A Revival of An Ancient Religion



Posted: Friday, February 05, 2010

by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian

Almost daily we are bombarded with dire warnings of "Global warming." Industry is shackled by the demands of environmentalists who use the courts and elected officials to forbid logging, mining, drilling for oil, building of dams. Farmers are denied water to irrigate their crops, the housing industry is crippled, etc., etc.

You may think, this has nothing to do with religion but you are mistaken. Under the term "religion," Webster has "A personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices...a cause, principles or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith." Under "religious" Webster adds, "of or relating to the divine or that which is held to be of ultimate importance."

It is a mistake to equate "religion" just with Christianity, Judaism, etc. There is pagan religion such as Hinduism and Buddhism. There is the ancient pagan worship of Nature. Even atheists and various kinds of sceptics can be found in these latter groups. Thus a man who denies God, hates churches and rejects the Bible can be a zealous practitioner of religion with Nature as its First Cause. Many zealots of the modern environmental movement reveal by their words and deeds that their Cause has indeed become their religion.

Syndicated columnist, Michael Barone, spotlights the religious aspect of the Environmental Movement in a recent article. He begins by observing, "They have distorted science in the interest of something that resembles religious dogma.

"The secular religion of global warming has all the elements of a religious faith: original sin (we are polluting the planet), ritual (separate your waste for recycling), redemption (renounce economic growth) and the sale of indulgences (carbon offsets). We are told we must have faith (all argument must end, as Al Gore likes to say) and must persecute heretics.

"People in the grip of such a religious frenzy evidently feel justified in lying, concealing good evidence and plucking bad evidence from whatever flimsy source may be at hand." ( Science Corrupted by Climate Fanatics, Arizona Republic, Feb. 7, 2010).

Nature Worship was the essence of the religion of the pre-Christian Celts of Europe and Great Britain. They attributed personality and spiritual force to trees, streams, mountains, rocks and animals and worshiped them. Interestingly, while they worshiped these inanimate objects, they oppressed, made war on and enslaved their human neighbors. In its youth, those who embraced Christianity saw and rejected the folly of the old paganism with its worship of nature. Eventually nature worship ceased to be accepted save by few eccentrics who were viewed as insane or witches. With the birth of what is called New-Age religion, we see a revival of the ancient paganism. To make it appear more respectable and to beguile prospects, its leaders have wrapped the their New-Ageism in Christian terminology. This blending of paganism and Christianity we call syncretism. New-Ageism and extreme Environmentalism branches of the same tree.

Today, the ancient paganism is taught in our universities, promoted by our government, glorified by our media and accepted by many liberal denominational bodies as respectable.

Add to this religious zealotry, the ever-present lust for money and power which accrue to leaders of religious cults and you will have the motivation that drives many of the environmental extremists of our day. They promote their cause with evangelistic zeal. If they cannot convert you they will coerce you by laws they can get passed, by punitive law suites or by intimidation and harassment. Some grow rich while doing so!

Every Christian should respect the earth as the handiwork of Jehovah (Gen. 1:1). They should never wantonly destroy the creatures God placed on the earth with us. Yet, they should not feel guilty in using the resources of the earth for their lawful benefit. We use the trees to build our homes. We mine the depths of the earth for minerals with which to supply our needs. We use the power of rivers to provide energy and for irrigation. We farm the earth for our food. We use the some creatures of the earth for food and for their skins. God made man to have dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28). These are gifts God has provided us. We utilize the natural resources as good stewards of God's creation (I Pet. 4:10).

When we hear the unreasonable, irrational claims and demands of the environmentalists, we should remember the paganism that underlies them. We should not allow them to deceive us or to control our lives.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Daniel Webster
 2 years 102 days ago.
Perversion of Websters in order to force it to fit a new definition of religion. This reads more like a political grandstanding.
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