Humorist Josh Billings once said, "It's not what we don't know that gets us into trouble. It's what we know that just ain't so." Billings must have read my e-mails last week.

After "A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change" was released on March 10, it set off a firestorm of media attention. The media coverage wasn't shocking, but I was somewhat surprised at a few e-mails I received. Though the signatory list on the declaration has skyrocketed from the initial 46 Southern Baptists to more than 200, I was also bombarded with e-mail correspondence that can only be described as uninformed.

One Southern Baptist pastor said that environmental problems are just "signs of the end times and God's judgment," and we should embrace them. Another e-mail called me a socialist, tree-hugging liberal and other names that I would be embarrassed to put in print. On "ABC World News," the president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, said that addressing these issues was just a gateway to abortion and same-sex relationships. To borrow from Billings, these things just ain't so.

I have encouraged people to actually read the declaration rather than react to the media. The declaration is freely available at baptistcreationcare.org and encourages people of faith to devote attention to "real problems that deserve our attention" while reaffirming traditional stances on marriage and the sanctity of life. (As I remarked on "World News," you can be pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-environment. They are not mutually exclusive.)

Finally, many attacked the document for not making specific recommendations on how we should act prudently. But the goal of the document was not to support a specific action, rather to call people to begin participating in the conversations. Furthermore, it was not written by experienced policy-makers, and to have included specific recommendations would have presented an insurmountable challenge.

If the declaration had recommended driving hybrid vehicles, people would have complained that it didn't mention compact fluorescent light bulbs. If I had included light bulbs, people would have complained that the bulbs contain mercury.

Like the saying goes, you can't please everyone. There are, in fact, a glut of ways that one can be a better environmental steward, but the document was better served by encouraging environmental stewardship and leaving the specifics to individuals.

On the other hand, I have been encouraging people to find ways to be good stewards in their own communities. I tell people to check the local papers for community clean-up projects and talk to co-workers about carpooling. When people make visible progress in their own community, it is powerfully disarming.

If you live in Atlanta, for example, Mayor Shirley Franklin has enlisted us with more than 20 international cities for Earth Hour 2008. Participants should turn off nonessential lights from 8-9 p.m. on March 29 to conserve energy and make a dramatic statement.

The environmental problems we are facing are real, and Americans —- especially Christians —- are morally obligated to address them. If the opponents to this declaration and environmental stewardship would check their facts and begin personally investing in their communities, many rises in blood pressure would be averted and my e-mail box wouldn't fill up so quickly.

> Jonathan Merritt is the spokesman for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative and a faith and culture writer.