Download Religious Beliefs a Root Cause of the Denial of Climate Change

Religious Beliefs a Root Cause of the Denial of Climate Change Being Anthropogenic
Bryan Ezawa (Engineering ’17 BS) and Julie Fagan, Ph.D. (SEBS, Animal Sciences)
Abstract:
Denial of climate change being caused
by human activity, or anthropogenic
climate change, is thought to be divided
between political lines with Republicans
generally denying climate change while
Democrats believing that climate
change not only exists but is caused, at
least in part, by humans. There appears
to be a correlation between being
religious and being a climate change
denier. According to a Pew Research
poll, 47 percent of Catholics
acknowledge that climate change is
anthropogenic, with 62 percent of
Catholic Democrats but only 24 percent
of Catholic Republicans believing in the
anthropogeneity of climate change. The
source of this denial may be that the
deniers believe that that man is all that
is to be valued. Imago Dei, the
predominant intrinsic value system of
religious monotheists, excludes nonhumans, leading to neglect of the
environment, even if it is closely tied to
human beings. We have examined
further this relationship between
religion, the imago dei intrinsic value
system, and anthropogenic climate
change.
Converting anthropogenic
climate change deniers may be a matter
of including the environment as being
inseparable from human life, so that
those that hold imago dei close, can
now start taking care of the world they
live in.
* NET means the population of the
affiliation. Underneath the NET are
a few subpopulations of interest.
Correlation between
46% accept
being religious and
anthropogeneity
being an
40% of deniers
anthropogenic climate
attend service
Religiosity and
change denier: the
more
more religious, the
anthropogeneity
than weekly
more likely that person
denial
is to deny man’s cause
within Christian
of the warming of the
Population
planet. This assumes
14% of deniers attend service
that attendance is an
less than once a week
indicator of religiosity.
Alternative Intrinsic Value System
Instead of Imago Dei, which conveniently keeps
humans as the only source of intrinsic value, there
are alternatives that will help alleviate some
excessively anthropocentric views: A theistic view
of stewardship or a correlative view. One
proposed view is that if there were a God and that it
gave the earth for mankind to look over, it is vital to
be good stewards of the gift, therefore one should
value the environment because not only is it vital to
our well being, but it is also our duty to protect it. A
different view is that there appears to be a
correlation between the amount of intrinsic value
we typically associate with things and its
complexity: the more complex, the more valued.
As an example, the human brain is arguably the
most complex thing we know of, and that gives rise
to thoughts, emotions, beliefs, all of which are
typically favored highly. In contrast we tend to
view simple things, like a pebble, to be of less
value. This entails that life is more valuable than
non-life, and therefore life, human or otherwise, is
valuable and should be protected. Thus we can
value other lives without forfeiting our human
centric values because we believe ourselves to be
the most complex of all.
Religion Affiliation and
Percentage of Anthropogenic
Denial*
14% Non-
Of the people who do not believe that climate change is
due to human activity, 86% of them are Christian. This,
in conjunction with the Table below, indicates that there
is something specifically in the religious realm that is
causing this denial behavior.
Christian
Anthropogeneity
Denial
86% Christians
A
U
S
E
Anthropogenic
Climate Change
Imago Dei
A proposed theory is that this religious denial of man’s cause in the warming of the planet is due to an intrinsic value system
called Imago Dei, which states that humans were made in God’s image. This entitles all people to equal rights, which might be
a godsend in terms of civil order and rights, but it neglects to mention man’s role in the environment. This can lead not only to
neglect of the environment and non-human life, but also attempts to shed blame from ourselves for causing such destruction.
This stance is not helped by sentiment quoting the bible that God promised not to flood the earth and therefore it is impossible
for the earth to flood again when the glaciers melt. Even more so when there is blatant denial that CO2 is a greenhouse gas,
defending the position by citing the abundance of the molecule, that it is emitted by most life, humans included. However any
acceptance of this human causation would threaten man’s untouchable status.
Raw Data Sources
“Attendance at Religious Services.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved
November 2015 from: http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscapestudy/attendance-at-religious-services/
Funk, Cary and Becka A. Alper. “Religion and Views on Climate and
Energy Issues.” Pew Research Center. October 22, 2015. Retrieved
November 2015 from: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/22/religionand-views-on-climate-and-energy-issues/
“Global Christianity: A report on the size and distribution of the
World’s Christian Population” Pew Research Center. December 2011.
Retrieved November 2015 from:
http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf
“Religious Landscape Study.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved
November 2015 from: http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscapestudy/
“State & County QuickFacts.” United States Census Bureau. Retrieved
November 2015 from:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
See YouTube video “Religion and Anthropogenic Climate Change Deniers”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulmpK7X5kiY