r/science • u/-Mystica- Grad Student | Pharmacology • 1d ago
Psychology Most Christian American religious leaders silently believe in climate change - Nearly 90% of U.S. Christian religious leaders believe in human-caused climate change—yet nearly half have never addressed it with their congregations, and only a quarter have mentioned it more than once or twice.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2419705122986
u/Bokbreath 1d ago
Some of them actively believe climate change signals the end of days. In their belief structure Earth is a temporary stopping point on the way to Heaven.
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u/slowrecovery 1d ago
My brother is in this camp (and I was once as well). He believes that climate change driven catastrophes are predicted as signs of the end times.
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u/Jacksspecialarrows 1d ago
Because he was told it by some dude
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u/Somehatbipolar 1d ago
Underated comment imho!
Groving up being thought blind fate in is poison to the mind. That blind fate easily translates to humans in once life, and we se where that has gotten the world in recent times.
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u/f8Negative 1d ago
"Stoppppp you're making me angry! I don't want to talk about it!." -Those people when you call them out.
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u/souldust 1d ago
I argue that its the belief that there is no future that lets people get away with contributing to climate change.
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u/ominousgraycat 1d ago
Yeah, there's no talking with most of those types. Anything bad that happens is God's will and he's testing people and/or preparing for the end times. In fact, even bad things should be seen as evidence of God in the world! Then, if something good happens, that's also evidence of God in the world wanting to bless people. If good things happen, if bad things happen, if ambiguous things happen... all of it is evidence of God!
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u/Amon7777 1d ago
For hundreds of years groups like the Jesuits have held no contradiction between faith and science. That leaders are myopic, selfish, or charlatans, is not surprising.
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u/quinefrege 1d ago
The Jesuits are not the people who believe in this end times rhetoric. And painting "American Christianity" with this brush is also ludicrous and absurd. But, there are certain groups for whom this kind of theology tends to be endemic.
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u/UnityOfEva 1d ago
I have pondered on this concept for months, Christians want to attribute climate change to "God's Will" to compel, deceive and mislead people into believing it is an act of God and the Second Coming.
It is part of a broad strategy to seize absolute power, it doesn't need to be an organized, traditional conspiracy, if all their interests converge. It is why they celebrate natural disasters across the globe unless it effects them directly.
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u/souldust 1d ago
I think its more insideious than that. When people believe that the end of the world will happen in their life time, they won't make policies/laws that protect a planet that "won't be here anyway"
I think this eschatology and subsequent misanthropy is the most dangerous idea in peoples heads today.
This to me is the line that divides us.
Do you believe that we have a future?
If yes, then work with me. Hell, I'll work for you for free!
If no, then please, get the fluff out of public office - or any position of power where you make decisions that effect peoples lives. I don't know why this isn't framed this way. If you don't think we have a future, why should you hold any public office?
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u/Halaku MS | Informatics | BS | Cybersecurity 1d ago
Christians want to attribute climate change to "God's Will" to compel, deceive and mislead people into believing it is an act of God and the Second Coming.
And if all Christians bought into that, you'd have a point, but there's more to that religion than Southern Baptists would have you believe.
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u/DracoLunaris 1d ago
Yeah blanket statements like that don't help anyone. That said the Southern Baptists and other right leaning American christian groups do have an oversized influence when compared to other Christian groups in the USA mainly due to all the money they wring out of their flocks. If they can afford this https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/trump-us-christian-spending-global-revealed/ they can afford to propagandize America even harder
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u/Earthwarm_Revolt 1d ago
This is why we need to lobby thse people as if they are politicians. We need to hound them. They are geeting away with a power grab and are insulated from the shocks they are causing. They get to steer their flock toward rocks using bunk philosophies. Their flock are the wack-ass poticians, the congressmen and senators undermining our existance. Noone is immune from social pressure. They should not be allowed to pedal this BS to our leadership unscathed.
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u/tanto_le_magnificent 1d ago
There’s many other religions outside of Southern Baptists that believe this way. Jehovah Witnesses for example, believe that any day now, God will bring Armageddon and wipe out anyone who isn’t willing and ready to serve God, leaving instead a earthly paradise where the concept of evil and inconvenience don’t exist, and they’ll be rewarded for having been “faithful” to god with the resurrection of their loved ones and authority and power.
Mormons believe roughly the same thing but with more wives and no black people allowed.
Muslims believe heaven awaits them in a place without other mindsets and sinners.
So with all that in mind, the real question is: How invested can you be in keeping a boat from sinking when you believe that the boat HAS to sink in order for “God’s will” to be done? That’s the crux and inflection point for a lot of these belief systems which are derived from the Abrahamic Religion’s believing you get a “do over”, fundamentally changes how invested you are in making the most of the current and planning ahead.
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u/Halaku MS | Informatics | BS | Cybersecurity 1d ago
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/creation-care/
That's just one.
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u/roving1 1d ago edited 19h ago
There is the ABC/USA. When the SBC left, over slavery, the northern group eventually adopted the name America Baptist. Mostly, I suspect, to block the southern Baptists from taking it. This is their current page on climate change.climate change
My point is, as loud and annoying the SBC and associated groups are they are not the majority.
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u/Zoesan 1d ago
It is why they celebrate natural disasters
I hate it when people act like this is in any way a majority opinion. The amount of christians that celebrate natural disasters are vanishingly small.
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u/Budobudo 1d ago
This is correct. I never encountered even the concept before this very post.
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u/mhornberger 22h ago edited 22h ago
This is correct. I never encountered even the concept before this very post.
Whereas I've seen it my whole life. They don't celebrate it outright in the sense of cheering, rather they see natural disasters as God's righteous judgement. At least when those disasters hit areas or states that they identify as Democratic or liberal. Every time there are wildfires, landslides, or other issues in California, I see some Christians calling it God's righteous judgment for their sinful ways. Abortion, gay rights, whatever. It is so common and dependable that I find it difficult to believe anyone in the US for any length of time hasn't seen it.
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u/TintedApostle 1d ago
Its a death cult. A whole hive of people who dream of a fantasy where they are no longer suffering life. They have been convinced they enter this fantasy and will throw away all your lives to get it.
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u/NoAssumptions731 1d ago
Meanwhile most of thier "end of days" events can be explained using basic science
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u/omnipojack 1d ago
I wasn’t raised to think that climate change was a sign, but I was taught that our current Earth will be destroyed after the end of the apocalypse and god will make another, more perfect one. So that would make sense.
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u/lokey_convo 1d ago
That's weird. I see being a good steward of the Earth as a Christian value. It comes up in other faiths as well I think.
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u/SenorSplashdamage 1d ago
I can remember just before Bush and moderate conservative Christians being pulled more into identity politics. There pastors that were doing more teaching about environmental stewardship as an important mindset. I think there was an active chilling effect against it somewhere and it became a taboo topic as conservative Christian became more radicalized into right-wing viewpoints.
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u/bufordt 20h ago
I can remember just before Bush and moderate conservative Christians being pulled more into identity politics.
Hmmm. The whole evangelical abortion focus was because their original opposition to racial integration was becoming unpalatable. To say that their identity politics started with Bush is a bit disingenuous.
Remember that the original evangelical schools were called Segregation academies.
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u/MSnotthedisease 1d ago
This. Earth is God’s creation, we should be protecting it while we are here, not pushing for it’s destruction
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u/T-sigma 1d ago
Yeah, but that message doesn’t generate cash flow for the church. People might donate their money to conservation efforts instead of the church.
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u/Arcamorge 1d ago
Are people who donate to one cause less likely to donate to another? I would almost expect it to be the opposite.
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u/T-sigma 1d ago
Absolutely. Cash is a limited resource.
To put it a different way, how many causes do we need to push it out before you go “oh yeah, 12 causes to donate to is just 1 too many for me!” Maybe climate change is 12th on their list.
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u/Arcamorge 1d ago edited 1d ago
My question is if different types of charities are viewed as substitute goods by donators, especially church and conservation. I could imagine a world where tithes are viewed more like a club subscription than a charitable donation, and I'm not sure we would say paying for regular club dues make you less likely to donate.
Google suggests that donating to one cause makes you more likely to donate to many, but I haven't looked into it too deeply https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/statistics-on-u-s-generosity/
It seems like charitability is similar % of income across different wealth categories, which makes me think it doesn't scale as much with cash.
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u/bob_marley98 1d ago
If you are a real Christian, you will be an environmentalist to some degree... stewards of the land, animals etc., not drill drill drill and burn coal, clearcut old forests etc. Hard to believe those supporting the US 'revolution' call themselves Christians - flies in the face of "Love your neighbor" and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-10) - don't see anyone being meek, merciful, peacemakers, pure in heart...
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u/gSTrS8XRwqIV5AUh4hwI 1d ago
If you are a real Christian
... you will believe some made-up nonsense. Sometimes, it will align with being nice, sometimes, it will align with being evil.
If you align with the "being nice" faction, you are still validating the method of "believe made-up nonsense", and just slapping "false Christian" on the others doesn't absolve you of that responsibility.
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u/gheed22 1d ago
They also have "don't be wealthy" and "guys seriously just be kind to each other" dictates, and we see how well those are followed. It's a large reason that being religious is becoming more and more rare. Easy to turn your back when everyone else is obviously not following the rules.
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u/9outof10timesWrong 1d ago
I find it really interesting when christans label anything 'good' as christian, and anything bad as not. It's no wonder everyone sees themselves as the right kind of christian, it's a self fulfilling proficy.
Even the point of this article is that it's rarely addressed by christian leaders.
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u/Visible_Ticket_3313 15h ago
It's amazing how little that value matters yet how important it is that women know to be subservient to their husbands. Weird isn't it.
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u/lokey_convo 14h ago
It's almost like there are some assholes using religion and peoples faith as a means of control rather than a means of building community and shared spiritual connection. Super weird. I guess we'll never understand the mystery.
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u/oddball667 1d ago
That's definitely never been a Christian value, thei mythology frequently reinforces the idea that this reality isn't important
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u/PadishaEmperor 1d ago
That’s untrue. It’s already present in Genesis, for example with Genesis 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.“
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u/oddball667 1d ago
We are not in the garden of eden
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u/PadishaEmperor 1d ago
It’s not the only mention of taking care of nature and similar.
One common idea in the bible is that Earth belongs to god and we are his caretakers. We see that in the first narrative in genesis or in a few psalms like Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it”
We can argue about this, sure, but saying that it’s definitely never been a Christian value is just wrong.
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u/lokey_convo 1d ago
Perhaps if we cared for the Earth we would be.
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u/oddball667 1d ago
Adam and Eve didn't get kicked out because of bad stewardship
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u/CHAINSAWDELUX 1d ago
They literally got kicked out for eating stuff they were told not too
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stewardship#:~:text=%3A%20the%20conducting%2C%20supervising%2C%20or,something%20entrusted%20to%20one's%20care : the conducting, supervising, or managing of something especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care
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u/Sao_Gage 1d ago edited 1d ago
Because it was turned inexplicably into political rhetoric, because what needs to happen in order to combat it is inconvenient for that party.
It’s basic physics, yet we continue to spin our wheels “debating” settled science since the 1970’s when all the oil companies realized it was happening themselves.
The 60’s and 70’s had the issue obfuscated by global aerosol production which reduced solar insolation.
Interestingly, this issue is happening again on a smaller scale since the start of the 2020’s with the international reduction of sulfur in trans-Atlantic shipping fuels. Sulfur is a powerful agent in reducing the amount of solar heating reaching the surface and is the main cooling component of large explosive volcanic eruptions (Tambora, Pinatubo on a smaller scale, etc).
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u/turroflux 1d ago
We call this ideological capture by their audience, they cannot state their true beliefs because their flock is not looking for guidance or theological expertise, they are looking for affirmation and reinforcement of their current beliefs. Rather than being a religious leader of any sort, they're just another flavour of content creator at this point. American protestants were always the type to shop around for whatever suited them anyway, its never been in the culture to accept a hierarchal proclamation of a considered stance, that's very catholic. Even American Catholics don't listen to the pope and will scream bloody murder if the church relents on any issue they were previous hardline about.
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u/SenorSplashdamage 1d ago
I wish this concept was better understood. A lot of people operate with the idea of top-down models of American churches where the members are the ones being directed and influenced by the opinions of the pastor. This only represents a portion of churches. Many are what you describe where the members approach the pastor as their employee and he can easily be fired for not validating the views they hired him to validate them on.
A progressive friend who went into that profession young and ended up in a more conservative region said recent interviews required him to affirm opposition to gay marriage and literal belief in Adam and Eve to be considered for the positions. These weren’t even backwoods churches. He was the one with multiple doctorates in the religion. They were uninterested in hiring for expertise. He of course didn’t take those jobs, but paints the picture of who’s calling the shots.
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u/synonymsanonymous 18h ago
Same thing with slavery, pastors would reaffirm the plantation owners because they had the most money to give the church.
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u/9ersaur 1d ago
Imagine living as a conservative without any actual values. Just fear and subservience.
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u/cwthree 1d ago
"Fear and subservience" are conservative values.
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u/Jesse-359 1d ago
This is literally true. Which is odd to say in this day and age, but it's the basis of their worldview, and always has been.
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u/AffectionateTitle 1d ago
I mean you also just described religion so it makes sense the two go together.
The fact that anyone attends a Catholic Church after the Vatican took the cowards/crooks way out concerning their epidemic of child rape tells a lot in and of itself.
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u/Recent_Weather2228 1d ago
Why would anyone expect climate change to be mentioned in the pulpit, even if the pastor believes it's real? That's not what sermons are about.
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u/Grand-Cartoonist-693 21h ago
What are sermons about? I think challenge in the world, here’s what our flock can do or how we look at it seems like a very normal pattern?
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u/cutegolpnik 1d ago
what is there to address with their congregations?
i believe climate change is serious and i am anti-religious leaders, but i'm just not seeing what they're supposed to do about it.
unless your congregation is billionaires and politicians i guess.
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u/AirshipEngineer 1d ago
Yeah I was thinking "isn't that good?" People shouldn't be getting their scientific knowledge from the Pulpet.
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u/DrQuailMan 1d ago
They frequently describe a bunch of things in the real world as sinful or virtuous. Violence, theft, sexual habits, ect. They can add in pollution and carbon footprint.
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u/invariantspeed 1d ago edited 1d ago
A sign of the end times? A result of improper stewardship over a guarden created for humanity?
Depends on their perspective, but it’s odd to ignore a massive existential crisis for humanity. Unless they just don’t know what to think about it themselves.
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u/J_DayDay 1d ago
I've absolutely heard the second argument while sitting in a church. That environmental destruction is a result of poor stewardship, and we all have to be more careful with God's gift. It wouldn't surprise me to hear someone tie it into Armageddon, but I haven't heard it myself. I haven't attended a fire and brimstone type church since I was a kid visiting Pentecostal relatives, though.
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u/FatalTragedy 1d ago
I mean, in my experience pastors preach mostly about religious topics, so even if they believe in climate change there doesn't seem to be a reason to bring it in to a sermon. It doesn't feel relevant to the setting
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u/SenorSplashdamage 1d ago
I think it’s actually come up in another study on this sub in the past, but there are two big strains of thought that show up in America and its religion: Dominion or Stewardship. One take operates based on seeing the earth as mankind’s to use up as we see fit. The other sees mankind as people assigned to caretaker the planet.
The first probably has roots in the viewpoints from the colonial era as they exploited resources with reckless abandon and then flowed into justifications for 20th century excess. The second probably flows from other long-term human views that emerged and were passed down as humans encountered the effects of messing up their local environments.
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u/Still_Contact7581 1d ago
Politicians and scientists can't change peoples minds, your mind is usually made up on an issue before they start talking. Religious leaders are in a unique position where they are one of the few people whose words actually change minds. When Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged climate change it swayed a large amount of the global Catholic community. If protestant leaders did this it could shift a significant amount of minds in the US and changes in voters lead to changes in politicians.
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u/DondoMinko 1d ago
They could stop pushing people towards the party that wants to exacerbate climate change for profit. I think that would be a good start.
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u/Mist_Rising 1d ago
If a church is pushing for a political party, report them to the IRS and they'll lose tax exempt status. That's one of the more clear-cut parts of church tax exemption. No endorsement of parties or candidates.
But I bet they don't do that. They endorse the policies they think are Christian. Not as clear cut that one. The Catholic church for instance would condemn both parties in practice (except Pope Francis isn't that person).
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u/cutegolpnik 1d ago
yeah churches who think republican ideals are compatible with christianity are both evil and very stupid
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u/violaki 1d ago
Seems like it might not come up in sermons? I am a biologist and I believe in climate change but I can’t say I’ve ever brought it up during outreach events. I’m not avoiding the topic, it just hasn’t come up as it’s not directly related to what I’m trying to get across
That or they know they’ll lose their congregation for bringing it up.
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u/CaveExploder 1d ago
GENESIS 2:15 as an implicit statement that even preceded the "first commandment" of "listen here Adam don't eat that one fruit" reads fairly explicitly "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
I know this is doctrinal to a specific religion but the idea that Christians DONT preach environmentalism on mass scales is just a congregations refusal to read THE ONE BOOK in their book club. Like not even in the middle or the unusual parts; front and center, first chapter, explicitly stated.
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u/modohobo 1d ago
I've always felt that if they believe it's God's planet and God's creatures, why aren't they talking about man destroying it?
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u/AppropriateSea5746 1d ago
? I didn’t realize preachers were required to push their scientific beliefs onto their congregations. Thought they were just supposed to talk about the Bible.
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u/plshelpmental 1d ago
If you believe god created earth why would you not believe that we're meant to protect his creation?
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u/CheezitzAreGewd 1d ago edited 1d ago
I am a Christian and I believe in climate change. If anything it aligns with the book of revelations and how humans will destroy the Earth.
The Bible also warns of false religion and babylon the great deceiving the masses. Many Christian priests and many organizations fall into that category.
Humans as they are now aren’t suppose to just continue living on Earth forever and the good ones go to heaven. That’s not what Revelations or the concept of Armageddon is even about.
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u/invariantspeed 1d ago
A certain president of a certain nation also (unironically) lines up with antichrist prophecy, so there’s that.
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u/kamikazoo 1d ago
So don’t these same Christians WANT the world to end, fulfilling the thing told to them in Revelations? So then even if you believe in climate change that wouldn’t mean you want to prevent it?
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u/CheezitzAreGewd 1d ago
I don’t know what others feel or believe. For me, I do what I can to be a good human and respect God’s creation.
The mindset I have is the rich and the world leaders of this world will destroy the earth due to corruption, greed, and lack of love for mankind.
Basically we’re screwed either way because the general population has little control.
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u/ArchitectNebulous 1d ago
I suspect some do, others still indifferent to it.
Myself, I believe the Bible explicitly tells us to be Stewart's of the Earth; so I see those who seek to destroy it as vandals who are betraying their charge.
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u/MSnotthedisease 1d ago
I mean yes, they do want the world to end, because that means eternity in heaven. But that’s on God’s time and them thinking that if we just push climate change along it will hasten the end times, is just further proof of our rejection of God. We as humans have always pushed for our definition of things rather than trusting God’s definition of things and it’s why we got kicked out of Eden. These climate change deniers wanting to push forward the end times is in the same vein as Adam and Eve wanting to define good and evil themselves
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u/bob_marley98 1d ago
Correct. Not up to us when the world will end, but up to us to take care of it while we're here.
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u/zombieda 1d ago
If you believe in God's creation of this beautiful planet, if you don't do everything in your power to defend it, that's pure blasphemy in my opinion.
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u/tanto_le_magnificent 1d ago edited 1d ago
Because it conflicts with their core beliefs and they can’t rationalize the two side by side.
Either there is free will and we do have the ability to improve or in this case, destroy the planet we live on, or, it’s all God’s will, we are all but imperfect sinners on a boat we cannot steer unless we pray real hard and hate the people our book tells us to hate.
I’m sure these two concepts cause a lot of confusion and uncertainty in a way they can’t quite figure how to address without actively questioning the core tenets of their faith.
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u/upgrayedd69 1d ago
I think it’s more that they know the politics their congregation is getting fed and don’t won’t to lose people who refuse to attend a “woke” church service.
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u/Masrim 1d ago
This is it, you don't bite the hand that feeds you, if they want to keep that billionaire and corporate money coming in you have to say what they want you to say.
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u/SenorSplashdamage 1d ago
Sure for megachurches, but still lots of churches out there where the pastor is treated more like the employee of the members and it’s more like being a school teacher in a red state. They’re trying to dispense what they can without getting fired by the power brokers in the community. A subject like climate change can fall into one that’s very off limits, but unfortunately feels like the wrong hill to die on.
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u/smilesnseltzerbubbls 1d ago
“Christianity” is a very broad term and I can’t really speak to what the beliefs are of the Protestants, Lutherans, baptists, evangelicals, etc etc. But I can tell you that this does not conflict with the catholic faith at all. We are very much taught that God gave humans free will, it’s definitely a core belief. Therefore we have the free will to destroy the planet. Also the Bible tells us not to hate anyone? “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, parable of the Good Samaritan, etc. I do believe many other forms of Christianity follow this logic of free will and loving everyone as well
(Not a practicing catholic, just raised as one)
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u/might-be-your-daddy 1d ago
Practicing religious man here. I, too, have always been taught that we have free will. You are correct.
For context: Currently attend Lutheran church (aka Catholic Light), but in the last several decades have been a part of Mormon, Baptist, Protestant, and even attended Islamic services with family members (family by marriage). I am Christian, and definitely believe in free will.
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u/cutegolpnik 1d ago
haha well church demonimations have official theologies that address these points (ex: some believe in determinism, some don't).
i'm anti-religious but these are pretty basic theological questions that anyone who has gone to seminary can answer in detail.
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u/The_Blue_Rooster 1d ago
If you would have told me this in the mid-90s when I was going to school at a Northern California Catholic school I would have thought you were crazy, that was just part of the curriculum, and the priest would mention it multiple times a year in the church. But as someone who now lives in the Deep South, I am honestly surprised a quarter have actually fielded the topic, that seems really really high.
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u/notfarenough 1d ago
60% of college graduates believe in climate change. 80% of farmers believe in Climate change. 54% of Americans accept the science behind climate change, 73% of Democrats and curiously- 54% of Republicans. But only 23% of Republicans believe it is a serious issue.
I'm not sure I trust the claim that 90% of religious leaders believe it.
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u/gordonjames62 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is really odd.
It is like saying/complaining that Med school didn't teach me basket weaving.
I'm not sure that climate change, or auto mechanics, or partisan politics are the main message of religious leaders.
If that was a message I heard from my religious leader I would be concerned that they were not the expert who should be addressing it, and I would be wondering why they weren't giving a message appropriate for their calling and profession.
edit - after reading most of the comments here about the two subjects of this post (climate change and what religious leaders should be teaching) I suspect that few of us have the background to comment on either of them with any authority.
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u/TripleBobRoss 1d ago
I'm pretty sure most people understand that climate change is a real thing, even if they don't admit it out loud. For example, the current administration in the US doesn't talk about climate change and some outright deny it altogether, while at the same time trying to find a way to acquire Greenland and Canada. I can only assume that they actually are very aware of the threats to our planet, and want to control land and shipping passages in the north as the ice continues to melt.
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u/OffalSmorgasbord 1d ago
Which is why modern American religion is more about the transaction and entertainment than actual faith and building a community.
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u/Most_Structure9568 1d ago
Most Christians are wrapped up Republican conservatism instead of real conservative like the Amish.
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u/Andromansis 1d ago
I think they also know, and understand, that 90% the climate changing stuff comes from about 20 corporations and those corporations aren't shy about silencing people that speak up about them.
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u/ralphonsob 1d ago
Most Christian American religious leaders probably also silently disbelieve in the concepts of God and Heaven, which would explain their avaricious and abusive behaviors in this world. I doubt they often mention that to their congregations either.
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u/Plow_King 1d ago
i was at a wedding where the minister basically called climate change a hoax, and a funeral/memorial where one bemoaned legalization of pot.
both times, way to stay on topic buddy!
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u/LittleRed_RidingHead 1d ago
Wait until you hear about the amount of non-believing clergy; these religious leaders don't rock the boat in order to retain their position in their career.
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u/melodicvegetables 1d ago
Always interesting that 'conservatives' aren't interesting in 'conserving' the earth. The world changes, sometimes you have to change to keep things the way they are. Seems lost on most of them.
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u/acewing13 1d ago
Probably the same amount who know that the Bible has contradictions in it that make Bible inerrancy impossible, but teach it anyway smto get paid by their evangelical congregations.
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u/Whut4 1d ago
r/UnitarianUniversalist my church talks about it all the time, but we are not all Christians. We do include Christians, though.
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u/Civil-happiness-2000 1d ago
This seems very unchristian of them. But then again this is the religion which covers up child sexual abuse.
I guess they'd have to do something about it. Maybe give up that huge Ford f150?
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u/Malphos101 1d ago
Most protestant churches in the US are basically mini-corporations with the Pastor as a glorified spokesperson. The real power usually comes in the church board or deacons or from the regional association authority because they are the ones with the power of the purse-strings. In many of these churches the absolute #1 concern is growing the congregation and extracting as much tithes/offerings as they can. Anything that threatens to cause congregants to leave or reduce their tithing is an existential threat, no matter how "aligned" with the actual teachings of the bible or christ those things are.
American protestants are by and large just shopping around for confirmation of their preexisting beliefs and affirmation that they are inherently good people just because they go to church occasionally and put some money in the offering plate. A pastor that causes them cognitive dissonance is much more likely to cause them to find a new church than it is to cause them to reexamine their actions/beliefs.
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u/AffectEconomy6034 22h ago
Im not surprised they dont mention it im more surprised they believe it at all. I think that could be one of the reasons they dont bring it up since it risks alienating their congregation. It's still completely irresponsible though
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u/sonostreet 21h ago
"WARNING: If you're Gambling your money away, most likely your brain is hacked by a.i."
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u/esoteric_enigma 15h ago
Many religious leaders have degrees in divinity, often advanced degrees. They are generally better educated than their conversations. They are often less dogmatic in their beliefs but don't preach that way for fear of upsetting the congregation.
I imagine they probably feel a similar way about climate change since Christianity has been intertwined with right wing political beliefs.
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u/Vikings_Pain 12h ago
Because it’s not their job? They focus on other important matters. Why don’t you go preach on the side of the street about climate change?
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u/Vapur9 11h ago
From my understanding, some pastors accuse people of certain lifestyles for provoking God to anger and sending storms to correct us, pointing to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to justify it.
In my studies, I found [Zechariah 14:16-19] where God commands Gentiles to keep the Feast of Booths in Heaven or else they would receive plagues and storms out of season. Considering that churches pray God's will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, and none of them observe the Feast of Booths (by imitating the homeless to live in a tent for a week), they ought to point the finger at themselves for taking God's name in vain. They asked for it.
I also found it curious that in [Luke 10], the laborers of the harvest went to each city as barefoot homeless men, and the cities that mistreated them earned the judgment of Sodom. It had nothing to do with homosexuality, but rather inhospitality and denying housing (or as [Ezekiel 16:49] puts it: failing to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy).
In any case, prophecy pointed to a 4th angel that pours out a vial on the sun to scorch men with fire in order to cause them to repent of their evils (Revelation 16:8-9). The way it's described is like of a solar flare that destroys electrical infrastructure and results in a lack of A/C to find refuge from the heat. Essentially, the scriptures which their faith is founded upon teaches the idea of global warming; so, those who deny it also deny their faith.
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u/bakerbrokebro 11h ago
Of course they do. There’s overwhelming evidence of it. But it doesn’t fit the vibe of the tribe. And for some reason they care about not criticizing their faithful leaders than the future of….everything.
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u/XoeoX 8h ago
I've had fundies tell me this one. They believe that after the "flood", God made the Rainbow promise, that he would never harm us again. So if climate change were real, then God would have to break his promise, and that cant happen. Then the whole illusion would all far apart, and their psyches can't handle it. So sadomasochistic. You won't hurt us again, will you skydaddie?! Last time we deserved it, but we've been soo good. Like a battered spouse.
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u/lurksAtDogs 1d ago
A lot of church leaders are terrified of their congregations and are at the mercy of the dumbest people holding the purse strings. You start talking facts and you get run out of town. It goes for topics around science, social concepts, or just basics of their religion.
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u/The_Philosophied 1d ago
Most Christian religious leaders are excellent business men who know what their low IQ clientele wants to hear and what it doesn’t want to hear.
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u/MountainYoghurt7857 1d ago
I can't really know what it is like for other people, but at least here the effects are easily seen. It is barely ever snowing in winter anymore.
This is somewhat not great for the ecosystem, since this snow makes a protective layer for new plants whose roots aren't that deep in the ground yet, making it harder to cultivate trees.
In addition, weather that doesn't keep being cold for some days, raises some of the plants out of dormancy before winter is over, putting them at risk of their new leaves freezing.
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u/Jesse-359 1d ago
As far as I can tell, most people believe in climate change, period.
The problem is they've been buried in propaganda telling them that if we try to do anything about it, our entire economy will collapse and they'll lose their jobs, probably to some foreign tech company - so they are terrified to acknowledge it and are just operating under the assumption that it 'won't be that bad' - or that it's far enough in the future they won't have to care.
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u/ruat_caelum 1d ago
If someone believes in prayer, they aren't taking action in this life because they believe prayer works.
If they believe God has a plan, they aren't even looking both ways when they cross the street.
They can believe in human made climate change and still be part of the problem because they do things like have 2+ kids, pray for it to cool down, vote for people who run on polices that don't care about climate change etc.
The reality is individuals are only going to affect climate change through government action. And religious people aren't voting (by design) for those who are trying to slow or stop climate change. They've been engineered to be single issue voters so that the only thing that matters is the religious nature of abortion. The candidate that is "prolife" can then do ANYTHING else and they will still net the vote from a single issue voter because that type of voted CANNOT compromise. It's been indoctrinated into them that there is a right and wrong, with no gray in the middle.
We saw the same thing were racism was weaponized in the southern US turning poor whites against poor blacks so they both didn't vote together against the rich: Republican Southern Stragety
Creating single issue voters gets you power.
When we see ISSUES on the ballot (and not a D vs R person) those issues are voted very liberally. Pro-weed, Kansas was even pro abortion. Why? Because most single issue republican voters have fairly liberal stances on other issues. that Anti-weed guy might be for gun control or for a woman to have the right to say what happens to her body. That pro gun guy might be pro weed and pro choice, and that pro life guy might be pro wood and for gun control. In the above example all three issues would be 66% liberal leaning but 100% voting for an R candidate because of single issue voters.
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u/lulu_l 1d ago
I got mocked las summer by some americanized imigrant Christians for my habbit of picking up trash when I go wondering in nature and hikes. Imagine mocking someone for making something better.
It was related to "believing" in climate change. Also just read a comment from an American about people "believing" that tariffs are going to raise prices are smooth brained.
American Christians believing is their most fundamental thinking process, they reject the reality they see and experience by believing in whatever they are told to believe.
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u/RID132465798 1d ago
Religious people who make money being religious are already being exploitative
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