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Why Do Christians Hate the Environment?
From the viewpoint of a Christian who thinks they should care.
That may sound like a harsh or exaggerated statement, but it really isn’t. Christians don’t just ignore environmental action, they put effort into vehemently opposing it.
“Christians” is a broad generalization here. I’m referring more specifically to American, conservative, Republican Evangelical Christians. But they do have a loud voice in both American and global faith and often shape what “mainstream” Christianity is.
During Climate Week, global leaders gathered at the UN to discuss environmental initiatives. Students around the world also held the #FridaysForFuture climate protests, led by young activist Greta Thunberg. While there’s broad support and excitement for climate action and the young activists, there’s also a lot of resistance.
Conservatives, and more so conservative Christians, have been at the forefront of this opposition. They mock a 16-year-old for her passion and disregard the youth protests. They show indifference towards the burning of the Amazon. They scoff and complain about laws limiting single use plastics such as bags and straws. They demean the Green New Deal as a socialist agenda without knowing what it actually says. They support Trump’s pullout of the Paris Climate…
