Fundamentalism Creating Indifference To Climate Change
By James Donahue
A new study has found that the belief in the biblical end-times story has been a motivating
factor behind legislative resistance to curbing climate change.
Research by David C. Barker of the University of Pittsburgh and David H. Bearce of the
University of Colorado found that an overwhelming number of fundamental Christians (mostly Republicans) say they believe in
the Second Coming of Jesus and many of these say they feel we are living in the "end times."
The study, based on data from a 2007 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, revealed
that believe in the Second Coming of Jesus has blocked the call by many citizens groups to move toward green energy and putting
controls on carbon emissions.
The control of Congress by extreme right-wing Republicans, many of them fundamental
Bible believers, would create stiff resistance to such legislation "even if every Democrat in the country" favored it, Barker
and Bearce wrote in their report which will be published in the June issue of Political Science Quarterly.
A report by Eric Dolan in Raw Story noted that Illinois Republican Representative John
Shimkus, chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, stated in 2010 that he opposed action on climate change.
He said "the Earth will end only when God declares it to be over."
The study suggests that it is unlikely that the United States will act on climate change
while so many Americans . . . particularly the Republicans, believe in the end times and that they are close at hand.
Thus we find ourselves in a serious dilemma caused by a 2,000-year-old long outdated
religious based belief system that promises the return of a "savior" at the last moment to save believers just as the planet
is going into self-destruct. This is an extremely dangerous social dilemma that is preventing our government from taking decisive
action concerning the most important problem ever faced by mankind.
As the polluted seas raise higher and storms ravage our coastal cities, and powerful
storms march like soldiers across the land; as large areas of Midwest farmland suffer from extreme drought while other areas
become deluged with floodwater; as our gas filled air brings on asthma, emphysema and other lung problems, our polluted land
fails to produce healthy crops and our sea life disappears under the plastic flotsam, doing nothing is not an option. If we
fail to act we will all perish.
The Earth is our only planet in space. Perhaps it has never occurred to those zealous
Christian cults that maybe Jesus won’t be coming back after all. And if he doesn’t come floating down out of the
clouds as those cult followers believe, the inevitable is bound to happen. Humanity and all life on this planet is following
a long and painful path to extinction.
Researchers have already concluded that the damage done so far cannot be reversed. What
they believe is that drastic action now can only stop this mess from getting any worse. By the time the Christians wake up
to reality, however, it is going to be too late for us all.
That is tragic. We already have the technology in place to save ourselves. It is just
going to take the kind of money and power furnished by government action to get it done.