At an Ohio Tea Party gathering on February 18th, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said that President Obama embraces a "phony theology". that is not based on the Bible. Santorum clarified his comments during a February 19th appearance on CBS' Face the Nation, stressing that he was not questioning the president's Christian faith, but rather criticizing his environmentalism. Santorum depicted environmentalism as such.
Santorum lambasted environmentalism as a "theology" that elevates earth above humans, demonstrating his ignorance on the subject. His overgeneralization did not accurately describe environmentalism as a whole, but really only caricatured biocentric environmental ethics (i.e., deep ecology). Environmentalism encourages prudent treatment of the natural world while encompassing many ethical frameworks for how and why to do so.
Unfortunately, Santorum's straw man attack on environmentalism was all too familiar to me. Green faith initiatives, Christian ecotheology, and other evidence proves that people can be both Christian and environmentally conscious, but this is often lost on right-wing Christians. Several Religious Right voices have cast Christianity and environmentalism as mutually exclusive, with some even mocking environmentalism as a "pagan" religion.* For example, the Cornwall Alliance's anti-environmentalist curriculum, Resisting the Green Dragon, demonizes the environmental movement with ugly caricatures. In 2011, Doug Phillips of the Vision Forum claimed that Earth Day honored the "earth god" and that the environmental movement promotes lies. Several right-wing commentators sneered at the 2010 Cancun climate change summit, particularly when when Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, invoked the Mayan goddess Ixchel in her opening statement. The corporate interests in bed with many right-wing movers and shakers plays no small role in this rhetoric, I suspect. The question is, do we want those with such opinions in the White House?
In an era of climate change, devastating oil spills, catastrophic nuclear crises, fracking, and a host of other environmental problems, Santorum's anti-environmentalism is dangerously out of touch. With public health, economic viability, and the natural world at stake, we need leaders who recognize the need for environmentally-informed policies. Overgeneralizing and demonizing environmentalism achieves nothing toward this end. If Santorum looks askance at environmentalism this way, he is not an appropriate candidate for the White House. While I am NOT thrilled with President Obama's position on fracking or clean air standards, I fear that Santorum would be much worse.
* Thereby demonstrating their contempt for both environmentalists and real-life pagans.
For additional commentary, visit the following links.
The Daily Beast: Santorum Obliquely Suggests Obama Worships Earth, Not God
Religion Dispatches: Obama’s “Phony Religion” is Environmentalism, Santorum Explains
Faith in Public Life: Rick Santorum’s “Phony Theology” on Climate Change
Huffington Post: Environmental Justice a Form of Social Justice
Talk to Action: Santorum not Source of 'Phony Theology' Idea, Origins in 'Biblical Economics' Partnership
"...this idea that man is here to serve the Earth, as opposed to husband its resources and be good stewards of the Earth. And I think that is a phony ideal. I don't believe that that's what we're here to do, that man is here to use the resources and use them wisely, to care for the Earth, to be a steward of the Earth. But we're not here to serve the Earth. The Earth is not the objective. Man is the objective, and I think a lot of radical environmentalists have it upside down."Santorum continued, making sweeping generalizations about environmentalism. He referred to global warming as a "debate" and said that environmentalism was a ploy to consolidate government power.
"When you have a worldview that elevates the earth above man and say that we can't take those resources because we're going to harm the earth by things that frankly are not scientifically proven, for example, the politicization of the global warming debate. I mean, this is just all an attempt to centralize power and give more power to the government."Santorum advocated for "...the belief that man should be in charge of the Earth and have dominion over it and should be good stewards of it."
Santorum lambasted environmentalism as a "theology" that elevates earth above humans, demonstrating his ignorance on the subject. His overgeneralization did not accurately describe environmentalism as a whole, but really only caricatured biocentric environmental ethics (i.e., deep ecology). Environmentalism encourages prudent treatment of the natural world while encompassing many ethical frameworks for how and why to do so.
Unfortunately, Santorum's straw man attack on environmentalism was all too familiar to me. Green faith initiatives, Christian ecotheology, and other evidence proves that people can be both Christian and environmentally conscious, but this is often lost on right-wing Christians. Several Religious Right voices have cast Christianity and environmentalism as mutually exclusive, with some even mocking environmentalism as a "pagan" religion.* For example, the Cornwall Alliance's anti-environmentalist curriculum, Resisting the Green Dragon, demonizes the environmental movement with ugly caricatures. In 2011, Doug Phillips of the Vision Forum claimed that Earth Day honored the "earth god" and that the environmental movement promotes lies. Several right-wing commentators sneered at the 2010 Cancun climate change summit, particularly when when Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, invoked the Mayan goddess Ixchel in her opening statement. The corporate interests in bed with many right-wing movers and shakers plays no small role in this rhetoric, I suspect. The question is, do we want those with such opinions in the White House?
In an era of climate change, devastating oil spills, catastrophic nuclear crises, fracking, and a host of other environmental problems, Santorum's anti-environmentalism is dangerously out of touch. With public health, economic viability, and the natural world at stake, we need leaders who recognize the need for environmentally-informed policies. Overgeneralizing and demonizing environmentalism achieves nothing toward this end. If Santorum looks askance at environmentalism this way, he is not an appropriate candidate for the White House. While I am NOT thrilled with President Obama's position on fracking or clean air standards, I fear that Santorum would be much worse.
* Thereby demonstrating their contempt for both environmentalists and real-life pagans.
For additional commentary, visit the following links.
The Daily Beast: Santorum Obliquely Suggests Obama Worships Earth, Not God
Religion Dispatches: Obama’s “Phony Religion” is Environmentalism, Santorum Explains
Faith in Public Life: Rick Santorum’s “Phony Theology” on Climate Change
Huffington Post: Environmental Justice a Form of Social Justice
Talk to Action: Santorum not Source of 'Phony Theology' Idea, Origins in 'Biblical Economics' Partnership
Hearing fundies rant about environmentalism is such a head-scratcher for me. If you don't like the terms "fight global warming" or "reverse climate change" just call it "practice good stewardship." Who cares what you call it when it's good for everyone? Also, even if your beliefs don't include the possibility of Earth declining because of misuse, what harm is it to help clean the air or reduce wastefulness? I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteFrom the quotations above, it sounds like Santorum's definition of stewardship is "do whatever you want because sky dad put us in charge."
Michelle -- You'd be surprised how many right-wingers think that way. I too scratch my head -- after all, what is the harm in creating a cleaner, less wasteful world?
ReplyDeleteYou've summed up the issues perfectly, Ahab. While I believe that respectful differences of opinion and robust debate are both essential in any healthy democracy, there is no room for ignorance or dishonesty. Opinions should at the least be informed by facts.
ReplyDeleteCognitive Dissenter -- Facts and honesty are more crucial now more than ever, for environmental issues and a lot of other things.
ReplyDelete