When society jettisons the biblical view of reality, as we are doing in the West, this will necessarily extend to include the rejection of biblical morality. But, given the fact that man is a moral being, he cannot live in a moral void and so secular man must create an alternative morality where he and not God is the final authority. This new moral system will have some distinct characteristics: it will avoid traditional moral positions, such as sexual ethics, or anything that imposes boundaries upon man’s selfish appetites and proclivities. This explains why “homophobia” is regarded as evil while homosexual acts are not and a “woman’s right to choose” is given moral priority over the life inside her. This is the conflict that is at the root of much within today’s culture wars.

Environmentalism offers an ideal moral alternative because it comes across as being motivated by a noble interest in innocent nature and opposes human greed and avarice. Environmentalism, in effect, offers secular man a more defensible moral cause than say the more controversial topics of homosexuality or abortion.

To underscore this emphasis on a moral alternative, consider Al Gore’s own words:

The climate crisis also offers us the chance to experience what very few generations in history have had the privilege of knowing: a generational mission; the exhilaration of a compelling moral purpose; a shared and unifying cause; the thrill of being forced by circumstances to put aside the pettiness and conflict that so often stifle the restless human need for transcendence; the opportunity to rise. When we do rise, it will fill our spirits and bind us together. Those who are now suffocating in cynicism and despair will be able to breathe freely. Those who are now suffering from a loss of meaning in their lives will find hope. When we rise, we will experience an epiphany as we discover that this crisis is not really about politics at all. It is a moral and spiritual challenge. (An Inconvenient Truth)

It is important to understand this philosophical influence because without it you cannot comprehend the motivation of those who are determined to elevate global warming to an apocalyptic “crisis” and lay the blame for this crisis upon humanity.  This is the “false pretension” manifested in the global warming debate that demands an intelligent and informed response from the Church because, on one level, God’s moral authority is at stake.

I contend that the most effective assault on God’s truth rarely comes directly but subtly and in ways not always immediately clear. The battle for truth is both varied and multi-faceted but “there is not one square inch of the universe over which King Jesus does not claim, ‘This is mine!’” as the great Dutch theologian and Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper once declared. This royal claim no doubt includes the truth about global warming and the alternative morality it advocates.

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S. Michael Craven is the Founding Director of the Center for Christ & Culture, a ministry of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families. The Center for Christ & Culture is dedicated to renewal within the Church and works to equip Christians with an intelligent and thoroughly Christian approach to matters of culture in order to recapture and demonstrate the relevance of Christianity to all of life. For more information on the Center for Christ & Culture, additional resources and other works by S. Michael Craven visit: www.battlefortruth.org.
Michael lives in the Dallas area with his wife Carol and their three children.

© 2007 S. Michael Craven