Christian Denominations Go Green (Continued)

Our last blog described the Vatican’s condemnation of pollution.

Yesterday, a group of over 40 Southern Baptist leaders called their past stance on global warming “too timid."

Leaders including the president and two past presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the US with 16.3 million members, signed a declaration that said, "Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed. We can do better."This was the turning of a new leaf for the SBC, who in 2007 maintained that there was not sufficient proof for climate change.

Why the new stance? Tanya Erzen, an expert in US evangelicals at Ohio State University, surmises that church leaders are responding to the increasing concerns about environmental stewardship expressed by congregation members. But Jonathan Merritt, son of former SBC president James Merritt and organizer of the declaration’s release, said he had a Road to Damascusian revelation in which he realized that destroying the environment was “no different to tearing a page from the Bible.”

Holy Smoke...or Not

Over the weekend Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in issues of conscience, told Italian Magazine 'L'Osservatore Romano' that ecological damage is one of today's manifestations of sin. In recent months Pope Benedict has also urged Catholics to protect the environment, citing climate change as a critical issue.

Last year the Vatican made headlines by going carbon neutral. To offset its own emissions, it donated about $130,000 to Klimafa, an organization that is reforesting a national park in Hungary. The Vatican also hosted a scientific conference on global warming, and made plans to install electricity-generating photovoltaic cells on the papal audience hall adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica.

We know that protecting the environment is vital to preserving life on earth. According to the Pope, it's important for getting into the afterlife too.