Probably because I was raised evangelical and kept at it into adulthood, and all my family and closest friends are Christians, too. Specifically thinking about climate change, Christians really only have 3 responses that don't involve outright denial or depending on us to "innovate" our way out of the problem (neither of which are real responses):
1.) Recognize climate change is real and it's us Americans that bear a lot of that responsibility. Then, act accordingly by supporting efforts like the GND to mitigate the problem as much as possible. Also, will probably need to do a little bit of #2, too.
2.) Recognize climate change is real, just say we either can't or won't do anything about it, so they commit to a program of accepting refugees (and it's gonna be a lot of refugees) from parts of the world that impacted by climate change. Throw the door open.
3.) Recognize climate change is real and it's going to displace tens and probably hundreds of millions of poor and desperate people all over the world, while the US will, at least for a while, be ok. And instead of doing something to stop it or accepting climate refugees, just say fuck it, let them die. Let millions and millions die because we love our Escalades and can't give them up for electric cars because that would be gommunism. Oh and if you try and get in here we'll just shoot you dead.
So of course, outside of a few Catholics and liberal protestants, the overwhelming majority of Americans Christians are gonna go with option #3. Despite being the "salt of the earth", having this belief that their religion is correct and calls for them to be compassionate, and that God cares about every single human soul on earth.
I get that the hypocrisy isn't really surprising to most folks here, but for me it's very personal. I remember some friends and family crying when they found out I deconverted. A couple tried to get me come back. They couldn't understand, they couldn't see the holes that I see. In their heart of hearts, they believe their religion is good and beautiful. They think it truly reflects the nature of God. And I know they care a lot about "winning souls". And yet, these same people can't see how absolutely ugly and awful the results of their beliefs are. It just pisses me off, is all.
You clearly didn't grow up Pentecostal. Climate Change isn't real. All the bad effects are because God is coming back soon, and we need to take dominion over the earth to prepare his throne. To do this we need to send all the Palestinians to hell. Set up an ultra-orthodox government in Israel that does cattle sacrifices in the Dome of the Rock. After that provoke Russia and Iran into war with Israel. The theology splits here, with some groups believing this is when they get raptured. Others believe they don't get raptured. The theology rejoins here. 7 years of apocalypse follows this where everything in Revelations happens. Then Christ comes back to enact bloody revenge (he's done with forgiveness, if you don't repent before this you're done forever). Jesus then serves as God-king over the earth for 1000 years and then there's a second final battle where Christ gets ultimate revenge (remember, he's done with forgiveness). After that I guess everyone goes to heaven or something. Doesn't matter, what matters is Christ got revenge.
This is more or less what our vice president believes.
This is why I own guns.
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I remember spending time in a private Christian elementary school, the teachers would have discussions with us about the myriad of ways the Antichrist might torture us to get us to renounce our faith if it turns out we don't all get teleported to Heaven during the rapture. They also went into great detail about the eternal torment that would befall on any non-believing family members. This shit was traumatizing as a child.