The following excerpts are from the December 3, 2015 edition of ANN
As world leaders gather in Paris for the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Seventh-day Adventist Church supports and applauds the efforts of these leaders to come to an agreement to stem the deterioration of our earth due to climate change.
Two observations:
It should be noted that one of the world leaders that the ANN is "applauding" in this statement is the Pope of Rome. His untiring efforts this year to influence geopolitical Climate Change regulations are seen both in his June 18 Papal Encyclical and his September 24 address to the United States Congress.
Implied but not proven is the notion that we, as a world church, believe in the Climate Change/Global Warming narrative.
Unfortunately, corruption and exploitation have been brought into the management of the human domain of responsibility. Increasingly men and women have been involved in a megalomaniacal destruction of the earth's resources, resulting in widespread suffering, environmental disarray, and the threat of climate change. While scientific research needs to continue, it is clear from the accumulated evidence that the increasing emission of destructive gasses, the depletion of the protective mantel of ozone, the massive destruction of the American forests, and the so-called greenhouse effect, are all threatening the earth's eco-system.
These problems are largely due to human selfishness and the egocentric pursuit of getting more and more through ever-increasing production, unlimited consumption and depletion of nonrenewable resources. The ecological crisis is rooted in humankind's greed and refusal to practice good and faithful stewardship within the divine boundaries of creation.
Seventh-day Adventists advocate a simple, wholesome lifestyle, where people do not step on the treadmill of unbridled consumerism, goods-getting, and production of waste. We call for respect of creation, restraint in the use of the world's resources, reevaluation of one's needs, and reaffirmation of the dignity of created life.”
The term "unbridled consumerism" appears to have been coined by the Roman Pontiff in a November 14 Time Magazine article. Many Adventists are unaware of some Church leaders' deep participation in the political/ecumenical issue of environmentalism/Climate Change. For instance, our church leaders signed on to the Washington Theological Consortium Statement on Ecology, which coincided with the Pope's LAUDATO SI’ Encyclical on the environment in June.
Take notice of the of the introductory statement of the Washington Theological Consortium.