People who say politicians do not know their Bible are not aware of all the biblical quotations we find in speeches published by the distinguished men and women who serve in Congress. At times, politicians like to act like preachers. Politicians like to quote the Bible to prove their argument is solid.
Take the case of the Honorable Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California and the Speaker of the House. In a speech before the House Science and Technology Committee Hearing, she spoke on the pressing issue of global warming.
Speaker Pelosi said that the future of our children and grandchildren is in our hands. She spoke about the need to act now in order to save our planet. To prove her point, that government needs to act now and tackle “humanity’s greatest challenge,” she quoted the Bible. She said:
The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, “To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.”
These are touching words. This biblical admonition is very important and highly relevant to the pressing issue of global warming.
Too bad this biblical admonition is not in the Old Testament.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tag: Global Warming, Nancy Pelosi
6 comments:
hello,
is this "quote" found anywhere else then? it is often referred to being from the old testament, a number of newspapers quoted her on that.
many thanks,
rs
It's simple. When "God" created the Earth he made Adam and Eve the stewards of the Earth and told them to look over it. It's not hard to find given its in the first book of the bible. No one ever said paraphrasing the Bible was wrong, and In fact I think it's just like paraphrasing Nancy Pelosi. He made this planet and now you are going to debate whether or not he said to take care of it? wow people wow
And what about Isaiah 24:5-6 -
"The earth is polluted because of its inhabitants,who have transgressed laws, violated statutes, broken the ancient covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants pay for their guilt;
Therefore they who dwell on earth are scorched and a few men are left."
See www.livingtheapocalypse.blogspot.
com un the the Global Warming heading.
Mary Grace,
In the context of Isaiah 24, the reference probably has to do with an invasion of Canaan since the punishment came because the people broke the ancient covenant. Since the covenant was enforced by means of blessings and curses, any violation of the covenant would bring the curses of Deuteronomy 28.
However, the land suffers because of the sins of the people. Our sins and violations of God’s law also will bring judgment upon the land. So, it is possible that the present climatic situation may be because by our violation of God’s laws.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
To keep our planet clean, first we need to keep our hearts & mind pure.
Dear Anonymous,
You are right. Good stewardship of our planet begins with good stewardship of who we are and what we have.
Claude Mariottini
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