Will Hall is editor for the Baptist Message, the news journal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention—a group of around 700,000 members.
Last week he wrote an article titled “A Radical Environmental Proposal.” In that article, Hall argues that a weekly day of rest could be a solution to air pollution. He acknowledges the language of Creation, where God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2—4), and praises Chick-fil-A for closing on Sundays. He makes no mention of the biblical Sabbath day, but attempts to invest Sunday with the biblical significance of the Sabbath rest.
Some quotes from the article:
Now, newly published information seems to bear out what should be obvious: A weekly day of rest could help keep the balance in the environmental system that God established to sustain man’s physical existence.
Scientists have made multiple serendipitous discoveries about the impact of shutdowns around the world during the novel coronavirus pandemic:
— NASA satellite images have documented a 30 percent decline in nitrous oxide levels (an air pollutant produced by industries and cars burning fossil fuels) in China (China has confined only certain cities and not the entire country).
— Carbon monoxide emissions (mainly from cars and trucks) are down 50 percent in New York City, according to researchers at Columbia University.
— The EPA has recorded the best air quality in Los Angeles than at anytime during the last 40 years.
Meanwhile, a recently completed study confirmed that pollutants at ground level are diminishing globally (based on a two-week surveillance of 27 countries):
— Nitrous oxide is down 29 percent;
— Ozone, a byproduct of the chemical reaction when pollutants interact with sunlight, is off by an average of 11 percent.
These are staggering numbers published by a joint team of Norwegian and German researchers. But it was something else they said that really should cause everyone to pause and reflect. Essentially, they lamented that the global lockdown was not sustainable (due to the financial catastrophe it would perpetuate) because of “the potential health benefits gained from reducing ‘business as usual’ air pollutant emissions from economic activities.”
Will Hall further mulls the notion of locking down major activity for 52-days of the year. Why 52-days, you say? Every Sunday. Such a suggestion is poised to gather the support of Pope Francis, Alexandria Cortez, Greta Thunberg, and the whole assembly of New Green Deal supporters.
On December 17 last year, Newsweek magazine ran an article A Global New Green New Deal Could Defeat The Far Right (by John Feffer). The author of that article claims that “climate crisis is the most urgent threat facing the planet.” Apparently if you are a climate skeptic, you are an automatic member of the far right (whatever that is). They call for a massive transition away from fossil fuels and the establishment of a Green Climate Fund to restructure the world into a multicultural socialist empire that controls every person in order to the “save the planet. Josef Stalin would have loved it.
In April of 2019, the Salt Lake Tribune ran an article Heeding Pope Francis’ Encyclical Could Pave the Way For a New Green Deal. In it, the author calls for an “ecological conversion”, a term he got from the Pope. Ye must be born again.
Back to Will Hall. It is strange to see a Baptist leader on this bandwagon, but it shouldn’t be. Climate Alarmism/Change is the fastest growing religion in the world and you can be baptized into it through the legitimizing ritual of infusing your theology with politics. That will allow you to reinterpret the Bible for:
— Saving the earth instead of people/souls
— Adopting Sunday rest as the epitome of Creation and environmentalism.
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“Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).
