The big news story of the week has been the implosion of the Liberal Party over climate change and its ETS policy.
And with the Copenhagen Conference looming at the end of the week, climate change is going to be the 'coffee machine' conversation in many churches this Sunday.
And it is one that is potentially divisive.
Christians in conflict
There are obvious parallels in the Liberal Party debacle for churches, which as largely socially conservative bodies, are wracked by similar internal tensions around climate change.
Indeed climate change appears to be one of the issues behind the ongoing and unedifying Nile/Moyes split at the Christian Democrats. (especially tragic for those voters wanting a Christian review of State Government policies given the likely electoral implications) Ironically the position of global warming-believer Moyes, the new Family First NSW leader, now appears to be at odds with the same party's federal leader, Senator Fielding.
There is also a very public spat amongst Australian Roman Catholics, with the Jesuits at Eureka Street on one side and Archbishop George Pell on the other.
Dr Charles Rue, coordinator of the Columban body Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation writes: "That Cardinal George Pell allows himself to be aligned with climate change deniers is very sad. The credibility of church mission to serve humanity is compromised. What is more, many of the faithful are scandalised and their following of church leaders sorely tested."
Whatever you make of Dr Rue's conclusions, he is right that the weight of public opinion is against the climate skeptics. The polling data is crystal clear that the vast majority of Australian's believe the climate is changing for the worse and they want Government to take action. In fact two in three Australians support the even more contentious idea of imposing the ETS tax, once the issue of timing around Copenhagen is removed from the poll question.
Healthy debate
As Christians, how can we ensure we have a healthy and informed discussion of this topic?
Much of the media commentary and debate conflates three separate questions:
1. Has the climate warmed?
2. Are human beings causing global warming?
3. Is the ETS a good policy?
In Christian circles the debate has a further theological layer and can be unhealthily 'spiritualised'.
Politically conservative Christians can be far too quick to call brethren who think that human action is contributing to climate change de-facto prosleytisers of a new green religion, in league with atheists and pagans. In England, Anglican Bishops [url=http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=5323]http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=5323[/url] are being lampooned as believers in the new religion of 'climate change alarmism' and 'the spiritual arm of New Labour'.
On the flip side, relational temperatures will also rise quickly when direct links are drawn by left-leaning Christians between the widespread sin of materialism, climate change and the projected death of many of the world's poor.
In my view any healthy debate amongst Christians needs to acknowledge that the science data can only answer my question #1 with absolute certainty. The answer to question #2 will be a mixture of hard data underpinned by a theory (ie the greenhouse effect's impact on future global climate).
