Environmentalism and the Clash with a Christian Worldview

There was a revealing and fascinating article in this past weekend's Times Online, which is the London Times online edition. The article is titled "Two Children Should Be The Limit Says Green Guru." The U.K. is a great glimpse into our future since they are obviously a post-Christianity culture, and this glimpse should be frightening and a warning for us to be sure about what we believe.

Sarah-Kate Templeton writes about the beliefs and probable recommendations of a chair of a government commission charged with looking at environmental issues for the U.K.. The most frightening and chilling statement is found in the second paragraph.

Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. He says political leaders and green campaigners should stop dodging the issue of environmental harm caused by an expanding population.

Let that sink in. We have government officials who are advocating for the "good of the environment" for the government to impose limits on the number of children allowed per family. This is the logical outcome from a god-less worldview.

As we saw in Tour 3 of The Truth Project, the results of humanity depending on our own thinking and logic on the value of human life has led to horrifying genocides in our world. The depravity of the human heart cannot be underestimated, and holding a biblical worldview is critical to combating this kind of thinking.

For those of you who lead a small group, this should be a wake-up call to you as to why leading others and teaching truth matters. If we wait to equip people with the truth, we may find entire cultures killing babies in the name of saving the planet.

The question I got repeatedly after Tour 5a was "How can they not see that what they believe is a lie?" My best guess at an answer for that question is self-delusion. People want to live for themselves so badly, and so desire living without the thought of judgment, that they delude themselves to the truth. I'm reminded of a child who will put their fingers in their ears and shout "la, la, la" to keep from hearing the truth. That is how many people live today. The Scripture below describes them well.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:21-23