BAMOS Sept 2017
29
First, as I just said, it’ s partly about enjoyment. Christianity teaches us to enjoy life. I get excited by science, curious about the world around us, and the pursuit of knowledge about the natural world is part of my life’ s journey. The Bible says that each of us have talents that we should develop and use, and we get joy out of this process. It gives me great satisfaction to use my talents in science to answer research questions.
In addition, the Bible says even more so that we should use our talents to help others. This provides more motivation. We all do our research not just to satisfy our curiosity, though that is a big part of it, but we also write papers, attend conferences, contribute to the body of knowledge to help make our world a better place for us and everyone else.
One of the big questions in climate science is about intergenerational equity. How do we ensure the world is fair and equitable for our current generation, but also future generations? The Bible is deeply concerned with these questions, and says it is only right to pursue such goals. Jesus teaches us to help the poor, protect the vulnerable, look after the sick. Many of these are also reasons that we do research into climate change, which threatens humanity, particularly the poor, vulnerable and sick. So you see, the goals of climate scientists and Christians are actually the same.
Though the one that often gets me: love your enemies. Just remember, we even do what we do for the future benefit of climate change deniers! They just don’ t know it!
We know that we need to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce other forms of pollution into the atmosphere, land and ocean and other“ spheres”. The Bible also speaks to this in being good stewards of the Earth. The Bible tells us we should look after the Earth and all that is in it. As climate scientists, this is essentially our day job: how to look after the Earth.
For a Christian, this contains extra importance. The Bible uses colorful language to describe how creation“ sings” the glory of God. The way I often think of this is by admiring nature, taking in the beauty of nature, from sunrises and sunsets to the life-cycle of a thunderstorm, to the sound of waves crashing on a beach, to a raindrop falling on a tree leaf, or hearing the song of the magpie in the early morning, and remembering this beauty also reflects the beauty of God. It is true that someone who doesn’ t believe in God sees this beauty as intrinsic of nature itself, which is good.
My point is that both a climate scientist and a Christian can see and appreciate the beauty of the world around us. While these motivations may be somewhat different, they are complementary as we are both trying to attain the same goal: protecting the beauty of the Earth and all that is in it not just for our own enjoyment but also for the enjoyment of those around us, and for the enjoyment of future generations.
Just to be clear, I am not saying that I would worship nature itself. I am saying, however, that as a Christian, the beauty of nature reflects the beauty of God.
Thus, while there may be existential debates on the differences between science and religion that I will leave to the philosophers, to me it is clear there are also a great many similarities in goals and motivations that are much more worthy to focus on. These shared goals of protecting and stewarding the Earth to maintain its beauty and function, of helping the poor and protecting the vulnerable, of ensuring inter and intra-generational equity are common to both climate science and Christianity. Therefore, I have no conflict between my belief in Christianity and my career as a climate scientist. They both complement and enhance each other for the common good. There is good reason for Christians to take climate science seriously and for climate scientists to recognize that the majority of Christians in fact share a common goal.
Regrettably, some Christians do not see how the values of climate science align with the values of Christianity, and instead see them as being counter to each other. This is an area that I have raised, and continue to raise, awareness in. I’ m constantly asked about climate science by evangelical Christians. These questions are generally the typical questions:“ Is climate change really happening?’”,“ Is there really that high a consensus?”, as well as general weather and climate questions.
There is quite a mix of people who are willing to accept the science as well as those who remain skeptical, with the most common answer being“ It’ s unscientific!” However, as climate scientist and evangelical Christian Dr Katherine Hayhoe from Texas Tech University is showing, much of this skepticism is more political, rather than religious.
So then, Christianity encourages me to use my skills to help others, defend the poor and vulnerable, and take care of the environment, and to take joy out of doing this, as I do it for God. As a beginning climate change scientist, I use my skills to help others, defend the poor and vulnerable, and take care of the environment. And I enjoy what I do. All very positive. Thus, they reinforce or feed back onto each other. Climate change and Christianity is a positive feedback loop.