God’s green hand in the U.S.
New York, January 2007. God created environmentalism. Richard Cizik’s Bible (Photo by Jarin Blaschke) does not state it in such definite terms. But the experienced preacher can quote many verses in the Scriptures which back up his gospel of green. Genesis, chapter 2 verse 15. “God has assigned us the biblical duty to care for the Earth and to protect it”, he says. His clear voice rises over the diffused noise of the coffee brewing. It was cold on this January morning in New York. In the dim anonymity of a Starbucks in Manhattan, the reverend talks about his mission to help save the environment. Cizik is spearheading a movement of fundamentalist Christians who have decided to break ranks with George Bush on climate change. Their goal is to make Americans realize the urgency of global warming by giving a religious perspective to scientific findings. That is what they did on February 2nd 2006, when a group of international experts concluded that climate change was “unequivocal” and that human activity was the main factor. These scientists predicted a temperature rise of 4 degrees by the end of this century. The United States is the largest polluter in the world, but things are beginning to change. The new democratic majority in Congress has criticized the White House for dismantling environmental protection laws and has pledged to pass a bill limiting greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the year. Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, played a role in this shift in public opinion. But the former vice-president’s barely reached red-state America and its impact remained limited to the major cities like New York or San Francisco. Conservative Christians listen to their reverend. Richard Cizik is credited with broadening the reach of the environmental movement. He does not need to raise his voice, he knows that people are listening to him when he speaks. Cizik, 54, is the vice-president for governmental affairs at National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the most powerful Christian lobbying group representing 45 000 churches and 30 million members. More than 70 million Americans consider themselves evangelicals. They make up 40 percent of the base of the republican party. In the last two presidential elections, 80 perecent of them voted for George Bush. But the GOP’s hold on evangelicals is weakening. On November 7, 2006, many conservative Christians disappointed by George Bush’s Iraq policy, shifted allegiance and voted for democrat candidates. Richard Cizik targets these evangelicals, when he urges action based on the biblical demand for “creation care”. Last year he traveled 100 000 miles around the U.S. to preach environmental protection. He also appeared on a documentary on climate change featuring Keanu Reeves and Alanis Morrissette. Evangelicals and scientists were never able to launch a large-scale joint initiative on climate change because they disagreed on the origins of life – a rift dating back to Charles Darwin. But in January 2006, Cizik changed that and joined forces with scientists to combat global warming in the U.S. “I am a creationist and I believe God created mankind”, he says. “E.O Wilson (n.d.l.r. a leading biologist who published Creation, a book on global warming) believes in evolution. But it does not prevent us from agreeing on the need to protect this earth”. Cizik admits there is an enduring mistrust among evangelicals toward science but he wants to bridge the gap: “I think evangelicals are intimidated by science. I do not see a conflict between science and religion”, he says. “Science cannot answer questions of faith. And faith cannot answer questions of science. There are two different worlds that answer different questions. But can they collaborate on climate change? Absolutely. Great scientists are people of imagination. So are people of faith.” It used to be much easier to sketch the average fundamentalist Christian in the U.S.: anti-abortion, anti-stem cell research and suspicious of environmentalists. But since evangelicals signed a February 2006 initiative to fight against global warming, this task has proved much more difficult. Cizik was one of the driving forces of the initiative but he had to take off his name from the document in order to prevent a rift inside the NAE. 25 evangelical leaders publicly opposed his action. To counter Cizik, prominent evangelicals close to the White House like James Dobson, Charles Colson and Richard Land created the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance. This group claims that global warming is part of a normal climatic cycle and rejects environmental policies. Richard Cizik proceeds with caution when he speaks about his opponents. He first mentions “right wingers”, smiles and corrects himself: “Actually, I don’t call my fellow evangelicals right-wingers. I call them corner-dwellers. They dwell in corners and just talk to one another. We need to get people out of their corners”. He goes on: “Some people are so unwilling to consider new ideas, they might as well be dead. Climate change is forcing divisions in the evangelical world. It is challenging politicians. But the fight for the environment is a moral issue”. Last year “green evangelicals” won an important victory, when Pat Robertson acknowledged global warming. Cizik was not born with a green soul. This father of two adolescent sons had a change of heart 5 years ago while attending a conference on climate in Oxford, England. Sir John Houghton, a leading evangelical scientist, converted him. After he returned to the U.S, Cizik launched his crusade to save the earth. He sold his RV and replaced his two cars with hybrid vehicles. He recently had a body burden test: “I found out I have a high level of mercury and of other chemicals in my body”, he says. “My goal is to get 25 evangelical leaders to do the same test. They will then discover the personal implications of pollution”. Jim Wallis, a progressive evangelical from San Francisco, compares Mr. Cizik to Amos, one of the minor prophets of the Bible. Mr Cizik would like religion to set an example: “I want the 300 000 houses of worship in America to be green. If they reduced their energy consumption by 25%, they would save annually $500 million, 13,5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, 5 million tons of CO2, the equivalent of 1 million cars on the road, the planting of 1,4 million acres of trees”. Richard Cizik supports the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Early February 2007, the White House rejected any policy that would impose caps on emissions but the reverend believes in his ability to help George Bush change his mind: “Last year the president said we are addicted to oil. This year he acknowledged that climate change is real. By next year, our goal is to put a bill on his desk with caps on emissions. George W Bush might then ready to sign it, because he is a politician”. Cizik starts depicting a scary outcome for a president who invokes God in his speeches: “The authority of public officials comes from God Himself and they have to use it wisely. If they become derelict of their duties, they will therefore be held accountable to a Higher authority”. The reverend has not joined the Democratic party yet. But the longtime Republican does not rule out the possibility if the conservative candidate running for office in 2008 does not fight for the environment. In the last few weeks, he met the Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as well as the Republican John McCain. The contenders for the White House all made the same simple calculation: Cizik, 45 000 churches, 30 million members. Cizik claims he will stand next to all of those “who will make the right decisions for the Creation”. The thin messenger of God also has a plan to accomplish his green mission. Jean-Cosme Delaloye / New York CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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