Denialism of climate science in the US is quite prevalent, among the public and the politicians they elect alike. There have been investigations into the reasons for this, and a number of different factors identified, such as extreme libertarian ideology, a few but vocal dissenting scientist (generally not published in the area of climate science), and propaganda spread by the fossil fuel industry. This is an excellent book written on the subject.
But there is another factor that is often unnoticed: religion.
According to a recent survey, about 60% of the public accept the general warming trends, and their relationship to recent natural disasters, and yet acceptance of this relationship depends to a great extent on religion.
Nearly 7-in-10 (69%) religiously unaffiliated Americans, 6-in-10 (60%) Catholics, and half (50%) of white evangelical Protestants agree that the severity of recent natural disasters is evidence of global climate change.
The study shows other findings that are very alarming:
More than one-third (36%) of Americans believe that the severity of recent natural disasters is evidence that we are in what the Bible calls the end times.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of white evangelical Protestants believe that the severity of recent natural disasters is evidence of what the Bible calls the end times, compared to roughly 1-in-5 Catholics (21%) and religiously unaffiliated Americans (15%).
To be sure, there are some evangelical groups that accept climate change and have mobilized against it. And yet, if the data are to be believed, they are completely dwarfed by their own denialist brethren.
So why are evangelicals resistant to climate science? To some extent it could be the “end times” beliefs that are very common among them, as the survey suggests. But there is another reason: a great many number of evangelical leaders have been very vocal in their dismissal of climate science.
Consider, for exmaple, the following video.
This video is part of a series called “resisting the green dragon”, in which evangelical leaders warn Christians not to fall for the “hoax” of global warming. This is the list of the prominent people featuring in it:
David Barton, WallBuilders
Dr. Michael Farris, Home School Legal Defense Assn.
Bryan Fischer, American Family Association
Pastor Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills
Bishop Harry Jackson, Hope Christian Church
Dr. Richard Land, Southern Baptist ERLC
Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family
Dr. David Noebel, Summit Ministries
Janet Parshall, National Radio Host
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council
Dr. Frank Wright, National Religious Broadcasters
Wendy Wright, Concerned Women for America
This a practically a “Who’s who” of the religious right bigwigs.
So to go back to the question of why journalists have left out a factor as prominent as religion among causes of climate change denial, the answer could be anything, including sheer sloppiness. But I suspect an important reason would be the servile deference religion culturally enjoys.
