E. Calvin Beisner

{{Christianity|1}}
'''E. Calvin Beisner''' is a member of the KKK, [[right-wing]] political activist and [[dominionist]]. He was a [[theology|theologian]] at the Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, [[Florida]] from 2000 to 2007. He promotes just about every brand of extreme [[wingnut]] crazy, though he has been particularly active in [[global warming]] [[denial]] and [[anti-environmentalism]] as well as being a prominent member of the alt-right.

==Anti-environmentalism, climate denial, and the Cornwall Alliance==
===Cornwall Declaration===
Beisner launched his crusade against environmentalism in 2000 with a document called the "Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship." It was signed by a number of prominent wingnut [[fundamentalist]]s including [[James Dobson]], [[Chuck Colson]] and R.C. Sproul. The document is essentially an attempt to hijack the [[theology|theological]] concept of "stewardship." In [[Christian]] theology, stewardship is the concept that the [[Earth]] and its resources belong to [[God]], but he has given them to man as gift. Thus, protecting the Earth and the environment is a service to God, or, in other words, humans have stewardship over the Earth and a responsibility to care for it.<ref group=note>A common passage used to justify this is {{bible|Psalm|24|1}}: "The Earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it."</ref> This theological concept has historically been used to recruit [[evangelical]]s for [[environmentalism|environmental activism]]. The Cornwall Declaration spins this as a [[denialist]] tactic:
{{cquote|First, the document notes that "many people mistakenly view humans as principally consumer and polluters rather than producers and stewards.”

Second, Cornwall takes a critical look at the perception that “nature knows best,” or that “the earth, untouched by human hands is the ideal.”

Third, the declaration points out that while “some environmental concerns are well founded and serious, others are without foundation or greatly exaggerated.”<ref>[http://archive.ph/ZyJqL About the Cornwall Alliance] Cornwall Alliance (archived from 14 Apr 2013 13:12:25 UTC).</ref>}}

===Cornwall Alliance===
In 2005, Beisner founded a crank group known as the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance (ISA) to promote the "[[denialism|tenets]]" of this document. In response to the launching of the Evangelical Climate Initiative, a project [[lobbying]] for action on global warming, Beisner (along with some other notable deniers such as [[Roy Spencer]] and [[Ross McKitrick]]) authored "A Call to Truth", a denialist declaration also targeted at evangelicals.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060215203903/http://www.christiansandclimate.org/ Evangelical Climate Initiative] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20060808215952/http://scienceblogs.com/stoat/2006/08/a_call_to_truth_prudence_and_p.php Stoat on "A Call to Truth"]</ref>

In 2006, the ISA "reorganized" into the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. "Reorganized" translates to expanding their denialist campaign by attracting large sums of [[oil]] money and cosponsoring denier conferences and [[propaganda]] campaigns with other [[astroturf]] organizations like the [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]] and the [[Heritage Foundation]]. Beisner also sits on the advisory board of the [[Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow]], which employs a laundry list of [[experts for hire]] including [[Patrick Michaels]], [[Marc Morano]], and [[Michael Fumento]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041128183604/http://exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=231 Exxon Secrets Beisner fact sheet]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110728035800/http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/06/15/174718/cornwall-alliance-frontgroup/ The Oily Operators Behind the Cornwall Alliance], Think Progress</ref>

Their output mostly consists of cut-and-paste jobs of various esteemed scholars such as Spencer, McKitrick, the [[Idso family]], [[Christopher Monckton]], [[Richard Lindzen]] and the rest of the usual suspects (along with the [[Oregon Petition]], naturally) with some [[quote mining|quote mines]] of actual research and references to the [[Bible]] thrown in.

Beisner was tapped for his "expertise" to testify at a Congressional hearing on global warming in 2009, alongside Monckton.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090406233958/http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2009/04/monckton.php Should You Get Your Science from the IPCC or the Bible?], Deltoid</ref>

===The Green Dragon===
In 2010, the Cornwall Alliance launched its "Green Dragon" project to hype a 12-part documentary series they produced and the accompanying book. It features a number of luminaries in the field of religious zealotry, including Beisner himself, [[David Barton]] of [[WallBuilders]], [[Wendy Wright]] of [[Concerned Women for America]], [[Bryan Fischer]] of the [[American Family Association]], Tom Minnery of [[Focus on the Family]], and Tony Perkins of the [[Family Research Council]]. Besides copious amounts of climate denial and [[Gore's Law|attacks on]] [[Al Gore]], the series pushes some [[John Birch Society|John Bircher-esque]] [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] (updated for the 21<sup>st</sup> century) about environmentalism (sorry, the "Green Dragon") being a [[secular religion]] supplanting Christianity, a front for a [[New World Order|world government]], and a [[useless eaters|population control scheme]]. Oh, and also, James Cameron's ''Avatar'' is supposedly a propaganda piece for this shadowy agenda.<ref>Commentary and attempts to review this nonsense: [https://web.archive.org/web/20101222012647/http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/12/the_religious_right_sets_new_w.php Ed Brayton], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110214115339/http://therevealer.org/archives/5986 The Revealer], [https://web.archive.org/web/20101211104442/http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/12/the-cancun-green-dragon-freak-out.html The Wild Hunt I] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120416015726/http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2010/11/conservative-christians-and-the-green-dragon.html and II]</ref> The series got ringing endorsements from [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Victoria Jackson]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101023081216/http://mediamatters.org/blog/201010190024 Beck] and [https://www.wnd.com/2011/04/292589/ Jackson] hype the series.</ref>

==Miscellaneous crankery==
*Beisner is, of course, a proponent of [[Intelligent Design]]. He didn't care much for the outcome of the [[Dover trial]] and he has done "[[bullshit|research]]" for the [[Institute for Creation Research]].<ref>Beisner: [https://web.archive.org/web/20131102193355/http://www.ecalvinbeisner.com/freearticles/DoverIDRuling.pdf Dover ID Ruling], [http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=270 Macro-evolution "research"]</ref>
*[[AIDS]] is punishment for (what else?) [[homosexuality|the gay]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150414105917/http://www.ecalvinbeisner.com/freearticles/AidsandRationality.pdf Beisner on AIDS]</ref> The [[homosexual lobby]] is also apparently a huge force in [[Washington DC]].
*Tornadoes? Just another punishment from God.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vSnLWLlUw0 Cal Beisner: Tornadoes Are A Taste Of God's Judgment], Right Wing Watch's YouTube Channel</ref>
*In response to [[Stephen Hawking]]: "The [[law of gravity]] is, of course, not nothing, and consequently the [[universe]]'s spontaneous self-creation wouldn't be a creation from nothing anyway."<ref>[http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/worldnetdaily-scorns-stephen-hawkings-book/ WorldNetDaily Scorns Stephen Hawking's Book], Sensuous Curmudgeon</ref>
*His batshit crazy brand of Christianity is just fine but [[Oneness Pentecostalism]] is a [[cult]].<ref>[http://www.apologeticsindex.org/cpoint2.html Beisner responds to David K. Bernard]</ref>
*His latest project is something called ''In His Image 2012,'' which is — you guessed it — yet more dominionist-inspired noisemaking against all the usual predictable bogeymen like "naturalistic [[Darwinism]]", "free-sex, no-fault [[divorce]]", "radical environmentalism" and the like.<ref>[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cal-beisner-rallies-troop-fight-spiritual-world-war Cal Beisner Rallies the Troops to Fight the 'Spiritual World War',]''Right Wing Watch''</ref>
*In an appearance on the American Family Association's ''Focal Point'', Beisner and the even more cracked [[Bryan Fischer]] agreed that [[GOP]] Vice Presidential candidate [[Paul Ryan]]'s suspect record on environmental regulation was actually a sign that Ryan understood that "God made man in His image to be creative and productive as He is, to fill and to rule the earth." What this has to do with understanding how the environment actually ''works'' is anyone's guess, but not to worry: carbon dioxide can't ''possibly'' have any deleterious effects on the atmosphere since plants eat carbon dioxide and an increase in carbon dioxide actually means that "the more the crops grow… the cheaper the food is around the world" and this "actually helps especially the poor" ''(sic)''.<ref>[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-beisner-ryan-biblical-environment Fischer and Beisner Praise Ryan's 'Biblical View of the Environment',] ''Right Wing Watch''</ref> This might be one of the finest examples of combined Dominionist [[doublethink]] and [[Dunning-Kruger effect|Dunning-Kruger]] pretzel logic ever found.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20021023202857/http://www.ecalvinbeisner.com/ Beisner's homepage]
*[http://www.cornwallalliance.org/ Cornwall Alliance]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100426171158/http://www.resistingthegreendragon.com/ You, too, can Resist the Green Dragon here!] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110113131228/http://superstore.wnd.com/VIDEO/Resisting-the-Green-Dragon-DVD-Set and don't forget to buy your copy through Whirled Nut Daily!])
*[http://www.pfaw.org/rww-in-focus/the-green-dragon-slayers-how-the-religious-right-and-the-corporate-right-are-joining-fo The ‘Green Dragon’ Slayers: How the Religious Right and the Corporate Right are Joining Forces to Fight Environmental Protection], Right Wing Watch
*[http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/print/beisner_print.html PBS interview with Bill Moyers]
*[http://legendofpineridge.blogspot.com/2011/02/astroturf-religious-organizations-deny.html Astroturf "Religious" Organizations Deny Global Warming and Denigrate Christians], Legend of Pine Ridge
*[http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/robert_mcnally/preaching.html Review of Beisner's ''Answers for Atheists, Agnostics, and Other Thoughtful Skeptics'' at Infidels]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

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[[Category:Christian apologists]]
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[[Category:Denialists]]
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[[Category:Homophobes]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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[[Category:White supremacists]]

Categories: Christian apologists, Creationists, Denialists, Florida, Global warming denialists, Fundamentalists, Homophobes, Living people, Pseudophysics promoters, Pseudoscience promoters, Racists, Right-wing activists, Conspiracy theorists, White supremacists