The statistics say that only 44% of us as evangelical Christians accept that climate change is real, and if you fall into the other 56% there could be several reasons why you may not believe in global warming or climate change.
Maybe you embrace a more conservative political ideology and think global warming is a liberal agenda. Or maybe you believe that God wouldn’t let climate change happen, or that the world is going to end anyway so it doesn’t really matter. I want you to know I understand. I really do. In fact, I used to believe pretty much exactly like you do.
I thought Global Warming was a myth, a liberal agenda. I thought protecting the planet was about hugging trees and saving whales and polar bears. To me “going green” was trendy and just a marketing scam used to push expensive “green” products. I believed it didn’t really matter what we did to the Earth because ultimately God was in control and anyway Christians were leaving this world behind and going to Heaven when they died, right?
And honestly? I just didn’t want to think about the impact and effects of my choices. I was perfectly fine with my comfortable and convenient lifestyle. I thought, “I am just one person, what kind of difference could I make anyway?”
So when you tell me you don’t really believe in global warming or climate change, or that you’re not really concerned about “going green” and think that creation care is for crazy crunchy Christians and not for you, I totally get it. Because I was in that same place until just a few years ago.
But then something happened that changed my perspective on this issue, and ultimately changed my life.
I came to the understanding that creation care isn’t about global warming, climate change, or even “going green” because it’s trendy. Creation care is about caring for God’s most valuable, and vulnerable, creation: His people. People, who are God’s image-bearers and His precious and loved children, are the ones most negatively impacted by the condition of the Earth.
And ultimately, this is not really about global warming or climate change anyway. We don’t need to “believe” in global warming or climate change to realize that creation care and environmental stewardship are extremely important. I think we should all be able to agree that the way we are using and abusing the resources of the earth are not sustainable. And that we are, indeed, trashing our planet and that our actions are having negative effects on our world and the people who live here.
The effects of climate change, both in the world today and increasingly in the future, include droughts, floods, heat waves, sea-level risings and stronger storms and contribute to food and water shortages, damage to farmland and infrastructure, and undermine economic development. These effects are felt most strongly in underdeveloped and impoverished countries by the already poor and vulnerable people who live there.
Climate change is having negative effects on real people right now in the world, and will continue to have even greater negative effects in the coming years. And when you begin to realize that this is not something made up, or a political agenda within this country, or a “money-maker”, it becomes harder for someone who follows Jesus to brush off it with, “I’m not really that concerned about it. That’s just not really my thing.”
Creation care is not about global warming, it is about loving people.
And when we’re honest about it, doesn’t Jesus both call and empower us to love our neighbor as ourselves? Doesn’t He say that’s the most important thing after loving Him? In fact, shouldn’t our love for Him compel us to serve the least of these?
Following Jesus is about loving and serving people, and creation care is about caring for people. Therefore those of us who say we love and follow Jesus need to be committed to caring for His creation!
Here’s what I’ve learned from my experience with accepting climate change while still following Jesus.
It will change your perspective, and hopefully also change your life.
For me, beginning to think about, and care about, climate change has moved my life in a direction that I never expected.
When you begin to think about the effects of your actions, and the similar actions of all of the people around you, on the environment and on other people who live on this Earth with us, it changes your perspective on life.
No longer do I think my life is mostly about my comfort, convenience, and happiness. It has opened my eyes to think about if and how my comfort or convenience comes at the expense or exploitation of someone else’s life.
Photo credit: Feed My Starving Children/Flickr
As a Christian, there is just no way that I could think about one day being accountable to Jesus for my actions and telling Him that my comfortable, convenient life was more important than another one of His children’s lives. No. Way.
I truly believe that following Jesus and Caring for Creation will change your life. And not because you’ll start hugging trees, but more likely because you’ll start hugging people (or at least wishing you could hug them) who you previously didn’t even see or even think about.
With my whole heart and mind, I want to implore you to stop thinking about global warming or climate change as a political issue, stop thinking about it as a fad or trend, and stop thinking that it doesn’t really apply to you, and start looking at this issue for what it truly is.
Caring for God’s creation is not a divisive issue. And it’s also not a controversial one. It is an issue that everyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus needs to uphold and embrace with our words and our actions. Indeed, with our whole lives. Because the lives of some of God’s most precious children, the least of these, are at stake.
Sources and Further Reading:
World’s poorest will feel brunt of climate change, warns World Bank
How to Convince Conservative Christians that Global Warming is Real
U.S. Climate Report Says Global Warming Impact Already Severe
Climate Change Threats to the ‘Least of These’ Compels Evangelicals to Act
Lovely thoughts, but there is a typo in the first paragraph. 66% plus 44% is 110%!
Thank you Roger! I guess I was up too late last night working on it! 😉
These are such great thoughts, Emily! Thanks for bringing a fresh perspective to this issue.
I don’t believe in climate change because I have done the research and know it isn’t true. I have lived long enough to see it change from a global winter to global warming. Then when that was proved untrue by time and weather and facts, it became climate change so they didn’t have to be accurate anymore. Climate Change means nothing. The climate changes four times a year. I care about people. You do not have that market cornered because you believe in “climate change.” I just don’t believe in fairy tales. I think science should stand up to the same tests no matter what politics the scientist subscribes to. Global Winter/Warming/Climate Change doesn’t stand the test of time, let alone the test of science.
Typical rant against conservatives. Now liberals are better Christians too. Give me a break. Already hit the unsubscribe…
Hi K Soto,
Thanks for your comment, but I have to say that it kinda breaks my heart because I feel like it is missing the point. I never said whether I was conservative or liberal – the issue of Creation Care has nothing to do with politics. And I didn’t say that you don’t care about people because you don’t believe in climate change. But, please help me understand how you do not believe that we are in fact hurting our planet and that the effects are felt most strongly by people living in underdeveloped and impoverished countries? We are using and consuming resources faster than they can be replenished. We are literally trashing our planet with our consumer and disposable culture. Do we really believe that all of resources we are using will never run out and all of the trash that we are producing will just disappear? Surely our consumerist and convenience society would look appalling and wasteful to our great-grandparents? (And this is, of course, just scratching the surface.) No one is talking about fairy tales – I don’t even know where that term comes or what it means in relation to Caring for Creation? We are talking about real effects on real people in the world today. Please see the articles linked at the end of the post for more information. You have every right to unsubscribe, of course, but I would hope that if you have read and followed along with me for more than just this one post you will know that I am not ranting against conservatives, I am trying to follow Jesus and love people in the way that He leads me. I wish you the best on your journey toward the same.
In His Grip,
~Emily
Goodness! How sad that EVERYTHING must come down to liberal vs. conservative or Christian vs. un-Christian? And how unfortunately easy it is to brush something off simply because “the other side” is pushing it?
Can’t some things just be common sense? We all live here. We all get one walk on this planet of ours. Regardless of your faith view…regardless of how you vote… isn’t it just plain old common sense that we all do our part to care for the earth?
Emily,
Are you familiar with Katharine Hayhoe?
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/05/conservative_christians_and_climate_change_five_arguments_for_why_one_should.html
She is on the Board of Advisors of the group I volunteer for: Citizens Climate Lobby, a grassroots, nonpartisan group creating the political will for a stable climate. http://citizensclimatelobby.org/
Roger
Excellent, Emily, you said it so well. I completely agree with you and this is also the direction in which I have moved in my understanding of climate change over the past few years. We cannot deny that there is a very real effect to our actions, and that it does indeed impact many of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Every Christian should care about this issue. The political stance each one of us takes is irrelevant. It’s a real issue that deserves a real response because it affects real people.
Thanks so much Stephanie! I’m sure that you saw many of the effects, and came face to face with the real people impacted, las year as you traveled around the world! The few times I have traveled to other countries have also greatly affected my views on this issue because it makes such an impact to get outside of our Western bubble and culture and see how people in other parts of the world actually live.
It is very hard for me, and yes I am a believer in Jesus Christ, to get excited about putting on our goody two shoes and helping those in other lands who need it.
It seems to me, that we should do as Mother Theresea instructed someone who wanted to help her, she told him to go back to his own lands and help his own people.
We look to the far east, we look to the middle east, we look to African, Central and South America, but what of our own.
In a land of plenty there as still many who are going without basic needs. By basic, I mean, basic, food a decent shelter(not something made of bit of garbage and cardboard as many have), clean water(many Native get water that most normal folks wouldn’t even use to flush their toilets) and warm clothes(sometimes missionaries will offer things….but their is usually a high price…and usually it is done so that the missionaries get the glory and fame…not God!). I AM NOT talking about street people or the jobless or homeless. I am talking about Native Americans. I urge you to look homeward!!!! If your heart is toward people, READ the books by Russell Means, Ward Churchill, Joseph Marshall, Vine de Loring Jr. and I DARE you to remain unchanged. Read how a nation tried to commit genocide and how close they came to doing it….and how as late as the 1970’s people were butchered with machetes here in America. What good is caring for creation, if one of Jesus’ best example of His creativity….human beings…. are being treated as if they were nothing or worse.
I hear this and feel your genuine concern. I’ve been there, too. I spent much of my childhood right on the line of being in danger of going without basic needs. The tension was awful, and I never even had to go without water or food. We lived on welfare and what my single mom scraped together, so I think often about poverty in the US and how it is different than elsewhere at times, but still so real. I’ve worked with homeless families here in the States – even lived in a transitional housing facility for 3 years acting as a house manager.
I know this might sound unrelated to the points you are making about Native Americans, but I live in Alaska now where there is a large Native population that has experienced displacement and discrimination. I recognize that their struggles are not identical to those of Native People farther South, but I think you using the Native population as an example is an excellent lead-in to what I have been learning about these issues, and what I think Emily is hoping to convey…
PEOPLE are most important. Marginalized people – no matter where they are on the globe – are more at risk than the rest of us. At this point in our history in America, there are lots of ways people are marginalized and I agree with you that the treatment of Native Americans has been tragic. God has given some of us a special compassion for a particular group of people because that’s where He wants US to focus. Sometimes that will be here, sometimes abroad.
However, the fact is that we are all interconnected. Nature doesn’t care about geo-political borders. The waste we create in America has the potential to affect people in Thailand whether you are personally convicted to help Thai people or not. Similarly, choices people make in other parts of the world affect Americans as we import their food and other products, share oceans and skies, etc.
I don’t actually know how I feel about climate change yet (whether or not it’s a concern in an of itself), but I deeply care about minimizing the damage we do to our planet for the sake of the people and animals that live here. And while none of us can do everything for everyone, it’s ok and good even to try and conceptualize how smaller actions will affect others carried out to their eventualities.
It doesn’t have to be “Americans OR the rest of the world” when it comes to mindful behavior and care – especially for those of us who are affluent! Instead, we should remember that our “neighbors” include everyone we come in contact with – Jewish or Samaritan – and in this age when we can easily interact with people on the other side of the planet, we have no right to ignore those ailing on the side of the road in any country.
Anjanette, thank you for your loving and compassionate response! This – “However, the fact is that we are all interconnected. Nature doesn’t care about geo-political borders. The waste we create in America has the potential to affect people in Thailand whether you are personally convicted to help Thai people or not. Similarly, choices people make in other parts of the world affect Americans as we import their food and other products, share oceans and skies, etc.” YES!
I am not sure why you tackled this as a global warming/climate change issue. Environmental stewardship or creation care isn’t necessarily tied to that issue.
Science does not prove global warming, so I cannot get on that bandwagon. However, I am concerned about the effects my actions will have on this world. I think this issue can be brought up without aligning oneself with a particular ideology.
Hi Amy,
I didn’t tie global warming/climate change to environmental stewardship – they already are. People, many time Christians, dismiss creation care and environmental stewardship because they don’t believe that climate change is real or a threat to our world and the people who live here. And it is an issue that we all as humans have to face. I do find it ironic that people use science as a reason to not believe in climate change or global warming when science also does not prove the existence of God, yet we can jump on that bandwagon. I’m not sure how it’s not obvious that the way we are using and abusing the earth and it’s resources is not sustainable, and is also having serious effects on our world, and again, God’s precious people who live here. Because these issues are already linked to an ideology and whether we “believe” in global warming or climate change or whatever, people can excuse their actions and behavior and not be concerned with creation care and environmental stewardship. That’s why I wrote this post. I do respect our difference, and appreciate that you are concerned about the effects of your actions on the world while at the same time not accepting global warming or climate change. I think though, that beliefs like yours seem to be in the minority.
Blessings,
~Emily
Emily, I so appreciate you tying these two together. I agree with Amy in the sense that up to this point I’ve been wholesale on board with the importance of “Creation Care,” but not so much sure about the validity of “climate change.” I know that for my part I’ve avoided exploring climate change to avoid the drama, kwim?
BUT, I agree with you that many people equate climate change and creation care anyway, and that it’s difficult for them to accept the message of being a good steward of our earthly home without getting tangled in the controversy of whether or not global warming is a real issue or an issue influenced by human behavior.
I am looking forward to reading the links you posted, but I’m already thankful for the push to start thinking more deeply on this issue. It DOES come down to loving people (and I am comfortable with saying loving creation in general since we know that ALL of creation groans for the return of our Lord) regardless of whether or not I personally decide that Climate Change is a concern.
And for those people who have allowed themselves to put off making healthy changes because they aren’t sure if they can “buy” the whole agenda, this is a super important point – and definitely the one that influences me most. Our actions affect other PEOPLE – period.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Anjanette!
Regardless of views on climate change, we are called to be good stewards of the many blessings God has given us, including God’s creation. Taking care of the planet is part of that.
I have to agree with a previous comment, I too have lived long enough to see this hype about an impending ice age, to global warming etc. I also have done research and there isn’t any evidence to support global warming and IT IS being used by politicians and others to control people. Your article is filled with the same emotional dribble (sorry) and lacks factual support.
That being said, I believe that as Christians we should take seriously the responsibility to care for all that The Lord has entrusted to our care while at the same time keeping a proper perspective. The Bible clearly states that the pain, suffering, starving and natural disasters are a sign of the end times. We can not change the fact that all of these things will increase as we get closer to the Lords return! These are the birth pains referred 1Thess 5 and Matt 24. We need to be busy about serving and loving people by sharing the gospel and living exemplary lives that point others to him, not get caught up in the wisdom of the world.
I get that we need to be good stewards of creation. God told Adam that when He put him in the garden. And I agree that we are trashing our planet in a lot of ways that need to be corrected. But none of that means humans are causing climate change. It just hasn’t been proven that carbon gasses cause climate change. I see that as another of man’s attempts to be God (can you say Humanism?). God causes climate change, not us, and it has happened in cycles for thousands of years way back before we dumped trash in the oceans and built factories and polluted the air. It’s affected by the sun mainly, and the cycles it goes through – it warms and cools our oceans. Now we still need to love our neighbors and put others before ourselves – that’s the second greatest commandment after loving God. And we still need to care for what’s been entrusted to us, our earth being one of those things. But to think that we’re in charge of the climate is arrogant thinking and not a prerequisite for these other things.
I would have to agree with Amy – you did tie global warming/climate change to environmental stewardship and, depending on which research one reads, they are not factually connected. You took issue with using “science as a reason to not believe in climate change or global warming,” yet, proving whether or not humanity’s effects on this earth are causing climate change is on its face a scientific issue; the existence of God is not – it is a matter of belief, which His Word repeatedly states.
“Using and abusing the earth’s resources” (which I agree that we humans are doing at an alarming rate) is not directly correlated to global warming/climate change…it is the environmental stewardship of this earth which God has entrusted to us for a little while. You have tied the two issues together without showing in any factual way how they are connected; and for a hugely controversial issue which is scientific in its very nature, such as global warming/climate change, this is a huge misstep. Because science does not prove global warming/climate change, for those of who believe wholeheartedly in Jesus’ command to love our neighbor and yet do not believe that we have the ability to affect hundreds of years worth of weather phenomena, this *is* actually a controversial issue as your article and the responses to it are showing to be the case. Further, the “science” behind global warming/climate change has itself changed and been inconsistent over time.
Additionally, to say you believe Amy’s beliefs are in the minority is quite a bold – and dare I say unfounded – statement to make. I receive a monthly newsletter that goes out to 27,000+ households and which espouses different thoughts than yours stated here. Granted, it is only 27k but, as we know, that represents a much larger group.
We *are* called to care for this earth better than we’ve been doing. More importantly, we’ve been called to care for the people of this earth, to love our neighbor. That may mean helping get clean water and/or food to peoples far away, or helping clean up and rebuild someone’s home after a a flood, hurricane, tsunami, etc. (all of which I have supported both financially and physically). But to say that someone who has not been “living green” has somehow caused or contributed to causing global warming/climate change is a gross overstatement with no facts to support it. And that is what your article is saying when you put all of your statements together.
By the way, I too have traveled to various countries around the world, “outside of our Western bubble,” even living in an impoverished nation for five months. That has forever changed my heart as I see it has changed yours and Stephanie’s. However, my ability to reason and analyze data along with the ideologies of our world’s current society is a God-given gift that I choose to exercise and which is why I do not agree that good environmental stewardship = less global warming/climate change.
I am SO with you! Weather one believes in climate change or not we are wrecking and wasting what God has given us to care for, and as the church we certainly aren’t using his resources in a wide enough way to care for people who could benefit from them. Great post! To me, saying “God is in control anyway” is a bit of a copout and a way to avoid doing something that might require some sacrifice. Thankful for you heart and your courage in sharing this…I’m sure you knew there would be plenty who wouldn’t agree with you 🙂
I think those commenting on global warming not being real are not disagreeing with the fact that we should be good stewards but are saying that there are verifiable issues that our human behavior effects that have nothing to do with global warming and perhaps you should have focused on those issues. Air pollution from vehicles, farm workers pesticide exposure, chemical run off, water pollution, low wage worker’s exposure to chemicals in many industries, trash in the oceans, possible groundwater pollution from landfills, running out of space in landfills, wasteful use of money and resources associated with disposable products, carcinogens in health and beauty products, bee population decline and its effects on food production, possible effects on people from GMOs are all issues that have nothing to do with global warming but we can care about because we care about people and many of which have much more scientific concensus.
I wish everyone would read your article. Thank you so much for writing it. 🙂
Thank you for your kind words Janet! I appreciate them so much!
~Emily
Hi!
I appreciate your thoughts on loving people and being thoughtful stewards of God’s creation. Caring for God’s creation is not necessarily divisive, the idea of Global Warming, is divisive, it is one ideology that needs to be studied and researched from both sides. The political liberal/conservaitve slants, science and spirituality need to be looked at when researching this issue. New Age and other false doctrines also need to be observed. We need a biblical world view with the ideaology of global warming.
It is clear from Scripture that God is over and owns the earth and all that is in it. He is over all of the weather patterns! He is Sovereign! The earth is His and we are told in Scripture that the earth and heavens will be done away with – “they will burn with itense heat.” The idea of “creation care” seems like a christianized way to get people to embrace global warming as the means to truly loving people.
It does seem that your stand is that if one does not embrace the idea of global warming, then you are not loving people well, even though you say that is not what you are saying. 😉 It was the first thing that came to my mind when reading your article, “global warming/creation care” is about loving people.”
You also say it is not about being on the right or left, but one of your sources is “how to convince a conservative that global warming is real.”
Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost souls who are grappling and groping in darkness, enslaved to the evil one and their sins. He came to free the souls of many who will repent, believe and call upon His name to be saved and then become children of God.
When reading through the Bible I do not see any command or instruction to care for the planet, “creation care.” We are to worship the Creator. We are to share the good news of Jesus Christ. We are to steward the resources given to us, as unto God.
Adam was instructed to care for the animals and to garden the land.
The fall has brought about the extreme weather patterns along with everything else that sin is ravishing. If you travel to these other countries you will see that “global warming” is not the cause of their suffering, it is sin and greed from governments via the fall.
Weather patterns, God uses for His purposes. It is arrogant to think we can save the planet or trees or save people on the other side of the earth, if we choose to not use a napkin or do not recycle our plastic here in the West.
Research recycling – it is a scam that makes a profit for some. It may make us feel better to think we are “saving the planet” or making life better for someone else, but these are not the facts.
I agree we are to steward, meaning, we care. We do not knowingly make others suffer for the commodities we use.
But, again, this is a fallen world – nothing will be 100% on the up and up.
My daughter has been in missions in various places and the idea of “creation care” is not the stepping stone to loving people. It is, giving your life away to the cause of Jesus Christ – serving Him by living, sharing and loving these people on a fallen planet that is groaning for the coming of Christ. This is true for all people, right here in the west, not just those who are living in a third world country.
I do appreciate your encouragement for us to look at our lives and examine how we use our resources that have been given to us by God. I appreciate the challenge to love people more wisely and well. I appreciate the call to live with less.
After research and knowing what the Bible says about the earth and the planet, I do not need to embrace global warming or “creation care” or the idea that I can help restore the earth to know that I am loving people well.
Do we have too much? Yes.
Do we need need to be a better steward of what resources God has given us? Yes.
Do we have to embrace global warming or creation care to do this? No.
I guess I’m not convinced.
Hi Liz, Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions with us. I respect your decision to not believe in global warming/climate change/creation care, and I appreciate your willingness to still be concerned and care about the effects of your actions on the world and the people around you.
May His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven!
Blessings,
~Emily
Hi again! Thanks for your reply.
I guess I may need to clarify – it really doesn’t matter what I believe or my opinions on the topic, it depends on what is true and then live accordingly.
If we are encouraged/pressured as Christians to take up the belief of global warming/climate change/creation care is a biblical mandate to love people, then we must know that it is true and not just some humanistic flawed thought. If it is true and we do not embrace it, then we are wrong, it is sinful.
For sure there are differing weather patterns. Not long ago we were being told we were headed for an ice age. The point of difference is whether or not humans make it worse or better by their choice of lifestyle…the hard facts are not there. It is certainly not in Scripture. (not that going “green” or conserving, etc. is an unbiblical choice, unless it becomes an idol.)
So, as Christians we need to be researching the facts critically on the topic from a biblical worldview that will lead us to the truth.
What we feel or believe is not reality if it is not based on facts/truth. Then we can believe it or reject it.
As long as God desires us to live on this planet, we will. No man or greenhouse emissions will thwart His plan for His purposes for His people and those who do not know Him.
Psalm 46:2-3, “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Selah.
Hi Liz,
Thanks again for commenting, I don’t think you needed to clarify. I appreciate your thoughts, I just happen to disagree with you on many of them and am not sure I have the time to break down my disagreements one by one. I don’t think that’s really productive because I actually think it’s okay that I disagree with you. For me, Creation Care is something God has called me too and an integral part of my faith, but it is not a salvation issue. There are plenty of issues within the Church where we can agree to disagree. I’m learning that I need to offer the same grace to others that may disagree with me that I would want them to offer me when they disagree with me. And I do appreciate that your comments are respectful and not condescending.
This line in your comment does does give me pause though, “If it is true and we do not embrace it, then we are wrong, it is sinful.” There is so much grace both on this issue (and so many other issues of course too) that I’m afraid we are missing in this conversation if we think there is an absolute black and white, right or wrong answer. Jesus came to offer us grace upon grace! (John 1:16 ESV) Do I want to convince you and to have you agree with me? Yes, absolutely! That’s why I wrote about this. But if I don’t convince you and you don’t agree with me, that’s okay too. At the same time, I believe this strongly and am not going to be convinced or persuaded away from it. Through the Spirit and my own reading and understanding of the Bible, I have come to these beliefs. Like I said in the post, and in some of the other comments, to me this issue is not at all about whether global warming or climate change is “right”, but that we are called to love God’s people as ourselves and I truly believe that one important way we can do that is through care and stewardship of God’s creation. Creation care is not just about whether or not we as humans make the climate better or worse – it is a MUCH more complicated issue than that. And that’s why it grieves me when people make it about something that I don’t believe it should be, and that’s why I took the time to write about it on my blog.
Thanks again for reading and commenting, I truly appreciate the time you have spent to share your thoughts.
Blessings,
~Emily
Hello Emily,
What a wonderful website. You demonstrate compassion, courage and intelligence in your responses to people who don’t fully understand the issue at hand. Global warming is not an opinion, it is a result of the mismanagement of our natural resources. Keep raising awareness, keep studying. You are on the right path. “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Thanks so much for your support and kind words Elysa! That means so much to me!
~Emily
Hello Emily!
I’m so glad to see other Christians embracing environmental stewardship.
I wonder if you have ever considered the effects of animal agriculture on our planet, and how switching to a plant-based diet is both kinder to animals, and to creation? Animal agriculture is not only a massive source of greenhouse gases (more than the entire transportation sector combined!), it is also highly water intensive (one hamburger can require thousands of gallons of water to produce, meanwhile a pound of wheat or corn requires a few hundred), and it is the leading cause of deforestation, habitat loss and loss of biodiversity because it requires so many feed crops to raise animals to maturity (it is highly inefficient in terms of calories per acre). I originally became a vegan because I didn’t think that animal agriculture was in line with Christ’s call to compassion, and the more I learned about its links to the environment, the more I felt that it is an easy yet powerful way of caring for the planet and people too.
I agree with you that there is a lot of grace in this area, but I just didn’t know if you had ever considered animal agriculture in an environmental frame before, and I wondered what your thoughts on that might be.
Thanks!