Rev. Cizik and the NAE

Rev. Richard Cizik, Vice President of the National Association of Evangelicals, has recently spoken on the topic of global warming. He says that Christians should take the notion of stewardship more seriously.

We are commissioned by God the Almighty to be stewards of the earth. It is rooted not in politics or ideology, but in the scriptures. Genesis 2:15 specifically calls us "to watch over and care for" the bounty of the earth and its creatures. Scripture not only affirms this role, but warns that the earth is not ours to abuse, own, or dominate. The Bible clearly says in Revelation 11:18 that "God will destroy those who destroy the earth."

So what do his fellow evangelical leaders do? They write a letter to the chairman of the board, expressing their distaste and encouraging Cizik to either shut up or resign.

If he cannot be trusted to articulate the views of American evangelicals on environmental issues, then we respectfully suggest that he be encouraged to resign his position with the NAE.

So why do the letter's signatories believe Cizik is doing all this? Is it because there is scientific agreement that global warming is caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions?

Not quite. Apparently, Cizik is colluding with the "liberal media" to shift the focus from more important issues like gay marriage and abstinence:

We have observed that Cizik and others are using the global warming controversy to shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time, notably the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence and morality to our children.

Perhaps these guys missed the memo, but Cizik is pro-life, anti-stem cell research, anti-gay marriage, pro-abstinence, and probably has the same basic sense of morality as the signatories. James Dobson and the others must think that this is a zero-sum game, and that you can't be pro-environment without taking away from those other issues.

But my favorite part comes right after the letter mentions that Cizik is concerned about over-population:

We ask, how is population control going to be achieved if not by promoting abortion, the distribution of condoms to the young, and, even by infanticide in China and elsewhere? Is this where Richard Cizik would lead us?

You're just itching to kill Chinese babies, aren't you Mr. Cizik? We've caught onto you.

This is apparently a common characterization of the issue:

"Climate change" is the latest hot issue for the environmental movement that counts among its leadership some of the world's leading population control activists who are also openly hostile to Christianity. Environmentalist doctrine presupposes that the answer to climate concerns is the elimination of huge portions of the human population through mass abortion, sterilization programs and numerous other means.

That's right. Mass abortion, sterilization, and probably murder or something. Because they hate humans.