Evangelicals Divided Over Global Warming

Tensions among evangelicals are rising along with the sea level in a battle over whether concern for the environment has a place in houses of worship. Both sides of the widening gulf quote scripture, either to remind that God's plan is unalterable, or to cite the biblical injunction to be "good stewards of God's creation," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Opponents, following the late Jerry Falwell, see global warming as "Satan's attempt to redirect the church's primary focus." Advocates see it as broadening the church's scope beyond the politics of "abortions, judges, and gay marriage," as one evangelical environmentalist put it. There's a a generational element, with younger members rebelling against the party line that environmentalism is a left-wing fetish. And while some churches may go green, other believers anticipate a cataclysmic end of days that can't—and shouldn't—be stopped. (More evangelicals stories.)