Christian Coalition leader-to-be resigns over climate change, poverty stance

The Hunter is a Lonely Heart

We remember when evangelical leaders served time before stepping down in disgrace -- hello, fabulous Bakker boy -- but the latest kerfuffle involves a figurehead who hadn't even assumed his position. And this time the scandal isn't sexual, it's environmental. The Rev. Joel C. Hunter, a Florida pastor whose term as Christian Coalition president was to begin in January, has resigned over a difference in philosophy. The difference: he wanted the Pat Robertson-founded group to take a stand on poverty and climate change, and the coalition's board? Not so much. So Hunter won't show the way to the 2.5-million member organization, whose followers have expressed concern that its agenda is becoming too liberal. "These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," Hunter says. "To tell you the truth, I feel like there are literally millions of evangelical Christians that don't have a home right now." Remember, good people: you always have a home at Grist.

straight to the source: The Clarion-Ledger, The Orlando Sentinel, Willoughby Mariano, 25 Nov 2006

straight to the source: The New York Times, Neela Banerjee, 28 Nov 2006

see also, in Grist: A special series on evangelical Christians and the environment

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Comments: (3 comments)

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worth mentioning

In "Show Us Yor Titanium", the brief alludes to the particulate matter's ability to wash away, but does not outright say that the water systems will be more contaminated, nor to what extent.

by gristmonkey at 11:15 AM on 28 Nov 2006

"and when the bird away does fly"

From the NY Times:
<<
The author of "Right Wing, Wrong Bird: Why the Tactics of the Religious Right Won't Fly With Most Conservative Christians," Dr. Hunter has argued that a large number of conservative Christians feel that right-wing religious groups do not represent them, because they focus their energies too narrowly on what he calls moral issues, often to the exclusion of economic and environmental concerns.
>>

Too bad the Reverend Doctor Hunter has so narrow an interpretation of "moral." But clearly he was inspired with that amazing title.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 11:48 AM on 28 Nov 2006

Organic fish

This is my first time posting here so not sure I've got the right place, but I wrote a reply to the NY Times about the organic fish story and thought I'd share:

In yesterday's article `Free or Farmed, When is a Fish Really Organic?,' Andrew Martin examined the issue of organic fish labelling. Labelling farmed carnivorous seafood - such as salmon - as organic would represent a denigration of the organic label and dupe consumers into believing that they are encouraging sustainable fishing, when in fact they would still be directly contributing to the collapse of marine ecosystems. Farmed fish are fed fishmeal that is largely comprised of by-catch from the very commercial fisheries responsible for the decimation of ocean wildlife. With organisations like WWF and Sustain in the UK recently issuing reports claiming that world-wide fish stocks could collapse as early as 2050, and people like Sea Shepherd Foundation founder Captain Paul Watson saying things like `feeding your children fish is a form of child abuse' (because of mercury poisoning), surely the `organic' label must be vigorously guarded from commercial compromise. Our oceans are in deep trouble, and the time has come to defend them.
Nicole Hess
London

I've also got a bit more about it on my blog: planetegg.blogspot.com.

by hessster at 6:21 AM on 29 Nov 2006

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