Panel members appearing on Fox News’ Outnumbered took turns mocking climate change (were you expecting anything else?) and 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg while complaining that environmental activists have “forgotten about God,” and are “worshipping the environment instead.”
It’s just their way of saying people can destroy the planet however they want because God, notes Friendly Atheist’s David Gee.
And while the panel was busily attacking Thunberg, conservative pundit David Sexton tied environmentalism, specifically climate change, to a religion. Whereupon he and co-host Melissa Francis both attacked liberals.
“Climate change is a religious belief for people who think they’re too smart for religion,” Sexton said.
Francis chimed in:
“They’ve got Catholic guilt and they’re going to confession,” she said. “But they just have forgotten about God, so they’re worshipping the environment instead.”
What a cute attempt at being clever. It would be wonderful if climate change were a religion because then perhaps these folks would actually pay attention to it.
And Gee notes that climate change isn’t a religion. It’s a fact that has actual, solid science behind it.
“We understand the threat of climate change based on the scientific consensus, which is based on mountains of data. Religion is wishful thinking that relies on hope and tradition.”
But Francis wasn’t done and turned her comparison up a notch.
“You see it in kids with school,” she said. “One of my kids, their class said that their motto was ‘Treat myself well, treat my friends well, respect the environment.’ And I was like, that’s ‘Love your neighbor as yourself and God above all things.’ It’s the same thing, you just replace who’s in it.”
No, they are not the same thing, Gee notes. But he couldn’t help but wonder “if Francis feels that way, that’s all the more reason for her to defend the climate activists. They just want to follow the biblical message, right?”
Sexton, however, continued to use the opportunity to attack Thunberg. Especially in regards to her age. It’s the young spokespeople that are advocates of climate change awareness who are the biggest weakness he said.
“The biggest weakness this stuff always has is the spokespersons for this movement,” Sexton said. “They also have this young girl who is, what, 16? We gonna ask her about the Fed rate next?”
Gee writes that Thunberg knows far more about climate change and the threats it’s now posing than “Fox News hosts ever will.”
“Give her a textbook and some time, and she’d know more about the Fed rate too,” he adds.
There are many Christians who believe that God created this planet and therefore it’s our job to care for it, but atheists have a more straightforward approach and Gee fully understands this.
“As for atheists, we know we’re lucky to live on this planet and there’s no other option available to us,” he writes. “We have to do our part for the planet because no one else is going to step in from above.”
Or, as the popular internet meme says: “There is no planet B.”
Quibbling from the religious right is pointless and if they continue to distract from what’s really the most important issue of our time humans may very well find out whether God exists or not.
Featured image courtesy of the video above
