Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Sunday, May 31st, 2015

New study reaffirms the link between conservative religious faith and climate change doubt

Author:     Chris Mooney
Source:     The Washington Post
Publication Date:     May 29 2015
 Link: New study reaffirms the link between conservative religious faith and climate change doubt
Stephan:   I have said it many times, but feel I need to say it again: The Theocratic Right, of whatever sect or denomination, is the most dangerous toxic social force in the world today. There are many reasons why I say this: its dysfunctional but obsessive focus on sex, the subordination of women, the cultivation of a sense of persecution, its servitude to corporate interests, but the biggest factor is its rejection of facts and disdain, if not contempt, for science. And no where is this more important than its hysterical climate change denial. Here is the data. Please note, this is not an attack on religion per se. Look at the chart and you will clearly see the distinction between say the Anglican/Episcopal Church and the Assemblies of God.
Credit: Josh Rosenau/National Center for Science Education

Credit: Josh Rosenau/National Center for Science Education

Last week, I blogged about a striking figure created by evolutionary biologist Josh Rosenau of the National Center for Science Education, plotting U.S. based faiths and denominations based on 1) their members’ views about the reality of human evolution and 2) those members’ support for tough environmental laws.

The figure (left) has created much discussion, both because of what it seems to suggest about the unending debate over the relationship between science and religion, but also because of how it appears to confirm that more conservative leaning denominations harbor a form of science resistance that extends well beyond evolution rejection and into the climate change arena.

Because let’s face it — we already knew that conservative religiosity in the United States was closely tied to denying evolution. What wasn’t so obvious was why views of global warming, or the environment, would seem to so closely track views on where we humans (and the rest of all life on Earth) come from. Yet […]

Read the Full Article