Written by Anastasia Pantsios
It’s a widespread belief that evangelical Christianity is incompatible with climate science.
This belief is understandable since polls have shown two-thirds of evangelical Christians are in climate change denial (i.e., don’t believe man-made climate change is real).
But Katharine Hayhoe, who is an evangelical Christian and also an atmospheric scientist, tells journalist Bill Moyers that’s not so in this video…
“The New Testament talks about how faith is the evidence of things not seen,” she tells him. “By definition, science is the evidence of things that are seen, that can be observed, that are quantifiable. And so that’s why I see faith and science as two sides of the same coin.”
Hayhoe is the director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where she teaches. She’s been attacked by Rush Limbaugh and gotten floods of hate mail and even threats after a right-wing blogger publisher her email address.
But she says, “Caring about climate is entirely consistent with who we are as Christians. We have increasingly begun to confound our politics with our faith. To the point where instead of our faith dictating our attitudes on political and social issues, we are instead allowing our political party to dictate our attitude on issues that are clearly consistent with who we are.”
Don’t miss the special Green Divas myEARTH360 Report featuring Katherine Hayhoe talking about the hottest year on record, hope and the latest news in climate change.
LISTEN:
Hayhoe is also the founder and CEO of scientific research and consulting center ATMOS Research and co-author of A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions.
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You might enjoy reading 3 Signs You’re In Climate Change Denial.
You can listen to the latest Green Divas Radio Show—and other green and healthy living podcasts—daily on GDGDRadio.com (or get the GDGD Radio app)!
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Betsy (Eco-novice)
February 10, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Hmmm, I’m not sure about that post title. There are a whole lot of Christians in the world. And most of them aren’t in climate change denial. It’s sort of a US phenomenon – climate change denial – anyway. That’s interesting that 2/3 of those who identify as evangelical Christians don’t “believe in” climate change. I suspect, as your guest states, that has more to do with their conservative politics than their belief system.
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