Turns out there may be dim hopes for us yet! Well on our way to rendering our current planet uninhabitable, we can now at least fantasize about a new destination available for colonization once the gig is up here. Planet K2-18b is only 110 light years away, and strong evidence suggests there is “water in its skies,” a must for habitation by humans. Now, K12-18b possesses “powerful gravity” that would make walking tricky, but at near twice the size of Earth, there would be plenty of room to move. Of course, oxygen is in very very short supply on the planet’s surface, but the way we’re going here, that’s a problem we appear confident can be overcome. Anyway, it’s better than nothing, right? A glimmer of hope on space’s frontier.
Of all the frustrating inconsistencies Trump’s adoring evangelical bloc exhibit, the most puzzling is their near complete shoulder shrug about his ghoulish assault on the environment. If the great I AM created our world and man in his image, and granted us stewardship of his pet project, while constantly forgiving our sins, isn’t it a tad ungrateful to destroy it all? If it was two by two into the ark and all of that, shouldn’t extinction of any of the creatures God carefully inventoried be viewed with concern? Apparently not.
When Scott Pruitt, perhaps the worst fox ever to be selected to guard a federal department’s hen house, resigned from the EPA, he was unapologetic about his near constant abasements of the agency’s mission, not to mention personal corruption that made even Trump wince. Pruitt’s goodbye note predictably blamed the press for his troubles, and took pride in his predations on the natural resources he attacked rather than protected. But in closing, Pruitt waxed reverential and made clear the constituency both he and the President were beholden to. “I believe you are serving as President today because of God’s providence,” intoned Pruitt. Seems God doesn’t much mind a bit of chlorpyrifos testing the bounds of healthy fetal development, and 1986 clean water standards suit the almighty just fine.
The disconnect between evangelical Trump adoration and environmental subversion so outrageous even notorious polluters like big oil and utilities have blushed, fearful of eventual blowback when responsible executive guidance is restored, can be comprehended several different ways. First and foremost is the pro-life paradigm. Trump’s dogged pursuit of anti-abortion zealotry renders all else insignificant. Taking on the baby killers is first, second and last when it comes to priorities. Arctic refuge tracts sold off for oil and gas drilling is white noise. Eye on the ball and all that.
Next, like most all of the wretched core, and the President himself, Christian America relies exclusively on Fox/AM for information. “What Would Jesus Do” doesn’t stand a chance against “what do Stuart Varney or Lou Dobbs say?” In the main, evangelicals appear content to categorize the environment as a government policy issue, not a biblical concern. If anything, it falls into “render unto Caesar” territory, merely another talking point in the overall Fox/AM narrative that always divides things into camps. Who wants to have whacked out eco-lefties on a mission as fellow travelers? Single minded fanaticism is only acceptable when saving babies, not baby seals. Exxon not Greenpeace!
Finally, and perhaps most odious, there is the conscious skewing of frontal ecological assaults to bring them in line with a prosperity gospel view. After all, God wants us happy and thriving right? A sub compact could cause an embolism on an extended journey, better to play it safe with an SUV. Happy campers sin less; that’s a fact. Besides, do you really think he wants us dependent on Sunnis for our gas? We actually trespass against his will when we reap less due to fears satan allows our imaginations to conjure up. Climate change is his work; ours is to resist hysterics and trust in God. After all, judgement day is coming at some point… who knows how. Don’t worry, be happy!
The destructive legacies of even one Trump term will be many, but none will require more urgent attention and immediate counter measures than the environmental protections and international eco-cooperation he has laid waste to. It’s a good bet whoever succeeds Trump as the wretched core’s leader will lean heavily on flyover Christians to cement his relevancy, while continuing to sell Trump’s hideous environmental agenda as both a line in the sand against attacks on our sovereignty and a key to economic prosperity. The power evangelicals have in shaping those priorities will be as significant then as it is now. Were they to understand ecological degradation as a trespass against God, and express any degree of tangible concern about retrograde sensibilities that pits the GOP squarely against virtually the rest of humanity, its approach would surely change. They don’t and it won’t, at least not anytime soon.
Yet and still, although it is impossible right now not to see evangelicals as a flock far more aligned with Dallas snake oil pastor and Trump favorite Robert Jeffress than less craven and materially guided alternatives, there are K2-18b’s within the Christian galaxy. Progressive theologians like Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones and Brian McLaren provide at least the glimmer of possibility that voices focused more on WWJD concerns like poverty, immigration and the environment are growing in reaction to rampant hypocrisy foisted in their name. A growing student rebellion at Liberty University challenging Jerry Falwell Jr’s overt corruption and totalitarian efforts to bring all in his realm to heel speaks better of born-again America’s kids than its parents.
Such outliers should be supported and nurtured, encouraged to repel the ugliness they feel alienated from, not simply thrown out with the bath water. After all, it would be a sin to give up on so many currently lost in a forest of resentment and grievance due to sermons that betrayed them. That would be analogous to throwing in the towel and accepting the inevitability of Earth’s surrender to plastics and uncontrolled carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, Christian sensibilities and the planet’s survival should go hand in hand. What’s more, K2-18bs simply do not seem in plentiful supply right now. BC