I first encountered the Green Dragon on a blog post by Publius Redux where he introduced it with: "Now, here is a novel analysis of the undercurrent of urgency and irrationality characteristic of climate doomsayers' prophecy. This explains the haunting familiarity of the preaching and proselytizing we have endured from the climate change fearmongers." Curious, I tracked down an article about Resisting the Green Dragon by Dr. James Wanliss, Associate Professor of Physics at Presbyterian College. Finding no religious or scientific arguments that could possibly address the issues in the article, I wrote a play about what the future might hold for Dr. Wanliss, Publius and their followers.Sometime later I received a critique of my play from Dr. Wanliss and subsequently offered to write a proper review if Dr. Wanliss would send me a copy, which he did. Dr. Wanliss said he wrote the book in part because he had been bullied by environmentalists. That is certainly a very bad thing, however replying in kind is usually not the correct response and revenge often hurts others than its intended victims. If you identify with environmentalism, mainstream religions, or believe we should be good stewards of the Earth, you may feel bullied while reading the book.
The book claims not "to provide scientific or economic answers" as that is done by "multiple excellent resources that appear in the endnotes." However those resources and end notes do not accurately represent the views of scientists, economists, or environmentalists - but are carefully picked from extreme positions, as are his examples. Dr. Wanliss gives examples of vegetarians, PETA members, Eco terrorists, environmental extremists, and someone who thinks men are "useless breathers" - and tries to claim they are representative of the Christian stewardship movement. They are not. Environmentalists may want you to make responsible choices, but that does not mean they want to "control how you live, eat, drive, and even the light you use to read by." Environmentalists may have a goal of achieving balance in nature and sustainability, but Dr. Wanliss claims sustainability places "human life directly in the crosshairs of violent men." And, are those violent men found in the Christian stewardship movement?
The book was published by the Cornwall Alliance which has chosen the Green Dragon as a symbol of their opposition to the growth of environmentalism in Christian churches. The Cornwall Alliance describes itself as a grassroots Christian movement. It does not disclose its funding sources but many paths to it come from corporations and fossil fuel interests and its message is certainly favorable to them. Dr. Wanliss says that he did not receive an advance from the Alliance and profits only from the royalties on the book. The Alliance has produced a series of videos based upon Resisting the Green Dragon, assailing its hold on the churches. There is little truth to much of the propaganda in the videos. They seem designed more to protect the profits of the fossil fuel companies than to protect the Earth, or the people who depend on the Earth for survival.
The book claims not "to provide scientific or economic answers" as that is done by "multiple excellent resources that appear in the endnotes." However those resources and end notes do not accurately represent the views of scientists, economists, or environmentalists - but are carefully picked from extreme positions, as are his examples. Dr. Wanliss gives examples of vegetarians, PETA members, Eco terrorists, environmental extremists, and someone who thinks men are "useless breathers" - and tries to claim they are representative of the Christian stewardship movement. They are not. Environmentalists may want you to make responsible choices, but that does not mean they want to "control how you live, eat, drive, and even the light you use to read by." Environmentalists may have a goal of achieving balance in nature and sustainability, but Dr. Wanliss claims sustainability places "human life directly in the crosshairs of violent men." And, are those violent men found in the Christian stewardship movement?
The book was published by the Cornwall Alliance which has chosen the Green Dragon as a symbol of their opposition to the growth of environmentalism in Christian churches. The Cornwall Alliance describes itself as a grassroots Christian movement. It does not disclose its funding sources but many paths to it come from corporations and fossil fuel interests and its message is certainly favorable to them. Dr. Wanliss says that he did not receive an advance from the Alliance and profits only from the royalties on the book. The Alliance has produced a series of videos based upon Resisting the Green Dragon, assailing its hold on the churches. There is little truth to much of the propaganda in the videos. They seem designed more to protect the profits of the fossil fuel companies than to protect the Earth, or the people who depend on the Earth for survival.
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