Yesterday, Dr. Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance appeared on Janet Mefferd’s radio program where he explained that the modern environmental movement represents “the greatest threat to Western civilization” because it combines “the utopian vision of Marxism, the scientific facade of secular humanism, and the religious fanaticism of jihad” into a pseudo-religion that undermines Christianity:
Mefferd: That seems like, maybe to some people, like hyperbole Dr. Beisner, but why do you think that that’s the case?
Beisner: Well, let me just give you four simple, direct reasons.
First, because unlike the Soviet Union and its satellites in the Cold War and unlike Islamic jihad today which were, or are, external and clearly recognized as enemies by the overwhelming majority of people in the free world, environmentalism is internal and thought by most to be friend, not foe.
Second, because unlike arid and nihilistic secular humanism, environmentalism speaks to the inherent spiritual yearnings of human souls and it provides plausible answers to dogged questions about how we got here and what causes suffering and how suffering might come to an end.
Third, because environmentalism incorporates the strengths of all three of those other threats: the utopian vision of Marxism, the scientific facade of secular humanism, and the religious fanaticism of jihad.
And fourth, finally, because environmentalism encompasses all the vague spiritualities that have frankly overwhelmed secular humanism in the West and now threaten the Christian faith as so many people now take to referring to themselves as “oh well, I’m spiritual but not religious,” which basically means they are all involved in designer religion.
