{"id":510,"date":"2011-03-18T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T15:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/03\/fundamentalists-versus-the-environment.html"},"modified":"2011-03-18T15:26:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T15:26:00","slug":"fundamentalists-versus-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/03\/fundamentalists-versus-the-environment.html","title":{"rendered":"Fundamentalists Versus The Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Social scientists often use the example of \u201ccargo cults\u201d as a way of illustrating how religions form.\u00a0 Now comes James Wanliss, professor of physics at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., who uses the cargo cult phenomenon to explain, of all things, the \u201creligion\u201d of global warming.<\/p>\n

Wanliss is the author of \u201cResisting the Green Dragon: Dominion, Not Death,\u201d the companion book to the wingnut DVD of the same name.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a sample of his genius<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Global-warming federal-scientific partnerships form the basis for several cargo cults. Many billions of dollars are thrown at studying global warming, and recent Climategate scandals reveal prominent scientists failing (or forbidding) to ask critical questions that might challenge cherished beliefs, or threaten gravy trains. Annual federal funding to study global warming is around $4 billion and rising.<\/p>\n

\u2026For Christians, Truth is paramount. My book \u201cResisting the Green Dragon\u201d explains how for pagans, what matters most is power, not truth. So it was in Vanuatu where pagans worshipped the Serpent as a spirit of evil. They lived in abject terror of his influence and directed all their worship toward pacifying his rage. In cargo cult science, are we unconsciously returning to the dark age of magic, in which truth suffers and people tremble for fear that their smallest actions may offend an \u201cangry\u201d Earth?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oy vey.\u00a0 Look who\u2019s talking about \u201cthe dark age of magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a skeptic.\u00a0 I\u2019m the first to question anything and everything.\u00a0 So I\u2019ve done a little research and discovered what most reasonable people already know.\u00a0 Global warming is a real threat.\u00a0 This is a consensus issue among CLIMATE scientists (as opposed to people with unrelated Ph.D.s like Wanliss).\u00a0 It\u2019s also an incredibly complex issue and predictions of the damage we\u2019re causing are firm, but not always specific.\u00a0 This is because they\u2019re scientists, not prophets.<\/p>\n

The religious opposition to environmentalism is a disturbing and insane twist in fundamentalist thinking.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an example from the DVD\u2019s website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Without doubt one of the greatest threats to society and the church today is the multifaceted environmentalist movement.\u00a0 Although its reach is often subtle, there isn\u2019t an aspect of life that it doesn\u2019t see to force into its own mold.<\/p>\n

Environmentalism has become a new religion.<\/i><\/p>\n

Environmentalism\u2019s policies are devastating to the world\u2019s poor.<\/i><\/p>\n

Environmentalism threatens the sanctity of life.<\/i><\/p>\n

Environmentalism is targeting our youth.<\/i><\/p>\n

Environmentalism\u2019s vision is global<\/i>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did you ever notice how fundamentalists always throw the word \u201creligion\u201d at atheists?\u00a0 Now it\u2019s the environmentalists.\u00a0 I thought these people LIKED religion!<\/p>\n

More to the point, I am seriously confused about exactly what it is they oppose.\u00a0 Are they in favor of using MORE oil?\u00a0 Are they working for Exxon-Mobile?\u00a0 Perhaps Saudi King Abdullah is a secret Christian\u2026or was Jesus an oil magnate?!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no evidence of this (yet) but I think the warming climate is melting their brains.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social scientists often use the example of \u201ccargo cults\u201d as a way of illustrating how religions form.\u00a0 Now comes James Wanliss, professor of physics at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., who uses the cargo cult phenomenon to explain, of all things, the \u201creligion\u201d of global warming. Wanliss is the author of \u201cResisting the Green Dragon: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,33],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-fundamentalist-christianity","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nFundamentalists Versus The Environment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Social scientists often use the example of \u201ccargo cults\u201d as a way of illustrating how religions form.\u00a0 Now comes James Wanliss, professor of physics at\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/03\/fundamentalists-versus-the-environment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fundamentalists Versus The Environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Social scientists often use the example of \u201ccargo cults\u201d as a way of illustrating how religions form.\u00a0 Now comes James Wanliss, professor of physics at\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/03\/fundamentalists-versus-the-environment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-18T15:26:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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