“Being compassionate means providing a fence at the top of the cliff, not just an ambulance at the bottom.” Fred Nile, Australian Christian politician.
I think Fred Nile is speaking about upholding God's ordained social order and moral law to protect us. If you believe in the Bible, it is hard to disagree.
However, in the current crisis, we should apply this principle also to management of land and water resources. Massive amounts of water have been sacrificed to maximise export dollars, for example in coal mining. We need that water to produce food and fight fires.
Government priorities have been wrong in moral policy but also in land management policy. I avoid the word 'environment' because I am not a Green. We on the conservative Christian side need to do some serious rethinking.
The black and white climate debate obscures inescapable problems.
Environmentalists focus on overuse of fossil fuels causing global warming. Conservatives say this is a pseudo-scientific hoax designed to undermine capitalism and bring in socialist world government.
But doesn’t the Bible predict environmental disasters in the last days?
And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)
Why is there so little discussion of the worldwide decimation of bees and other insects? We need bees to pollinate the plants we must have to survive.
The use of glyphosate-based herbicides worldwide dominates farming in many countries but this chemical is toxic to bees.
What about the systematic poisoning of marine life with plastic waste and other chemical pollutants?
Our current industrial and agricultural systems are not sustainable.
Look at the Middle East, mostly desert. Why? God’s judgement on the enemies of God’s people?
Maybe so. But God has also blessed the Persians and Arabs with untold wealth from oil. I am not God. We need to understand that we don't understand so many things.
But what about unsustainable agricultural practices over many centuries? Hard to deny.
However, the Jews in Israel have reversed this process. This is undoubtedly due in part to the blessing of God sending more rain.
However, the Jews have also pioneered drip feed irrigation and strategic tree planting and no doubt other wise land and water management practices. Why are we just admiring them and not learning from them? Is that biblical?
Perhaps the environmentalists are right. We may be on a one way road to destruction.
Why should Christian conservatives resist this narrative? Why should we be committed to the status quo?
Does Bible prophecy encourage this mind set? Does Bible prophecy encourage us to expect never ending economic growth through deregulated capitalism?
I don’t think so.
Bible prophecy tells us that Jesus will return and set up the Kingdom of God in a time of horror.
On the other hand, there are Christian spiritual leaders with apparently genuine prophetic credentials who say God has raised up President Trump.
Maybe this is true. But that does not make all his policies right.
This world is on the road to destruction, how quickly or how soon, we cannot tell. Bible prophecy clearly teaches this.
If we are on the road to destruction, environmentalism, however sensible, will not save us.
Does this mean we should do nothing to improve environmental management?
The positive example of Israel is a good answer to this question.
The Green lobby focuses on a global approach to climate change. However, innovative land management practices in Israel and parts of Africa have shown that rainfall and climate can be positively influenced at a local or regional level.
This approach does not seem to be central to the agenda of either the Right or the Left in Australia and many other countries.
What we often see instead is a polarised debate which is leading us nowhere.
I think Fred Nile is speaking about upholding God's ordained social order and moral law to protect us. If you believe in the Bible, it is hard to disagree.
However, in the current crisis, we should apply this principle also to management of land and water resources. Massive amounts of water have been sacrificed to maximise export dollars, for example in coal mining. We need that water to produce food and fight fires.
Government priorities have been wrong in moral policy but also in land management policy. I avoid the word 'environment' because I am not a Green. We on the conservative Christian side need to do some serious rethinking.
The black and white climate debate obscures inescapable problems.
Environmentalists focus on overuse of fossil fuels causing global warming. Conservatives say this is a pseudo-scientific hoax designed to undermine capitalism and bring in socialist world government.
But doesn’t the Bible predict environmental disasters in the last days?
And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)
If greenhouse gas levels are a problem, why is the focus almost exclusively on use of fossil fuels?
What about the intensive use of agricultural chemicals?
What about the progressive degradation of agricultural soils and the dramatic decline in the nutritional content of food produced by modern methods?
Why is there so little discussion of the worldwide decimation of bees and other insects? We need bees to pollinate the plants we must have to survive.
The use of glyphosate-based herbicides worldwide dominates farming in many countries but this chemical is toxic to bees.
- In California, intensive production of almonds is sustained by using these herbicides and also by orchardists hiring bee swarms from beekeepers. Untold millions of these bees are dying but the practice continues.
What about the systematic poisoning of marine life with plastic waste and other chemical pollutants?
Our current industrial and agricultural systems are not sustainable.
Look at the Middle East, mostly desert. Why? God’s judgement on the enemies of God’s people?
Maybe so. But God has also blessed the Persians and Arabs with untold wealth from oil. I am not God. We need to understand that we don't understand so many things.
But what about unsustainable agricultural practices over many centuries? Hard to deny.
However, the Jews in Israel have reversed this process. This is undoubtedly due in part to the blessing of God sending more rain.
However, the Jews have also pioneered drip feed irrigation and strategic tree planting and no doubt other wise land and water management practices. Why are we just admiring them and not learning from them? Is that biblical?
Perhaps the environmentalists are right. We may be on a one way road to destruction.
Why should Christian conservatives resist this narrative? Why should we be committed to the status quo?
Does Bible prophecy encourage this mind set? Does Bible prophecy encourage us to expect never ending economic growth through deregulated capitalism?
I don’t think so.
Bible prophecy tells us that Jesus will return and set up the Kingdom of God in a time of horror.
On the other hand, there are Christian spiritual leaders with apparently genuine prophetic credentials who say God has raised up President Trump.
Maybe this is true. But that does not make all his policies right.
This world is on the road to destruction, how quickly or how soon, we cannot tell. Bible prophecy clearly teaches this.
If we are on the road to destruction, environmentalism, however sensible, will not save us.
Does this mean we should do nothing to improve environmental management?
The positive example of Israel is a good answer to this question.
The Green lobby focuses on a global approach to climate change. However, innovative land management practices in Israel and parts of Africa have shown that rainfall and climate can be positively influenced at a local or regional level.
This approach does not seem to be central to the agenda of either the Right or the Left in Australia and many other countries.
What we often see instead is a polarised debate which is leading us nowhere.
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