<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for An interview with green evangelical leader Richard Cizik]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by MichaelL http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/ Thu, 06 Oct 2005 03:57:40 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/1 When in Rome...

This is great!  While I don't agree with everything that Mr Cizik thinks or advocates, he's taking the message that the environment/the creation is being greatly degraded and putting it into a language that people can understand.  Many religious groups are rightly criticized for little/no involvement with environmental issues.  But if their only concept of environmental activism is portrayed by secular folk who (accidentally?) oppose them on hot-button issues, it's small wonder that they can't buy in.

Even better, Mr Cizik is not the only one, not even the only Christian organisation doing this.  Google 'environment christian' and you'll see many other groups across the globe, like A Rocha which is encouraging.  (Hey, the first link there is to another Grist article!)

One of our great many challenges now is to "live in ways that are good for the earth."  This will look different in different places.  Many city-dwellers can forgo having a car, but many suburbanites and rural dwellers must get on the band-wagon at a different stop.  Maybe Cizik's group can join in, but realistically they can't join in as part of a pro-choice rally.  In fact, his phrasing of mercury pollution as a "pro-life" issue is brilliant in that it connects the issue with something that his audience cares about.  How dumb would it be to try to convince Chief Justice Roberts about the environment through the "plight of the hapless toad" about which we know he cares nothing?  No, we must speak to him about something that he cares about.

This makes me wonder what other groups of people are being prevented from seeing what's really happening because of other issues, or the way I package "environmentalism."  The most common complaint is that "it's just too radical."  While people use that as an excuse to ignore what's happening, what am I missing that's preventing people from hearing me?  I'm in Rome, perhaps, but not doing as the Romans do.

]]> When in Rome...

This is great!  While I don't agree with everything that Mr Cizik thinks or advocates, he's taking the message that the environment/the creation is being greatly degraded and putting it into a language that people can understand.  Many religious groups are rightly criticized for little/no involvement with environmental issues.  But if their only concept of environmental activism is portrayed by secular folk who (accidentally?) oppose them on hot-button issues, it's small wonder that they can't buy in.

Even better, Mr Cizik is not the only one, not even the only Christian organisation doing this.  Google 'environment christian' and you'll see many other groups across the globe, like A Rocha which is encouraging.  (Hey, the first link there is to another Grist article!)

One of our great many challenges now is to "live in ways that are good for the earth."  This will look different in different places.  Many city-dwellers can forgo having a car, but many suburbanites and rural dwellers must get on the band-wagon at a different stop.  Maybe Cizik's group can join in, but realistically they can't join in as part of a pro-choice rally.  In fact, his phrasing of mercury pollution as a "pro-life" issue is brilliant in that it connects the issue with something that his audience cares about.  How dumb would it be to try to convince Chief Justice Roberts about the environment through the "plight of the hapless toad" about which we know he cares nothing?  No, we must speak to him about something that he cares about.

This makes me wonder what other groups of people are being prevented from seeing what's really happening because of other issues, or the way I package "environmentalism."  The most common complaint is that "it's just too radical."  While people use that as an excuse to ignore what's happening, what am I missing that's preventing people from hearing me?  I'm in Rome, perhaps, but not doing as the Romans do.

]]> Comment #2 by Naturegal http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/ Thu, 06 Oct 2005 23:53:38 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/2 Very refreshing

In a Christian Science Monitor article I read not long ago, another Christian leader dismissed working with environmentalists altogether, and it really put me off.

But now that I've read Mr. Cizik's explanation, I get it. As long as they're not closing the door on us, I can respect the need for them to work out their environmental platform for themselves.

I also understand that no matter how much we want to join forces, there are issues we will never agree on, like population control. But that's okay, if we can work together on other issues like global warming and mercury pollution, then that's what matters. I think both the evangelicals and the environmentalists need all the help they can get in this monumental task of protecting the earth.

And if I might, I'd like to remind Mr. Civik and his associates that protecting fish and animals is often a direct way of protecting people. I heard Dr. Dobson also express reservations about protecting wildlife, and I think Christians fall into the same trap that the rest of us do, in forgetting that the health of the animal world often directly relates to the health of our own world.

Besides, if God took the time to create all these amazing creatures, I think it meant he valued them, and so should we.

]]> Very refreshing

In a Christian Science Monitor article I read not long ago, another Christian leader dismissed working with environmentalists altogether, and it really put me off.

But now that I've read Mr. Cizik's explanation, I get it. As long as they're not closing the door on us, I can respect the need for them to work out their environmental platform for themselves.

I also understand that no matter how much we want to join forces, there are issues we will never agree on, like population control. But that's okay, if we can work together on other issues like global warming and mercury pollution, then that's what matters. I think both the evangelicals and the environmentalists need all the help they can get in this monumental task of protecting the earth.

And if I might, I'd like to remind Mr. Civik and his associates that protecting fish and animals is often a direct way of protecting people. I heard Dr. Dobson also express reservations about protecting wildlife, and I think Christians fall into the same trap that the rest of us do, in forgetting that the health of the animal world often directly relates to the health of our own world.

Besides, if God took the time to create all these amazing creatures, I think it meant he valued them, and so should we.

]]> Comment #3 by rebbi http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/ Sun, 09 Oct 2005 11:39:11 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/3 Thank you for posting this!

This is an extraordinarily encouraging story -- just what I needed. I think that a key principle raised by this story is that we need to seek allies wherever we find them. We do not have to agree with someone's entire social/political agenda -- or their world view -- in order to work with them.

Anyway, as a Jewish religious environmentalist, I find this very heartening, indeed.

]]> Thank you for posting this!

This is an extraordinarily encouraging story -- just what I needed. I think that a key principle raised by this story is that we need to seek allies wherever we find them. We do not have to agree with someone's entire social/political agenda -- or their world view -- in order to work with them.

Anyway, as a Jewish religious environmentalist, I find this very heartening, indeed.

]]> Comment #4 by SammyOwl http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/ Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:42:50 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/cizik/4 Idiotic

That what this guy is, and thanks for posting it, now we know who the kooks are in the bible belt.

]]> Idiotic

That what this guy is, and thanks for posting it, now we know who the kooks are in the bible belt.

]]>