Protect

Having observed the sharp contrast between how Katherine Hayhoe and Randall Terry view the causes of climate change and their responses, it is clear that there is no single unified view among Evangelicals on the matter. However, I think that there is a second and connected aspect to climate change and Evangelicalism that is worth exploring. How do Evangelicals relate to the immediate threat of severe weather that is caused or worsened by climate change? In response to this question, I found one theme frequently repeated. This was the idea that through faithful prayer, Christians could induce God to protect people and places that lay in the path of hurricanes or other climate-related threats.

One example of this sort of prayer for intercession featured prominently in Christian media as hurricane Florence barreled towards the Carolinas. Televangelist Pat Roberston used cable television and Facebook to call for Evangelical Christians to aid him in “declar(ing) a shield of protection over those innocent people in the path of this hurricane,”.  Additionally, a non-profit group called Intercessors for America (IFA) rallied Christians via social media to pray together for those in the path of hurricane Florence.

The IFA was perhaps more pragmatic than Robertson as they focused their prayers not only on requests for God’s protection but also on hopes that people in the hurricane’s path would  “…take the appropriate safety precautions.” Still, what both of these responses had in common was the desire to decrease people’s fear and uncertainty around events over which they have no immediate earthly control. By calling on God’s direct intervention, surely the stress and anxiety of an impending natural disaster would seem more bearable to believers. Further, such petitioners might have felt that they could at least do something useful in an otherwise overwhelming situation.

It struck me that this sort of response might even seem more attractive if one does not believe that climate change is caused by human actions. If one believes that hurricanes are completely random natural occurrences or perhaps caused by the devil or some evil force then the only control one could exert over the situation would be through supernatural aid. Further, such a response would seem in keeping with Malinowski’s observations regarding the use of magic by Trobriand Islanders.

Malinowski viewed magic as a means for people to ease their anxiety in situations of great uncertainty. Where the Trobriand Islanders were concerned with the vicissitudes of a life based on sea-travel, Pat Robertson’s followers and other prayer-groups sought a sense of control in the face of an unpredictable hurricane. Again, it is inaccurate to say simplistically that these responses are identical, but I think that it is fair to assert that the same dynamics of uncertainty and comfort are at play in both cases.

Another thing that struck me while reading through posts by these prayer groups is that there is a difference between having an explanation for something and actually being able to predict or control it. If humans were satisfied with logical explanations then people might be satisfied with science. Hurricanes and tornadoes, however, are perfectly explainable yet they behave unpredictably and are uncontrollable by earthly forces. This may be, in part, why the explanations that have been put forth by climate scientists are unsatisfactory to so many.