It's Conservative to be Conservative

NEWSWEEK had an interview recently with Reverend Richard Cizik, a lobbyist on behalf of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Rev. Cizik, you see, is lobbying the government to act against global warming. It seems conservatives of the non-crunchy variety in the NAE are a bit skeptical as to either the validity of global warming, or removing the focus of their lobbying efforts from gay marriage and abortion.

Is all of the research in support of global warming of total scientific validity? No, clearly not. But even if one will suggest that evidence on the global warming issue is inconclusive, the costs of being wrong are far too great to not take the crisis seriously. More importantly, though, just because mainstream Republicans don’t want to cave political footing to Democrats doesn’t mean we’re excused from our responsibility to God and to future generations to steward the environment properly.

To come full circle here, where love is a selfless gift expecting nothing in return, consider present-day environmental conservation a loving act to God and future generations.

Eventually, the Christian Right will get on board with environmental stewardship. When that happens, my guess is that the GOP will wake up, coin a new term for the umbrella of environmental concern, and then knee-jerk environmental legislation through that would have been more effective had it passed 20 years ago.

In the meantime, build for yourself an individual world where your dependence on energy is only at a necessary level, sustainable long-term.