This is a departure from my typical tech/startup posts.  It’s really just a rant.

I read this article this morning in the NYT titled “Climate Change Doubt is Tea Party Article of Faith”.

It made me very sad.  A couple quotes of folks in the article:

On Climate change: ““It’s a flat-out lie,” Mr. Dennison said in an interview after the debate, adding that he had based his view on the preaching of Rush Limbaugh and the teaching of Scripture. “I read my Bible,” Mr. Dennison said. “He made this earth for us to utilize.””

““Being a strong Christian,” she added, “I cannot help but believe the Lord placed a lot of minerals in our country and it’s not there to destroy us.””

Folks who read my blog know that I’m a Christian and share my views here occasionally. But I don’t do it that often because this isn’t my religious soap box. But I get so so sad when I see such ignorant statements like this.  Yes, I know that journalists have a way of picking and choosing quotes to fit their story and agenda.  So that’s part of the issue.  But these statements are just so dumb.  I don’t take issue if you don’t agree that climate change is happening and is an issue.  But please use your brain and cite data, facts, or something objective.  Don’t say that God or the Bible says that we have the right to exploit this planet without consequences.  It’s sad that the portrayal of “Evangelical Christians” in the press and media is so lame.  If anyone is interested, here are a few evangelical Christians who have smart things to say.  Although they are obviously really accomplished folks, their reasonable points of view are a lot more common among the evangelicals I know than the quotes we read in the paper. 

Francis Collins: Led the human genome project and the NIH

Bill George: HBS prof and former CEO of Medtronic

Tim Keller: Pastor of Redeemer Church in NYC. IMHO, his talks are better than his books.

Jonathan Reckford: CEO of Habitat for Humanity