Climate Change & State Power

Most people live under the grand illusion that we’re uninfluenced by outside ideological forces, that politically active organizations are civic minded, and that our government is basically good and seeks to spread that good across the globe. Most people are like sheep to the slaughter.

Martin Armstrong reminded me of Pol Pot, the brutal dictator and member of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Pot observed that certain tribes there lived on what they produced through subsistence farming and sought to force their lifestyle upon the whole country. His vision, rooted in socialism, led to the confiscation of homes, property, and money. Over two million people died, many of starvation in what can only be described as state sponsored genocide. The human carnage left on the plains of Cambodia in the wake of Pol Pot’s power grab became known as The Killing Fields.

The Bible is clear that human government is about control over people. Socialism is not about economic prosperity or even economic equality; it’s about state power and the wealth of the few who hold that power. Socialism is destructive of freedom, as all worldviews are, with one exception: biblical Christianity.

Armstrong makes a connection between Pol Pot’s driving worldview and the philosophy behind the Climate Change Movement. Many within the movement are seeking to rid the world of modern technology and push it to a simpler lifestyle. The stated rationale is to save the planet. Of course, that’s a fake rationale. The real goal is power. They’re agenda is foisted upon an unsuspecting and uncritical public through fear-mongering and the like. Those activists who unwittingly buy into the propaganda are mere pawns in a larger game.

For example, Jennifer Morgan of Greenpeace is now coaching Greta Thunberg, the hysterical, underage climate activist. Thunberg is calling people, among other things, to give up their jobs because of Climate Change. Greenpeace has a checkered past, including violence, and they are merely using Thunberg for the political capital she gains them.

Part of the point is that ideas have massive consequences, and Christians should be aware of that fact. Further, rather than shy away from politics, or focus merely on a few moral issues, believers should also understand that part of our commission to preach the gospel to all the nations involves engaging the nations at a worldview level for God’s glory and their good. The gospel saves, and the implications of the gospel bring blessing to the world. We’re talking about taking every thought captive in obedience to Christ and helping others do the same -- for the advance of the Kingdom. As Abraham Kuyper noted, there’s not one square inch of the universe that doesn’t belong to Christ. We may be sheep to the slaughter because the world hates us. But we must never be sheep to the slaughter because we’re fat and happy grazing in the world’s field oblivious to the wolves circling round about us.

Dr. Dean and Christi Johnson invite you to learn more about God, His world, and yourself. Listen to their podcast, True Worldview, and find other helpful resources there as well.