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Ia Satan Responsible for Global Warming?

In a recent sermon, Jerry Falwell stated that "global warming" is a tool of Satan. In an article for Ethics Daily.com, Bob Allen writes:

Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell, who has worked for decades to involve conservative Christians in politics, said Sunday the debate over global warming is a tool of Satan being used to distract churches from their primary focus of preaching the gospel.

"If I decide here as the pastor and our deacons decide that we're going to get caught up in the global warming thing, we're not going to be able to reach the masses of souls for Christ, because our attention will be elsewhere, " Falwell said in Sunday's sermon at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va. "That's pretty wise for Satan to concoct."

Falwell urged preachers listening on TV across the country, particularly evangelicals who signed an Evangelical Climate Initiative statement declaring man-made global warming a moral issue: "Don't be duped any longer. The jury is still out on global warming."

After reading the quote by Falwell, I didn't immediately jump on the anti-Falwell wagon. I'm constantly being asked by people whether or not preaching social justice distracts from the message of the cross, and it is important to consider for a second what the Rev. is saying here...for a second. After about a second of consideration, it becomes apparent of two things:

First off and most apparent: If global warming is a ploy by Satan to deter churches from reaching "masses of souls for Christ," Falwell himself has given himself over, as his entire sermon, entitled, "The Myth of Global Warming," was itself on global warming.


In his sermon, Falwell does admit the importance of taking care of creation, he preached that we should take care of our trash, beautify the earth, and keep the streams clean. He did, rightfully so, express concern at alarmism. I would agree with him, Christians need not panic the global warming is outside of the power of God, but we also should recognize that an aspect of keeping the streams clean, picking up our trash, and beautifying the earth (with its atmosphere), is to care about CO2 production.

My second observation follows this admittance that we should care for God's creation: If we should be beautifying the earth, how would preaching about taking care of what Brian McLaren calls our "created sister" be any more of a distraction to reaching lost souls than lobbying against abortions and same-sex marriages.