LETTER: Climategate is worst scandal of our generation

To the Believers-in-Denial:

The polar ice caps are melting before our very eyes, low-lying land is already being reclaimed by the rising seas, more and more species are teetering on the brink of extinction as they find themselves ill adapted to the changing environment around them. Despite a few inevitable mavericks, the consensus in the scientific community is overwhelming: anthropogenic (i.e. caused by humans) global warming - AGW - is a reality, the speed and extent of the warming eclipsing anything that has been seen before in at least the last half a million years, and correlating convincingly with the dramatic increase in the amount of carbon dioxide humans have been pumping into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. None of the other hypothetically possible causes fits the evidence. This isn't even new science: the physics behind the heat-capturing qualities of carbon dioxide has been known about for 150 years.

So why do so many people still deny the reality of global warming? In the U.S., the loudest resistance to global warming is coming from the right-wing, and that is where the most fundamentalist religion also tends to be found. So is there something about fundamentalist Christianity that could be contributing to global warming denial? I think the answer is yes.

I am not suggesting for one moment that religious fundamentalists are the only factor: misinformation, confusion, ignorance, wishful thinking, refusal to face up to an unappealing reality, resistance to change, reluctance to make sacrifices, plus the power of vested interests will affect all sectors of society, not just the religious. There are even strands of religious teaching that see us as stewards of God's Earth, requiring us to take care of it accordingly - thus putting them nearly on the same moral level as the non-religious, who equally accept that the onus is on us to look after our planet, though without the pretense that we'll be rewarded by a higher power for doing so.

But fundamentalist Christians believe that nothing can happen if it is not God's will. Therefore, if climate change is real, it must be part of God's plan, and if it is part of God's plan, then who are we to oppose it? Those who try must by definition be working against God, and so they must be stopped. People who believe we are living in the "End Times," and who look forward to the "Rapture" at any minute, are hardly likely to see AGW as something we need to combat.

Many fundamentalist Christians also have an innate distrust of science. Science, after all, tells them that God did not create the world in six days, and that humans - far from having a special place in creation - evolved from the primeval soup, just like every other species on Earth. They therefore see science as anti-religion, and want to reject it. After all, if science contradicts the Bible, science must be wrong, right?

There is another factor too: fundamentalist religion encourages childish modes of thinking. It promises that God will keep believers safe, and that everything will work out for the best in the end, because God works all things for good. God put the rainbow in the sky to promise he would never again send a flood to cover the Earth, didn't he? So how can the sea rise so much that whole countries will be drowned? But if the scientists are right (and they are: all the evidence points to it), then we are not safe. What is more, if the scientists are right, that means we have to start taking responsibility for ourselves, and that goes against fundamentalist Christian teaching too: we are meant to be childlike, dependent on God, not relying on ourselves but trusting him to provide the solutions for us. Besides: it is not this world that matters, but the next!

Many fundamentalist Christians conveniently believe God wants them to be rich and live lives of prosperity. Many of them believe that America is God's chosen nation. That means he wants Americans to drive gas-guzzling cars and squander the world's resources. It's a sign of their faith in him, and God will reward them for that.

Finally, prayer is nothing if not wishful thinking writ large. Believers don't want AGW to be true ... therefore they will pray that it isn't ... therefore it isn't! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

The stark truth is that the world cannot afford these childish notions. Latest analysis suggests that we have less than ten years in which to start reversing the rise in carbon emissions if we are to avert real catastrophe. We urgently need to face this challenge as rational adults and start living up to our responsibilities to ourselves and to the rest of the world. Fundamentalist religion may not be the cause of the problem, but its infantilizing thought processes and practices may well be holding us back from dealing with it.