Page 7 - The FayettevillePress newspaper December 2024 Holiday Edition

The Fayetteville Press December 2024 Holiday Edition Page 7

Church News

There is No Moral Case for Fossil Fuels. The Bible Even Tells Us the Opposite.

Reflections on God are common right now.
We are about to enter a new year. Many of us are getting Going back all the way to the beginning, God gave us the
ready to celebrate Christmas or Hanukah. With 2024 “virtually means to our own salvation or our demise. He gave us free will
certain” to be the hottest year on record, some may look at the – along with His many commandments was the free will to
symptoms of the climate crisis – the extreme heat, the fires and choose whether or not to follow them. The other thing God
floods, the climate-charged cyclones – as signs of God’s wrath. gave us was fire.
Whether you believe in the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, or Ultimately fire became electrical power. But it was the
are an atheist, we can all agree there is a moral imperative to tool that allowed humanity to thrive; to give us light in the
address the climate crisis. After all, it kills people and destroys dark and warmth in the cold.
lives. The cause of the climate crisis – the burning of fossil fuels So, the energy we needed for warmth, light, and eventu-
– is also responsible for plenty of death and destruction. ally transportation and more, came from burning things. And
Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Energy Chris Wright what people burned were the things that were most readily
and one of his picks to co-lead the so-called Department of Gov- accessible and easy to harness – starting with wood, then oils
ernment Efficiency (DOGE) Vivek Ramaswamy seem to have a from animals and trees, then coal, then petroleum, and so on.
different message. It is one that turns the concept of morality on Over the eons, as the number of people increased exponen-
its head and distorts reality. tially, the accessibility of these finite sources began to shrink
Wright has invented a warped “moral case” for the rampant exponentially. Whale species were hunted to the brink of ex-
extraction and burning of fossil fuels. Wright portrays fossil fu- tinction for their oil. Island nations and huge swaths of the
els like oil, gas, and coal as virtuous. He has even called goals to continents were deforested.
reduce greenhouse gas emissions “perverse.” For a long time, we thought the answer was to replenish
What he leaves out is that the current and future American the finite things to burn as best we could. But along the way,
economy is powered by clean energy. The clean energy revolu- we realized God gave us infinite sources of energy that had
tion is behind the rebirth of American manufacturing and is lift- Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club always been abundant in the Garden: the sun and the wind. We
ing people out of poverty. The jobs created pay well and are and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. realized the terrible cost of burning through the finite sources
safer. And consumers are saving money with renewable clean was not simply running out of things to burn, it was extreme
energy sources like solar and wind because they are now both it "false" with "no evidence to support this assertion." weather and our planet becoming ever less hospitable due to
more resilient and less expensive to produce than fossil fuels. To pretend there is a moral case for fossil fuels re- warming. The signs all pointed to the need to make the switch
And if we want to talk poverty, what about the countless quires more than mental gymnastics. It requires willful dis- from the finite sources of energy – and the destruction they
families that have been bankrupted and sent into poverty be- honesty. cause – to the infinite sources, which are kinder both to people
cause of pollution, fossil fuel leaks and explosions, and unbear- But let us look to scripture. It is as good a place as any and to all of God’s creation. We can power our world and tend
able health care costs to treat the diseases fossil fuels cause? Or to start, since the Bible and its lessons help guide so many the Garden at the same time.
the extreme weather disasters we see ravaging communities with people’s idea of morality. In it, God gave us a formula that In the Bible, when humans finally understood the mes-
increasing frequency and intensity? certainly seems to be coming into focus today. sage and acted in ways God wanted, flood waters receded;
Ramaswamy said last year, “The reality is more people are In the Book of Genesis, God charged people with be- fires stopped. So if saving lives, improving health outcomes,
dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual cli- ing stewards of the Garden of Eden. He told Adam and Eve and expanding economic opportunity through more and better
mate change.” to cultivate and care for it. This early commandment recog- jobs are not enough of a moral calling to prioritize the clean
It is a claim utterly backwards, even Orwellian. The New nizes nature – also known as God’s creation – as something energy transition, look to the Bible and listen to God. His mes-
York Times fact checked the statement and correctly rated to be grateful for and respected. sage seems to be pretty clear.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH Power & Praise Ministries Fayetteville Cumberland County

302 Moore Street* Fayetteville, NC 28301 Ministerial Council, Inc.
“For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke 1:37 www.fayettevillemincouncil.org
Sunday Wednesday Be Hold, how good and how

Morning Worship Service Bible Study pleasant it is for brethren to
10:15 a.m. (7:00pm ) dewell together in unity!
Sunday School -10am PSALM 133.1
Wednesday Sunday Service - 11:00am FellowshipBreakfast
Study on Wednesday Meets Every 3rd
(S.O.W.) 6:30 p.m. Transportation Available Saturday 8:00am
Church Solid Rock Bible Church
5464 Muscat Road
WIDU 1600 AM Rev. Dr. Fredrick Culbreth (910) 565-3022 Hope Mills, NC 28348
Radio Broadcast Senior Minister POC Yvonnie Hodges
Sunday at 10a.m. Sr. Pastor Secretary (910)797-5879 *424-9444
(910) 483-6505 Bishop Dr. Jenson McFadden (910) 850-6795 Apostle Georgia Walker
Pastor Dr. Doretha McFadden Any Minister of the Christian
President
www.1st-baptist.com JensonMcFadden @yahoo.com 910-624-0929 Is Welcome To Join Us.
Faith
Masjid Omar Ibn Sayyid Abundant Life Church of God

2700 Murchison Road *Fayetteville NC 28301 220 Pelt Drive * Fayetteville, NC 28301
All are invited and welcome!

Friday Prayer
(Jumuah) 1:30 PM
Sunday Public Lecture

1:30 PM
Sunday
www.masjidomaribnsayyid.org
Morning
Monthly Food Worship
(10:00am)
Imam Bobby Thomas Distribution Sunday School Bishop J C Monroe, Jr
Founder & Pastor
(910) 488-7322 3rd Saturday 9:00 AM (9:00am) Facecooklive
WIDU 1600 Radio Broadcast Saturday 2:30 pm Wednesday Night - Family Training Hour (7:00pm)

Heal The Land Outreach Ministries

414 Hall Street * Fayetteville, NC 28301

Sunday Morning Prayer

10:45- 11:00 am
Rev. Christoppher Stackhouse
Morning Worship - 11:00 am

Christian Education
1st & 3rd Wednesday: 7:30pm
Joy Night Church Phone Bishop Larry O. Wright, Sr.
2nd & 4th Wednesday: 7:30 pm (910) 491-0738 Elect Lady Minister Deborah Wright
Pastor & Founder