Concerned About Reaction of “World” to Opposition
Forty-six Southern Baptist leaders have signed a statement changing their traditional position on the controversial political and economic issue of “Global Warming.”
Those signing the statement released last week include the current Southern Baptist Convention President, Dr. Frank Page, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Taylors, and the heads of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s.
Just last year, June 2007, the Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio passed a resolution on Global Warming in part, “urging Southern Baptists to proceed cautiously in the human-induced global warming debate in light of conflicting scientific research.”
For more than a decade, leftist organizations and pagans who worship the “creation rather than the Creator” have effectively used environmental issues for their political and financial benefit and have had as one of their goals, convincing the Christian Church that there is a biblical requirement to reverence and protect “mother earth.”
Most current public school students and their parents have been thoroughly indoctrinated with biased environmental information through textbooks and some classroom instruction. It is therefore understandable that Southern Baptists are being influenced by the younger members of the denomination.
Press reports indicate that Jonathan Merritt, 25, a student at Southeastern Baptist Seminary and the son of a past president of the SBC, is the director of the environmental movement among Southern Baptists and has rallied leaders of the denomination to address environmental issues.
These Southern Baptist leaders have moved away from the previous position that claims of an overheating planet due to the actions of man was a liberal ruse.
“Today marks a new day for many Southern Baptists, as
we pledge to take seriously Scripture’s creation care mandates in light of pressing environmental realities,” Merritt said when announcing the change in direction of Southern Baptist leaders. “Environmental crises are theological problems, and Southern Baptists will honestly engage these problems with a spirit of humility and compassion,” Merritt proclaimed.
The new “Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change” acknowledges that not all Christians accept their global warming stance. They describe the previous stand of Southern Baptists as “too timid” and take the position that evidence behind global warming is “substantial.”
Fear of ridicule by environmentalists seems to be a motivating factor in bringing about the changed position on the controversial environmental issue.
The signed statement says: “Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed.”
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