Does being Christian mean you are more likely to care about the environment?

What is it about?

Some people have argued that Christianity may discourage people from caring about the environment because they interpret the Bible too literally. This study looked at this question by studying over 23,000 school students aged 13 to 15 years from the UK. The students completed a questionnaire that included measures of attitude towards Christianity, conservative Christian belief, concern for the environment, and frequency of green behaviours. Those students that attended church most often and prayed most frequently were more concerned about the environment and tended to do more pro-environment activities. The best predictor of pro-environmentalism was having a positive attitude toward Christianity, though students with conservative beliefs, or those who said they were Christians but did not attend church had lower levels of environmental concern and behaviour.

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Why is it important?

This study shows that, far from being anti-environment, teenage Christians may be more pro-environment that their non-Christian peers. Importantly, those who identify as Christians but do not practice their faith are not as pro-environment as Christians who attend church and pray frequently. One caveat is that certain types of Christian belief, in this case conservatives beliefs, may not foster pro-environmentalism as do others.