They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Unfortunately the Anglican Church of Australia seems to have set out on its own journey to that fiery destination.
Campaigners in the Anglican Diocese of Perth, led by convicted Hilton bomber Evan Pederick, have followed national church policy and forced the Perth synod to dump all its fossil fuel investments.
Other dioceses, as well as Anglican National Super which provides superannuation for the wider church, have now followed Perth’s lead.
According to Pederick, the decision to sell off coal, gas and oil holdings was an entirely moral one taken to protect God’s creation and the livelihoods of human beings.
But as The Australian’scolumnist Gary Johns has pointed out, “an effective divestment campaign would increase the cost of power and harm the poor.”
Just who is the church trying to help? Fuel costs are already on the rise hitting poorer people hard in the hip pocket. The church doesn’t seem to care much about them.
Nor is it concerned to protect the jobs of those who live in communities like the NSW coalmining town of Denman.
“At the heart of this issue is people with mortgages, people with families,” says Jody Zammit, a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle where coal has been the lifeblood of the region for years.
There is little sign the church is being mindful of any issue concerning the well-being of families, communities and people. Nor is it thinking seriously about energy policy.
Nuclear power would be a good alternative to power derived from coal, but the Anglican Church is dead set against that option. And it’s not much keener on cheap, affordable hydro-electric power.
In fact, the Anglican Church is probably not so much concerned with developing an effective national energy policy as it is with struggling to secure its own survival as church attendance drops.
Ageing church members are dying off leaving empty pews that are not being filled by new parishioners. As a result, the size of the Sunday collection put in the plate each week is dropping too.
The church is desperate to connect with a younger generation of people and to stem the drift away from church life.
Many Anglican church leaders think that greater advocacy on fashionable issues such as safeguarding the environment will help them connect with that missing generation.
But while the church is pursuing the idealistic environmentalists it will actually be harming working parents with families to raise, bills to pay, and homes to heat.
G.K. Chesterton once said, “Those who marry the spirit of the age will find themselves widows in the next.” The Anglican Church of Australia is making the very mistake which Chesterton warned about.
No doubt church leaders are well-intentioned. But sometimes good intentions are not enough. Especially when the consequences of actions have a whiff of sulphur about them.
Rev Peter Kurti is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies
Home > Commentary > Opinion > Road to hellish environmental concern
Road to hellish environmental concern
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Unfortunately the Anglican Church of Australia seems to have set out on its own journey to that fiery destination.
Campaigners in the Anglican Diocese of Perth, led by convicted Hilton bomber Evan Pederick, have followed national church policy and forced the Perth synod to dump all its fossil fuel investments.
Other dioceses, as well as Anglican National Super which provides superannuation for the wider church, have now followed Perth’s lead.
According to Pederick, the decision to sell off coal, gas and oil holdings was an entirely moral one taken to protect God’s creation and the livelihoods of human beings.
But as The Australian’scolumnist Gary Johns has pointed out, “an effective divestment campaign would increase the cost of power and harm the poor.”
Just who is the church trying to help? Fuel costs are already on the rise hitting poorer people hard in the hip pocket. The church doesn’t seem to care much about them.
Nor is it concerned to protect the jobs of those who live in communities like the NSW coalmining town of Denman.
“At the heart of this issue is people with mortgages, people with families,” says Jody Zammit, a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle where coal has been the lifeblood of the region for years.
There is little sign the church is being mindful of any issue concerning the well-being of families, communities and people. Nor is it thinking seriously about energy policy.
Nuclear power would be a good alternative to power derived from coal, but the Anglican Church is dead set against that option. And it’s not much keener on cheap, affordable hydro-electric power.
In fact, the Anglican Church is probably not so much concerned with developing an effective national energy policy as it is with struggling to secure its own survival as church attendance drops.
Ageing church members are dying off leaving empty pews that are not being filled by new parishioners. As a result, the size of the Sunday collection put in the plate each week is dropping too.
The church is desperate to connect with a younger generation of people and to stem the drift away from church life.
Many Anglican church leaders think that greater advocacy on fashionable issues such as safeguarding the environment will help them connect with that missing generation.
But while the church is pursuing the idealistic environmentalists it will actually be harming working parents with families to raise, bills to pay, and homes to heat.
G.K. Chesterton once said, “Those who marry the spirit of the age will find themselves widows in the next.” The Anglican Church of Australia is making the very mistake which Chesterton warned about.
No doubt church leaders are well-intentioned. But sometimes good intentions are not enough. Especially when the consequences of actions have a whiff of sulphur about them.
Rev Peter Kurti is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies
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