Well, we’ve had the kids playing truant to protest against climate change. Now it’s once more the turn of the adults, who have taken to playing with fire engines to make their point. Buying a de-commissioned appliance off eBay, Extinction Rebellion campaigners tried last week to hose down the Treasury façade with fake blood – organic water mixed with beetroot – to protest government investment in fossil fuels.1
Except they lost control of the hose, and managed to drench both themselves and bystanders before threatening to bring more chaos to London this week. At the time of writing on Tuesday morning, 280 arrests had been made, diverting precious police resources from other vital duties including the prevention of terrorism.
The New Religion
Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn hit the nail on the head by referring to these protests as the new religion of ‘eco-fascism’. “Not for the first time,” he wrote, “I find myself quoting Chesterton: When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.”2
He also revealed that Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who gave the cause his unequivocal support on Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show, had trained as a Jesuit priest, and went on to say that, because climate action is seen by the establishment as a ‘righteous’ cause, as opposed to Countryside Marchers in the past, the police had been treating them with kid gloves. Littlejohn described their activities as “a New Age version of a Jolly Boys’ Outing” while also having a dig at the hypocrisy of using a gas-guzzling vehicle for the purpose.
“When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.”
Faced with a critical shortage of police due mainly to budget considerations, these protests are costing taxpayers a fortune. Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Nick Ephgrave said it had placed more strain on the force this year than the Grenfell Tower fire and the London Bridge and Westminster terror attacks combined had done in 2017. Since April, a record 83,000 frontline officers have been diverted from normal duties to tackle the eco-warrior pandemic.3
So, does Littlejohn have a point about it being the ‘new religion’? He surely does. It has many of the marks often associated with those generally perceived as religious fanatics, except that it’s fake. Worse than that, it’s counterfeit!
A Lost Generation
G. K. Chesterton was right. The kind of crazy beliefs and antics we are witnessing on our streets today are the symptoms of a lost generation that has stopped believing in an ultimate Creator of the universe. If they had known more about God and his Word, the Bible, they would have been aware that the Father of mankind is fully conversant with the eco-system and the troubling effects of its deterioration.
In St Paul’s letter to the Romans, for example, he makes it clear that the earth is in “bondage to decay” due to sin entering the world at the beginning of creation, but that it will be liberated at a future time along with those who have been adopted into God’s family through faith in Christ (see Romans 8:18-27). The Apostle Peter also tackled the subject by warning that, as the world of Noah’s time was deluged by water, “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).
The Father of mankind is fully conversant with the eco-system and the troubling effects of its deterioration.
The present earth will indeed be destroyed – but by God, not carbon emissions created by man. More to the point is the certainty that ‘ungodly men’ will be destroyed, and that is something each of us individually can rectify by trusting in God and looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13; Rev 21:1). The prophet Isaiah, some 2,700 years ago, wrote: “…the earth will wear out like a garment…But my salvation will last forever…” (Isa 51:6).
True Freedom
Don’t get caught up with a hopeless cause having to resort to ridiculous measures like using fake blood. True freedom for men and women, and the earth itself, will only be found through the righteous blood of Jesus that has already paid the price for the sin of all who put their trust in him.
The ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt by marking their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificed lamb. God told them: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you…” (sparing their first-born sons – Exodus 12:13). It was a plague too far for Pharaoh as wails of anguish were heard across the land, and it paved the way for the Jewish Passover and the Red Sea crossing en route to the Promised Land.
True freedom for men and women, and the earth itself, will only be found through the righteous blood of Jesus.
Rather than spraying fake blood on government buildings, find true freedom by marking the door of your heart with the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God and ultimate fulfilment of all our hopes and dreams.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” (Isa 1:18-20)
References
1 Fury as Extinction Rebellion protesters use a FIRE ENGINE to spray 400 gallons of fake blood over the Treasury. Daily Mail, 3 October 2019.
2 As eco-warriors plan to bring London to a standstill yet again, it's time to bring back the water cannon. Daily Mail, 3 October 2019.
3 Rebellion Extinction protesters pulled a record 83,000 police officers away from their normal duties. Daily Mail, 2 October 2019.
