In its 11 November issue, New Scientist magazine reports that the Christian fundamentalist educational movement in America has begun publishing its own science textbooks. 


You would expect these books to condemn Darwin and all his works, and they do.  But they go beyond this in their conflict with conventional science - they deny the reality and even the possibility of climate change.


New Scientist quotes one of these books as saying “As Christians, we must remember that God provided certain checks and balances in creation to prevent many of the global upsets that have been predicted by environmentalists”, and another as claiming “All of the scientific evidence gathered indicates that there is no danger of a global warming disaster”.


At the moment, it is possible to deny the reality of climate change, because the evidence is not overwhelming to those of us who are not experts.  Even the experts admit that their forecasts for the impact of long-term global warming are subject to some statistical doubt. 


But if the warnings turn out to be right and climate change becomes obvious and undeniable, what will the Christians say then?  Will they admit they were wrong?


Here I will make a prophecy.  It may not be inspired by a vision or even a dream, but I predict that if the evidence for global warming becomes inescapable, the Christian fundamentalists will not turn round and say “OK, God screwed up - he forgot about the checks and balances”. 


No, they will simply blame it all on immorality, same-sex marriages and those devilish Muslims.  The story will be “God wanted to save the world, but mankind did not listen to him - what is happening is God’s terrible punishment, sent to warn us (no, you!) to mend your ways.  Repent, repent, before it is too late and we have another biblical flood!


Or maybe they will welcome the effects of the catastrophe as signalling the End of the World, as foretold in the Book of Revelation.


It is rare that social scientists make predictions - they are too easily proved wrong.  But as someone who is not a social scientist, I predict that when and if the disaster comes, the Christian fundamentalists will still be saying “we told you so”.