News-Record.com

The following is a Counterpoint article:
By Michael Northuis

In a recent column, "Evangelicals drift from their mission," Cal Thomas put forth the argument that Christians should not waste their time on environmental issues until all peoples of this earth have been converted to Christianity.

Using Cal's logic (or lack thereof), perhaps Christians shouldn't waste precious time on frivolous secular activities such as bathing, cooking, vacuuming, watching sports, gardening, working for a living, or taking the time to form an intelligent opinion.

Thomas reveals himself as a huge hypocrite with his own reasoning. How much of his "evangelical" time has he wasted promoting "secular" political agendas for the extreme right wing?

Perhaps he does not realize that he is turning potential converts away from Christianity through this "...don't you worry your pretty little head" attitude.

While birth defects due to environmental mercury levels rise and the incidence of childhood asthma also rises due to pollution, one must wonder if it is the best "Christian" moral choice to ignore the danger signs.

One must also wonder how much time it really does take to become an active environmentalist. How much time does it take to choose the environmentally friendly organic pesticide over the toxic chemical ones that end up in the water table?

How much time does it take to call Liddy Dole and tell her you are not voting Republican again until they start protecting innocents from corporate polluters?

We are in the middle of a cancer epidemic that largely comes through ingesting chemical toxins from the air, the water table and our food supply. If the "evangelical" Christians do not see this as a "right-to-life" issue, they are ignoring God's gift of logic.

The writer lives in Greensboro.