Evangelism and the environment

Madam, - Granted, there are evangelical Christians who ignore global warming, who confuse the roles of science and religion, …

Madam, - Granted, there are evangelical Christians who ignore global warming, who confuse the roles of science and religion, who have espoused racism and religious bigotry and who want to rule the world.

But John Gibbons (Opinion, October 30th) is profoundly wrong to characterise all, or most, evangelical Christians in this way. And there are elements of his rant against evangelical Christians which, had they been written about a Muslim or Jewish group, would probably have been seen as incitement to hatred.

Mr Gibbons accuses evangelical Christians of being profoundly undemocratic, bigoted, racist and xenophobic. He appears to be unaware that two thirds of the world's evangelical Christians live in Africa, Asia and Latin America and that in the evangelical Christian world white, middle-class Americans are well outnumbered by Blacks, Asians and Hispanics.

He should also have informed himself that that many evangelical aid agencies are deeply involved in the work of tackling climate change primarily because they are concerned about its effects on the poorest peoples of the developing countries where they work. And it is precisely because of their convictions about the Christian Gospel that they are involved in this work.

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Mr Gibbons is right to tackle religious fundamentalism, of whatever hue, on the issue of climate change. But he needs to inform himself of the real picture first. If he does some research before delivering his own brand of Bible-thumping demagoguery he may find that most evangelical Christians are willing to be his allies in the battle, not his enemies. - Yours, etc,

SEÁN MULLAN, Evangelical Alliance Ireland, Ulysses House, Foley Street, Dublin 1.