The quote was actually uttered by the young (25-yo) seminarian son of the Rev. James Merritt, Jonathan Merritt, if I correctly follow the attributions of Neela Bannerjee, one of the best religion correspondents that the NY Times has had for a while.

"Similar to" reflects the ridiculous fundamentalist notion, that all authority rests in the pages of the Bible; such fringe Christians really much more closely resemble Muslims than orthodox Christians, in their attitude toward the Holy Book.  In fact, it is impossible to read the Bible aright, without also acknowledging the prior, equivalent authority of science and the humanities.

Nevertheless, these statements show that movement is being made, which ought to be appreciated and applauded.

One wonders if the signatories are prepared to disavow the anti-evolutionists.  A bridge too far, I think.

One wonders if they are prepared to confess that their neglect of environmentalist issues -- oops, "creation care" issues -- before now had to do with their disgraceful embrace of the Republican Party.

Notice how "pro-life" is used: still with exclusive reference to human embryos and fetuses.

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

grist.org

We need everyone we can bring into  the fold - the fight against climate change may be the first true "big tent." And all of the religious sects should be getting onboard - many already have. Take a look at La Marguerite's blog today - she's talking about targeting religious groups as allies in the fight against climate change.

I found the Grist site just tonight and signed up to help me stay abreast of a broad range of issues and keep informed as an environmental educator.  From the above post, I've learned that: 1. as a Christian, this fellow environmentalist is uncomfortable w/ me calling myself an environmentalist; 2. I embrace the republican party (That's a revelation to me!!); 3. my belief in the Bible as God's word to humankind is ridiculous and somehow makes me unscientific in my approach to anything.  It's ironic--when I meet Christians who thump their Bibles as hard as this commentor lumps and thumps Christians, I ask them to puleeze chill out.  Like it or not, Christians are a significant political force.  Those of us who care about the earth and its inhabitants would be wise to approach folks from ALL faith persuasions as fellow sentient beings.  It's the future generations of sentient beings who'll be hurt most if we remain divided rather than become united in taking care of nature.  

I hope I'll be welcome on this site,

Audrey Enough

Audrey Enough,
Christians, and followers of other religious traditions, are welcome here, on the one hand.  

On the other, no claim to special insight into any environmental matter, from a religious perspective, should go unchallenged.  But in this place, if the claim is not too outrageous, it is much more likely to be passed over (and apparently ignored -- but who knows who is reading in silence?) rather than attacked.

As a heterodox Catholic Christian, an animal-loving biocentrist humanist, with fairly left-wing politics, I find that the term "Christianity" is too often associated with right-wing politics, an adherence to Republican-party values, and an anthropocentrist, pro-big-business approach to environmentalism.  The challenge for people who think as I do is to establish a better sense of "Christianity," over against the word's common, evangelical, Karl-Rove-ist, unorthodox, Bible-thumping and relatively new-fangled connotation.  No one at Grist, in my experience, wishes to obstruct that project.

On the other hand, it strikes me as confusing, or futile, to try to identify "Christians" as a like-minded political bloc.  Surely, all the people who call themselves Christians are all over the place, with regard to what interests them, and they cherish all kinds of different agendas.

And sometimes those different agendas can clash, with little immediate hope of reconciliation.  E.g., I consider the "pro-life ethics" embraced by many Christians to be a falsehood and an hypocrisy, because those ethics do not put environmental concerns and animal-rights ethics in positions of great importance.  How in the world can we allow it to happen, that "life" be defined as narrowly as "the viability of a human embryo"?  How is that not ridiculous, and cruel?

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