A Matter of Priorities...

According to an article in the the New York Times the Policy Director of the National Association of Evangelicals, Reverend Richard Cizik, has come under attack for speaking out about global warming and other environmental issues.

Who is attacking him? Why non other than Focus on the Family's James Dobson, Gary Bauer from Coalitions for America among others.

Why are they attacking him? Well because they believe that Cizik is using Global warming as a distraction from the great moral issues of our time time.

What are the great moral issues of time? You guessed it: abortion and homosexuality.

I guess the things we are doing to our planet and the social justice issues associated with our behavior as a civilization aren't important.

Cizik is motivated by the idea that we ought to be good stewards of creation as noted in this article on belief net, which calls this idea "creation care". Those of my readers who might be tempted to give Dobson and company any moral credence might be interested in this statement about Creation Care from the Evangelical Environmental Network. This statement has been endorsed by a wide range of prominent Evangelicals.

I doubt that Cizik's beliefs about homosexuality and abortion are much different than Dobson and company's but clearly he takes a broader view even of these issues. For instance he recently unfurled a banner at an anti abortion rally that said "Stop mercury poisoning of the unborn" according to an article on the Audubon Society's website.

Of course some opponents of Cizik and the Creation Care idea are busy noting that one of the past presidents of the National Association of Evangelicals is Ted Haggard, who recently was involved in a homosexual sex scandal. For instance at The National Center Blog, Amy Ridenour is all too eager to paint Haggard as a liberal global warming activist.

My world view and religious assumptions are quite different than Cizik's but he and other Evangelicals are beginning to understand that environmental issues do have a moral and ethical component and that morality is much more complex than a myopic preoccupation with a few hot button issues that should be between a person and their God.


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