Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has taken yet another jab at people of faith, particularly those who are not convinced of the science behind climate change.
Speaking at CNN’s “Climate Crisis” Town Hall event on Wednesday, the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana said it was time to address the “very conservative places” and engage in frank dialogue about the threat of climate change.
But not set on stopping there, the affectionately known “Mayor Pete,” went on to take yet another swing at those Christians who hold a different view to him on the issue.
“Let’s talk in language that is understood across the heartland about faith,” Buttigieg explained to CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “If you believe that God is watching as poison is being belched into the air of creation, and people are being harmed by it — countries are at risk of vanishing in low-lying areas — what do you suppose God thinks of that? I bet He thinks it’s messed up.”
Buttigieg added that you “don’t have to be religious to see the moral dimensions of this” issue, because “frankly, every religious and non-religious moral tradition tells us that we have some responsibility to stewardship, for taking care of the world around us… taking care of our neighbor.”
Buttigieg added that “eventually, it gets to the point where this is less about the planet as an abstract thing, and more about specific people suffering specific harm because of what we’re doing right now.”
“At least one way of talking about this,” he said, “is that it’s a kind of sin.”
This is not the first time Buttigieg has adopted faith-language to address the issues of the day. Earlier this year, he declared that he “can’t imagine” God would be a Republican.
He has also been a fierce critic of Mike Pence, taking swipes at his conservative Christian faith whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Speaking in April about how his marriage to his husband, Chasten, had made him a better person, Buttigieg also remarked that this union had improved his relationship with the Lord.
“Yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God,” he said.
“If me being gay was a choice,” Buttigieg added, “it was a choice that was made far, far above my paygrade.”
“That’s the thing that I wish the Mike Pences’ of the world would understand… That if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Pence had never commented on the mayor’s gay marriage.
In response, the Vice President said that Buttigieg should “know better” than to say “things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally.”