Climate Cult

The Climate Cult

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, October 17, 2024

Have you ever listened to certain actors, secular scientists, teachers, politicians, or peers spouting on about global warming? Or global cooling? Or climate change?

They do it with such fervor and demand that you follow them in their belief of doomsday scenarios. They even make prophecies about the future destruction of earth in just a few years. Salvation is dependent upon giving them your support, money, and doing what they command.

It almost sounds religious, doesn’t it? There is it reason that it sounds religious—it is. It’s a religion that has catapulted into the mainstream and caused massive division among cultures all over the world. And if you don’t follow this religion with the same fervor as its leading adherents, then you are labelled a “Climate Denier”—an evil and uncaring person in this religion.

How Is The Climate Cult Classified?

The Climate Cult (sometimes called “Climatism”) is a subset of the secular religions (think of secular humanism, atheism, agnosticism, naturalism, etc.) but has an emphasis that is environmental-based, almost like “earth worship”. Although the Climate Cult is secular in its historical understanding of origins, it has morphed into its own beast of a religion. Although its roots extend back over 100 years, it reared its head into public life particularly around the 1970s.

Today, certain people are famous for pushing this religion and making demands. Among these are Al Gore (former Vice President of the United States), Greta Thunberg (a teenage Swedish activist), Bill Gates (one of the richest people in the world), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who pushed the Green New Deal to be imposed), Hoesung Lee (who chairs the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, and many more—including companies and institutions like colleges, universities, high schools, and other government run schools.

Chances are you, or your children and grandchildren, have been influenced by this religion one way or another. Adherents push this religion through various means and it is largely funded by tax dollars being pushed by an educational or political means.

The religious nature of this movement has not gone unnoticed. Articles and books now abound that discuss this religion. For instance, John Berry’s “Climate Cult” tackles this religion head on. With caveats about certain theological and scientific positions, his take on this religion was excellent. Writing about the Climate Cult, Berry, a former atheist and environmentalist himself, writes:

“The modern secular environmental movement is an example of the twisted thinking that occurs when people reject God and a Biblical worldview. The passion of many climate change activists is an outward expression of the quasi-religious nature of the modern environmental movement. A mixture of secular atheism and pagan environmentalism has filled the void created by the rejection of traditional Christianity among many younger people. The result is radical environmentalism has become a form of religion for atheists and others who reject God.”[1]

The Scare Of Global Cooling And A New Ice Age

Beginning in the 1970s, there was a worldwide panic caused by adherents of the Climate Cult. For those old enough to remember, it was the global cooling scare.

Everyone was worried that there was going to be a new ice age (in the secular religious story, they have ice ages from time to time going back for millions of years). Looking at the average global temperature around the world, there was slight trend where we were going down by tenths of a degree. Yes, it was a very small amount.

So, climate cultists immediately began assuming the worst—presuming we’re at the onset of a new ice age! Yes, mankind burns things—wood, oil, coal, etc. and the industrial revolution was in full swing. It didn’t help that smog was becoming a major factor in certain areas that had direct localized effects. 

We see a minor decline in the global temperature, and then doomsdayers run with it and project their voice to say that a new ice age is right around the corner. Just so you know, we didn’t enter into a sudden onset ice age. This claim turned out to be false but sulfate particulates may have played a role in the slight cooling effect by reflecting sunlight back to space. This is significant.  

Ice ages don’t occur by simply cooling the earth. If you cool the globe, you get a cold earth, not an ice age. So…what is the different?

For an ice age, you need warm oceans and cool summers. This way you get a lot of accumulation of snow and ice in the winter months (because you had a lot of evaporation from the warm oceans). Then you need cool summers so that the accumulation from winter doesn’t melt off.

Then, the next year there is more accumulation on top of the previous year’s accumulation, so that it builds up into an ice age over multiple years—with the weight compressing ice into glaciers and ice caps. But warm oceans and cool summers are the key.

By the way, when we start with the Bible and have a major worldwide catastrophe (the Flood of Noah’s day), the resultant actions of mountain building (e.g., Psalm 104:8-9), continental shifting, and volcanism from mountain building, are all going to heat the global ocean temperature.

Furthermore, when violent volcanoes go off, they release dioxins and other small particulates into the upper atmosphere that remain suspended at higher altitudes and linger for a long time. We observed this to a small degree with Mt. St. Helens! The particulates reflected sunlight so that it doesn’t reach the surface of the earth, thereby causing a cooling effect. Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980 (and again in 1982) caused an observed cooling effect on the earth for a short time of about a 0.1° C.[2]  Mount Pinatubo, a larger volcano, in 1991 changed the temperature by about 1.3° F.[3]

To a much higher degree was the “year without a summer” in 1816. A volcano whose 1815 eruption dwarfed Mt. St. Helens in explosiveness, Mount Tambora in Indonesia changed the global temperature by an estimated and whopping 2-7° F.[4] The violent volcanic eruption of Krakatau in 1883 did much the same. Lack of sunshine and a cool summer destroyed the following summers globally.

The point is that the Flood in Genesis 6-8 is the perfect mechanism to have warm oceans and cool summers—with far more volcanoes going off in unison as well as delayed for quite some time during the final phases of the Flood and its early aftermath. 

The Scare Of Global Warming And The Sea Levels

The global cooling scare came to an end—do you know what happened? The global temperature stopped going down by tenths of a degree. It reversed and started to go up by tenths of a degree!

Were climate cultists satisfied that it reversed? Not at all. We saw, with even greater fervor, a new challenge. It was now global warming and doomsday warnings came flying out at a record pace (even though global temperatures were mildly rising by an excruciating slow amount just before the cooling phase).

In fact, it is estimated that the global temperature has risen 0.7°C since 1880—if the old measurements are accurately correlated.[5] So, there is some warming and we all agree on that—but what is the cause? That is where the debate “heats” up.

In the Climate Cult it is automatically assumed that mankind did something to cause global warming—it must be the industrial revolution—we burn things like wood, and coal, and oil. Gas guzzling cars need to go, strict new laws about burning were rampant and CO₂ (Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas) is the target.

Prediction about sea level rise due to melting ice caps were pushed hard in Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, which turned out to be false by the way. Sea Levels have remained largely the same as they were over 100 years ago, based on pictures. Nevertheless, small island nations were scared witless because they were afraid, they would be flooded out!

Al Gore’s 10-year prediction of crazy high coastal flooding (e.g., covering much of low-lying Florida and other coastal low-lying areas) turned out to be false (and yet, Gore made lucrative money over global warming and interestingly, bought a very nice house on the coast in California). Josef Joffe writes:

“Eclipsed by Thunberg, Gore is nonetheless still in the prophecy business. Writing in the New York Times last September, he doubled down on doom. "More destructive Category 5 hurricanes are developing," he wrote. "Monster fires ignite and burn on every continent but Antarctica, ice is melting in large amounts there and in Greenland, and accelerating sea-level rise now threatens low-lying cities and island nations."”[6]

Gore was famous for his failed predictions about global warming and climate change (e.g., there were bold claims that failed from his 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth”). His failed predictions are well known and well documented.[7]   

Well, what happened to global warming? The global temperatures started to trend down again for a time. The same thing that happened to global cooling now happened to global warming. But this time, global warming had a bigger and longer lasting impact on the culture and lot of money behind it. It had political pull and unprecedented wealth that had been pushing it—and it was a money maker for so many (the UN gives out money for climate issues and research measuring billion dollars per year since 2009[8]). Do you just give it all up?

What happens when global cooling turns out to be false; and then global warming turns out to be false? Do you just give it up? These were hard questions. So, what happened?

Adherents didn’t give it up. Instead, it was like adding fuel to a fire! Thinking in terms of their secular religious worldview, they merely adjusted it once again. This brings me to the latest form of this religion—climate change.

The Scare Of Climate Change

Climate change has eclipses each of those before it. If global temperatures rise—it is called climate change. If global temperatures drop—it is called climate change. It seems that any weather at any time can be used to justify “climate change”. Mark Perry writes:

“Regardless of the weather, they are always intrinsically correct. Flood? Climate Change. Drought? Climate Change. No Snow? Climate Change. Too much snow? Climate Change. Hurricane? Climate Change. Lack of hurricanes? Climate Change. See how this works?”[9]

Thus, the climate change religious view is arbitrary. There is no logical basis behind this religious stance. It is that simple.

The problem is that anything weather-related that happens get chalked up to climate change. And climate change religious adherents start throwing out blame and demand money and power to stop it.

To clarify, when people say “climate change”, they mean something very specific. I don’t want you to miss this. They mean that man has caused these weather issues. If there are hurricanes, then man caused it. If glaciers are melting—then man caused it. If the global temperature changes back and forth, man caused it.

You need to understand that in the climate religion, man is the ultimate evil and causing all these problems. Man is seen as an enemy which is why this religion really pushed population control—to reduce people on the earth.[10]

Why do they think this? It has to do with the made-up secular history that they believe. Let me explain.

In the secular viewpoint (not the biblical viewpoint), since the last ice age (in the secular religions an ice age last happened about 10,000 years ago) there is this presumption that global temperatures have largely been about the same. Thus, when we see minor fluctuations by tenths of a degree in the global temperature, they go crazy and think the world is about to end because we did something to mess it up! Climate cultists then blame man and say we are ruining the world.

This has led to a number of doomsday predictions by climate activists over the years. Dire famines, another ice age, acid rain, arctic will be ice free in a few years, rising sea levels dangers and more—these are just a tip of the failed prophecies in this religion. John Berry documents at least 15 failed predictions in his book, Climate Cult.[11]

Now, let’s pause because there are a couple of things climate change believers and I agree on. I love that they see a desire to care for the earth. But that is a Christian principle of dominion—care for the earth in a responsible way. They have warped this belief into a religious fervor of worshipping the earth instead of using it the way God intended (e.g., Romans 1:25[12]).

Is it good to have cleaner air and water, recycle, and be responsible for our environment? Yes, it is. So please don’t get me wrong. I love that we can use technology to burn things cleaner—coal for example is burned 80% cleaner than in the past. Or that we can reuse certain things to be more efficient (e.g., recycling) and discover new or improved energy sources. I love that.

So, what am I talking about? I’m talking about the application of a false religious worldview that has zeal without knowledge. The Climate Cult is fueled by a false worldview, false predictions, and making demands that were unwarranted from the data because of these strict religious views.

In the secular view, it’s much more of a problem. If we are just rearranged chemicals on a planet that ultimately came from nothing and has no purpose, and has no meaning, and there will be heat death in the universe where nothing really mattered (as the secular worldview teaches), then why do they care?  Note the inconsistency.

Another thing we agree on is that man is involved. But we don’t agree on how man is involved. In the biblical view, man had dominion over the earth and when we sinned, the originally-perfect earth is now subjected to sin and its effects. And sinful man is living with those effects and will die (culminating in an eternal death in Hell after we die physically).

This is why we need a Savior to save us from sin and death. So, climate problems are because of man—man’s sin at the beginning in Genesis 3 as well as man’s sin that led to the Flood (more on these in a moment), but subsequently our action contribute to very little. Obviously, we have two different understanding of how man was involved.

CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) Is Essential To A Healthy Planet

Without CO₂, the planet would “die” quickly. How often are we told this? Without CO₂, plants would wither and cease to produce clean air and oxygen (O₂). So, we need CO₂ to maintain a healthy balance. There is a range of course—too much could be bad too.

CO₂ is a recyclable gas naturally in our environment as phytoplankton and plants devour it. When there is a little more in the atmosphere, the plants and phytoplankton do very well (e.g., in controlled environments CO₂ is added to promote good plant growth). When there is less—plants aren’t as vigorous. When CO₂ starts to get a little higher, nature balances it out—this is what we expect based on God’s Word—even in our broken and sinful world.

God designed the world to remain in balance and has promised this balance will not get out of hand until He returns and the earth no longer needs to endure per Genesis 8:22:

“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22, NKJV)

God is making a new heaven and a new earth if you didn’t know that (Isaiah 65:17[13], 66:22[14]; 2 Peter 3:13[15]; Revelation 21:1[16]). This cursed and broken creation (since Genesis 3 with sin) does have its problems. This is but a taste of what life is like without God upholding things in a perfect state. We look forward to a perfect world again for those who believe in Jesus Christ and put their faith in Him.

So Why Does The Earth Experience Fluctuations In Temperature?

So why does the global temperature go up and down. The obvious reason is due to the output of the sun. The sun fluctuates its radiation and the earth mimics this. Is it really this simple? Yes. Dr. Jason Lisle, an astrophysicist who specialized in the sun in his PhD, points out that the sun is the primary culprit.[17]

The sun goes through a 22-year cycle of magnetic reversals (to get back to its original polarity) which affect things like sunspots and output. In short, more sunspots—more heat output and less sunspots equate to less heat output. Dr. Lisle writes:

“We must understand that the most important natural factor in determining the earth’s temperature is the sun. We take for granted that the sun is stable and warms the earth in a uniform way. For the most part, it does; it is an unusually stable star. But the sun does have natural cycles and minor changes in intensity that affect climate on the earth. One such cycle is the relatively short-term sunspot cycle. However, much longer variations may also exist. There is evidence that such variations have a substantial effect on earth’s climate.”[18]

Although greenhouse gases like methane, water (H₂O), and CO₂ add a little as well—and thank goodness—without these effects the earth’s temperature would be significantly lower to a point that life may not be possible![19] Again, a great balance on the part of God’s design even in a sin-cursed world.

But here is the crux—in the Climate Cult, man is blamed for global warming and changes because we’ve adding greenhouse gases like CO₂ to the atmosphere. This neglects the fact that the manmade additions of CO₂ and methane are only considered minor contributions to the overall influx of CO₂ into the air.[20] 

Furthermore, the primary greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is water! About 95% of greenhouse effects are from water. CO₂ and methane are not the powerhouse like water is. Our atmosphere is made up primarily of these 4 gases:

·        Nitrogen 78.08%

·        Oxygen 20. 95%

·        Water—up to 4% (fluctuates)

·        Argon 0.93 %

After these, there are trace gases like Carbon Dioxide (0.04%) and then hydrogen, helium, neon, and methane—all having less than 0.00182%:

It was pointed out that CO₂ production by man is dwarf by natural means of CO₂ production. So, what else produces CO₂ naturally? Massive sources of CO₂ come from outgassing from oceans, venting volcanoes, fungi, decomposing vegetation and other biologicals, wildfires, and animals. These sources produce most of the CO₂ in our atmosphere. Of course, the amount of CO₂ released go up and down as well.

Greenhouse gases are essential and they too fluctuate because of natural production, while man’s contributions are actually minimal by comparison. All the while, the earth is designed to balance things out and that is what we observe.

Have Climates Changed?

Yes. Bible believers believe this and it surprises people! Originally, the earth was designed perfectly and very good (Genesis 1:31[21], Deuteronomy 32:4[22]). The earth was designed in such a way that man—without wearing clothes—should have been able to inhabit the entire world (they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, Genesis 1:28[23]).

After sin in Genesis 3, God cursed the ground and the animals (which were under man’s care) and sentenced man to death. The world changed. Then there was the Flood of Noah’s day which was the largest climate disaster ever—even rearranging continents, coastlines, and mountain ranges to what they are today. Of course, there has been minor changes since then as well.

The Flood triggered an Ice Age (in caps usually denotes the single Ice Age that followed the Flood as opposed to “ice age” or “ice ages” in the secular story going back for eons). This major climate change also includes warming and cooling periods like the medieval and Roman warm periods and the Little Ice Age (1300-1800) as ice retreated and came back again in ebbs and flows.

An Ice Age causes fluctuations in sea level and affects global weather patterns (by taking water out of the seas and lakes resulting in less water for the global water cycle). This in turn likely caused certain droughts that may have been in correlation with certain famines in Scripture (Abraham’s day, Joseph’s Day, and so on).

So yes, there was definitely climate change—but note this was not because of burning fuels in the industrial revolution—which are minor additions when compared globally. 

Biblical Response to Climate Cultism

 As Christians, we want to take care of the earth, but not worship it. We also want encourage those who have been caught up in the Climate Cult to realize that it is the biblical worldview that gives us a basis to take care of the earth (i.e., have dominion)—not secular religions.

It is also a biblical worldview that explains why the earth is broken, even though it still balances things out fairly well. We need a new heaven and a new earth due to sin and the curse.

The only solution is through Jesus Christ, the Creator Himself, who died for our sins (our rebellions against God’s law). Christ took the punishment we deserve and offers the free gift of eternal life through His death, burial, and resurrection. We hope those trapped in the Climate Cult will come to repentance through Jesus Christ.

 

 

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[1] John Berry, Climate Cult, John Berry Ministries, October 2020, p. 47. 

[2] Karen Harp, How do volcanoes affect world climate?, October 4, 2005, Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-volcanoes-affect-w/.

[3] Volcano Hazards Program Editors, Volcanoes Can Affect Climate, USGS, Accessed April 16, 2024,  https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanoes-can-affect-climate.

[4] Editors, 1816 - The Year Without Summer, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, accessed April 16, 2024,  https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/1816-the-year-without-summer.htm.

[5] To get a global temperature, local temperatures were recorded and then used to build estimates of global temperature. Today we use more data points including satellites to be more accurate than the “old days”. So, there may be a higher level of error in older data; Jason Lisle, Global Warming’s Solar Connection, Answers Magazine, July 1, 2010, pp. 52-55,  https://answersingenesis.org/environmental-science/climate-change/global-warmings-solar-connection/.  

[6] Josef Joffe, The Cult of Climatism: The religion of global warming preaches doom and punishment, even as its own high priests hedge their bets. Meanwhile, its fearful, furious dogmas make a cooperative response to climate change all but impossible, Hoover Digest, Issue 2, Spring 2020, https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA633468968&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10885161&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E527252f1&aty=open-web-entry.

[7] Ken Braun, Al Gore’s 30 Years of Climate Errors: Glacial Recount, Capital Research Center, February 13, 2023, https://capitalresearch.org/article/al-gores-30-years-of-climate-errors-part-1/ (first of a several part series).

[8] Finance and Justice (Climate Action), United Nations, Accessed April 16, 2024, https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/raising-ambition/climate-finance#:~:text=Since%202009%2C%20global%20climate%20talks%20have%20agreed%20on,as%20well%20private%20funds%20generated%20by%20public%20interventions.

[9] Mark Perry, The Climate Change Cult: 10 Warning Signs, AEI, April 20, 2019, https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/the-climate-change-cult-10-warning-signs/.

[10] John Berry, Climate Cult, Chapter 4: The Anti-Human Agenda, John Berry Ministries, October 2020, pp. 65-71.

[11] John Berry, Climate Cult, John Berry Ministries, October 2020, pp. 58-64.

[12] Romans 1:25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (NKJV).

[13] Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. (NKJV)

[14] Isaiah 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. (NKJV)

[15] 2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (NKJV)

[16] Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. (NKJV)

[17] Jason Lisle, Global Warming’s Solar Connection, Answers Magazine, July 1, 2010, pp. 52-55,  https://answersingenesis.org/environmental-science/climate-change/global-warmings-solar-connection/.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Genesis 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (NKJV)

[22] Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. (NKJV)

[23] Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (NKJV)