You may remember that two years ago, the Cornwall Alliance, the fundie-oriented climate-change denial outfit, put out a bizarre DVD series called "Resisting the Green Dragon." It basically argues that the environmental movement is a false religion. I diaried about it when it first came out. What I didn't know is that a companion book came out at the same time called "Resisting the Green Dragon: Dominion, Not Death." It was written by James Wanliss, a physics professor at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. On Thursday, hyperfundie Internet radio host Kevin Swanson had Wanliss as his guest on his podcast, "Generations Radio." Listen here (warning, self-downloading MP3).
Swanson and Wanliss wrung their hands over how the "ideology" of global warming has become so widespread in our schools. To Wanliss' mind, this not only represented a "hijacking" of science, but a turn toward paganism. He thinks that it's become a religion in and of itself, and has even resulted in Christians being "brainwashed rather than bloodwashed." He even claimed that there hasn't been any global warming in 17 years. What Wanliss doesn't tell us, though, is that the Cornwall Alliance is dripping with oil money.
Swanson expressed alarm that according to a study at Yale, 70 percent of Americans now believe global warming is real, up from 57 percent in 2010. He was also appalled that despite the debate over global warming, the academic establishment really doesn't allow for debate on it. When Wanliss claimed that "environmentalism" means "everythingism," Swanson added this was a heaven-sent opportunity for a "socialist" and "totalitarian" politician to control what you do.
Swanson and Wanliss later claimed that environmentalism is based on a fundamentally flawed worldview. For instance, Wanliss says, while destroying a bald eagle's egg can get you 15 years in prison, it's possible to have an abortion with government funding. He also says that the environmental idea that all animals have intrinsic value is un-Christian.
Granted, by Swanson's standards, this is pretty mild stuff. After all, we're talking about a guy who thinks 9-11 was a conspiracy to get a Muslim--Obama--elected president, believes women on the pill have dead babies in their wombs and has called for Christian educators to defy the Supreme Court and push religion on kids. Still, it's a pretty revealing glimpse into the fundie mentality.