Ministers and the Environment

My friend Bob sent me a link to a piece about research done by Lifeway, which is self-described as "an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, is one of the world’s largest providers of Christian products and services, including Bibles, church literature, books, music, audio and video recordings, church supplies, and Internet services through LifeWay.com."

In October 2008, they conducted a telephone survey of Protestant Ministers asking about what these ministers believe about global warming. The survey can be found at: http://www.opposingviews.com/users/lifeway.

Here is a quotation from their reporting of their results:
Asked to indicate their level of agreement with the statement, "I believe global warming is real and man-made," pastors split down the middle: 47 percent agree either strongly or somewhat, while 47 percent disagree either strongly or somewhat. The remainder indicate "don’t know."

The differences of opinion, however, are seen more sharply when analyzed in relation to a pastor’s denominational affiliation and geographic location. Fully 75 percent of pastors in mainline denominations agree global warming is real and man-made, but only 32 percent of pastors in evangelical denominations agree. Pastors in rural areas are less convinced than large-city pastors. Forty-three percent of rural pastors and 55 percent of large-city pastors agree. Pastors in the Eastern and Western United States are more persuaded, 60 percent and 53 percent respectively, than pastors in the South (45 percent) and Midwest (40 percent).

When the pastors’ personal beliefs are factored in, the differences grow even more pronounced. Among pastors who consider their political ideology liberal or very liberal, 93 percent agree that global warming is real and man-made, and 79 percent of self-perceived moderates agree. Among those who identify themselves as conservative or very conservative politically, however, agreement is only 37 percent and 16 percent respectively.

As I told Bob, there was little in this survey that surprised me. It seemed very similar to results from surveys that investigated ministers views of the evolution versus Intelligent Design debates. That said, I went on, I do not consider this survey as being of any significance in the debate. Most ministers I know, and many church folks, are not scientifically informed enough to discuss the scientific data. With that, however, I can see this survey being used by some group or another as some kind of proof for something.

Do you care what ministers think about global warming? Does it have an impact on your views?