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Again from the US Press ...

Global warming strongly divides Christian clergy
By Bob Smietana • THE TENNESSEAN • May 1, 2009
When the Rev. James Merritt wants to talk about the environment, he does what any good Baptist preacher would do. He picks up the Bible.
"The first assignment that God gave to Adam was to take care of the Garden," said Merritt, who was president of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention from 2000-02. "As far as I know, that job has never been revoked."
While most Christian ministers agree that human beings are to care for creation, they disagree on the details. That's especially true about the topic of global warming .
A new survey from Southern Baptist-owned LifeWay Research found a split between mainline ministers, like Episcopalians and Methodists, and evangelicals like Southern Baptists. Mainline ministers believe that climate change is manmade and want to take action. Evangelical ministers, on the other hand, remain skeptical.
People in the pews disagree, according to a new poll from the public policy group, Faith in Public Life. It found that "over 60 percent of Americans, including majorities of white evangelical Protestants and Catholics" want to tackle climate change now.
Next month, Merritt will host a green evangelical gathering at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Ga. Called the Flourish Conference, it's part of the so-called Creation Care movement.
Merritt says evangelicals have been too slow to act on environmental issues, just as they were slow to act on civil rights. "Once again we've been the caboose instead of leading the train," he said.
The Flourish conference, organized by Merritt's son, Jonathan, will focus on theology, not the politics or causes of global warming. Instead, they'll talk about biblical ethics and caring for the earth.
"We are really going to focus on the theology of ecology," Merritt said. "If anybody should be sensitive about the world and taking care of God's creation, it ought to be believers.

WHAT DO SCOTTISH EVANGELICALS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE? NOW THERE IS AN ISSUE THEY COULD PROFITABLY ADDRESS ...........................