a lot to answer for.