Saving Nature

Saving Nature PDF Author: Tarjei Rønnow
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643110529
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Environmentalism has moved into the center of the most influential social movements in late modernity. From preserving pre-industrial landscapes, advocating the intrinsic value of nature, and protecting ecosystems against overexploitation, it has developed into a worldview, ethos, and practice, that is radically shifting the frontiers of politics, economics, and ethics. Saving Nature approaches environmentalism as a belief system. The book explores the impact of environmentalism on faith communities and vice versa, and analyzes how environmental worldviews, values, attitudes, and discourses affect religion. By drawing on sources in the sociology of religion and environmental sociology, it sheds light on the religious dimensions of environmentalism. It locates the quick growth of environmentalism in the history of allegedly secular modernity and interprets environmentalism in the context of modernity's re-sacralization. (Series: Studies in Religion and the Environment/Studien zur Religion und Umwelt - Vol. 4)

Saving Nature

Saving Nature PDF Author: Tarjei Rønnow
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643110529
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book

Book Description
Environmentalism has moved into the center of the most influential social movements in late modernity. From preserving pre-industrial landscapes, advocating the intrinsic value of nature, and protecting ecosystems against overexploitation, it has developed into a worldview, ethos, and practice, that is radically shifting the frontiers of politics, economics, and ethics. Saving Nature approaches environmentalism as a belief system. The book explores the impact of environmentalism on faith communities and vice versa, and analyzes how environmental worldviews, values, attitudes, and discourses affect religion. By drawing on sources in the sociology of religion and environmental sociology, it sheds light on the religious dimensions of environmentalism. It locates the quick growth of environmentalism in the history of allegedly secular modernity and interprets environmentalism in the context of modernity's re-sacralization. (Series: Studies in Religion and the Environment/Studien zur Religion und Umwelt - Vol. 4)

Religion and the Environment

Religion and the Environment PDF Author: Roger S. Gottlieb
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
In the last two decades a new form of religiously motivated social action and a virtually new field of academic study each based in recognition of the connections between religion and humanity 's treatment of the environment have developed. Interactions between religion and environmental concern have been manifest in the explosive growth of ecotheological writings, institutional commitment by organized religions, and environmental activism explicitly oriented to religious ideals. Clergy throughout the world in virtually every denomination have received word from leaders of their religion that the environment no less than sexuality, poverty, or war and peace is now a basic and compelling religious matter. Out of this confrontation have been born vital new theologies based in the recovery of marginalized elements of tradition, profound criticisms of the past, and ecologically oriented visions of God, the Sacred, the Earth, and human beings. Theologians from every religious tradition along with dozens of non-denominational spiritual writers have confronted world religions past attitudes towards nature. In the realm of institutional commitment, public statements and actions by organized religions have grown dramatically. In the context of political action, throughout the U.S. and the world religiously oriented groups take part in environmentally oriented political action: from lobbying and consciousness raising to activist demonstrations and civil disobedience. This collection serves as a comprehensive introduction, overview, and in-depth account of these exciting new developments. The four volumes cover virtually every aspect of the field from theological change and institutional commitment to innovation in liturgy, from new ecumenical connections among different religions and between religion, science and environmental movements, from religious participation in environmental politics to an account of the global social and political contexts in which religious environmentalism has unfolded.

The New Holy Wars

The New Holy Wars PDF Author: Robert Henry Nelson
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271035819
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
"Examines economics and environmentalism as competing public religions that derive from, and continue, a Christian worldview; argues that debates over global warming and other environmental issues are ultimately based on theological differences between their respective adherents"--Provided by publisher.

Faith in Nature

Faith in Nature PDF Author: Thomas Dunlap
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295989815
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The human impulse to religion--the drive to explain the world, humans, and humans’ place in the universe – can be seen to encompass environmentalism as an offshoot of the secular, material faith in human reason and power that dominates modern society. Faith in Nature traces the history of environmentalism--and its moral thrust--from its roots in the Enlightenment and Romanticism through the Progressive Era to the present. Drawing astonishing parallels between religion and environmentalism, the book examines the passion of the movement’s adherents and enemies alike, its concern with the moral conduct of daily life, and its attempt to answer fundamental questions about the underlying order of the world and of humanity’s place within it. Thomas Dunlap is among the leading environmental historians and historians of science in the United States. Originally trained as a chemist, he has a rigorous understanding of science and appreciates its vital importance to environmental thought. But he is also a devout Catholic who believes that the insights of religious revelation need not necessarily be at odds with the insights of scientific investigation. This book grew from his own religious journey and his attempts to understand human ethical obligations and spiritual debts to the natural world. CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2005

Religious Environmental Activism

Religious Environmental Activism PDF Author: Jens Köhrsen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000805387
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
This volume explores how religious and spiritual actors engage for environmental protection and fight against climate change. Climate change and sustainability are increasingly prominent topics among religious and spiritual groups. Different faith traditions have developed "green" theologies, launched environmental protection projects and issued public statements on climate change. Against this background, academic scholarship has raised optimistic claims about the strong potentials of religions to address environmental challenges. Taking a critical stance with regard to these claims, the chapters in this volume show that religious environmentalism is an embattled terrain. Tensions are an inherent part of religious environmentalism. These do not necessarily manifest themselves in open clashes between different parties but in different actions, views, theologies, ambivalences, misunderstandings, and sometimes mistrust. Keeping below the surface, these tensions can create effective barriers for religious environmentalism. The chapters examine how tensions are manifested and dealt with through a range of empirical case studies in various world regions. Covering different religious and spiritual traditions, they reflect on intradenominational, interdenominational, interreligious, and religious-societal tensions. Thereby, this volume sheds new light on the problems that religions face when they seek to take an active role in today’s societal challenges. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Environmental Ethics: A Very Short Introduction

Environmental Ethics: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Robin Attfield
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192517562
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Environmental ethics is a relatively new branch of philosophy, which studies the values and principles involved in combatting environmental problems such as pollution, loss of species and habitats, and climate change. As our environment faces evermore threats from human activities these core issues are becoming increasingly important. In this Very Short Introduction Robin Attfield traces the origins of environmental ethics as a discipline, and considers how it defends the independent value of living creatures, and the need to make decisions informed by the needs and interests of future generations. Exploring the diverse approaches to ethical decisions and judgements, he highlights the importance of making processes of production and consumption sustainable and of addressing human population levels, together with policies for preserving species, sub-species, and their habitats. Along the way Attfield discusses different movements such as Deep Ecology, Social Ecology, the Environmental Justice movement and the Green movement, and also considers the attitudes to the environment of the world's religions, including the approach from the major religions and the contributions of the indigenous religions of Asia, Africa and North America. Analysing the current threat of climate change, and proposals for climate engineering, he demonstrates how responsibility for the environment ultimately lies with us all, from states and corporations to individuals, and emphasises how concerted action is required to manage our environment ethically and sustainably. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Spirit of the Environment

Spirit of the Environment PDF Author: David E Cooper
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113476717X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Spirit of the Environment brings spiritual and religious concerns to environmental issues. Providing a much needed alternative to exploring human beings' relationship to the natural world through the restrictive lenses of 'science', 'ecology', or even 'morality', this book offers a fresh perspective to the field. Spirit of the Enironment addresses: * the environmental attitudes of the major religions; * the relationship between art and nature; * the Gaia hypothesis; * the non-instrumental values which have inspired environmental concern. Contributors range from a variety of disciplines including philosophy, comparative religion, education and social anthropology, providing students with an intriguing survey on the role that spirituality and religion play in nature. This is a vital collection for those eager to examine the relationship between the spiritual and the environment.

Grounding Religion

Grounding Religion PDF Author: Whitney Bauman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136931465
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
How do religion and the natural world interact with one another? Grounding Religion introduces students to the growing field of religion and ecology, exploring a series of questions about how the religious world influences and is influenced by ecological systems. Grounding Religion examines the central concepts of ‘religion’ and ‘ecology’ using analysis, dialogical exchanges by established scholars in the field, and case studies. The first textbook to encourage critical thinking about the relationships between the environment and religious beliefs and practices, it also provides an expansive overview of the academic field of religion and ecology as it has emerged in the past forty years. The contributors introduce students to new ways of thinking about environmental degradation and the responses of religious people. Each chapter brings a new perspective on key concepts such as sustainability, animals, gender, economics, environmental justice, globalization and place. Discussion questions and contemporary case studies focusing on topics such as Muslim farmers in the US and Appalachian environmental struggles help students apply the perspective to current events, other media, and their own interests.

Nature and the Environment in Contemporary Religious Contexts

Nature and the Environment in Contemporary Religious Contexts PDF Author: Thomas Donlin-Smith
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 152751207X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This collection of essays discusses the human relationship with, and responsibilities toward, the natural environment from the perspective of religions and the social sciences. The chapters examine a variety of conditions that have contributed to the contemporary environmental crisis, including abuse of power, economic greed, industrialization, deforestation, and unplanned waste management. They then discuss concepts from several different religious texts and traditions that promote environmental protection as a sacred moral duty for all humanity. Religious concepts such as dharma (duty toward Mother Earth), tikkun Olam (repair of the world), khalifa (people as deputies of God on earth), amanah (the universe as a trust in human hands), and paticca samuppada (dependent co-arising) are employed to argue that all the components of the biosphere are integral to the cosmos, each piece with its own value and role in the harmony of the whole. The book makes it clear that religions can become more “green” and play a helpful role in raising our ecological consciousness and supporting preservation of the environment into the future.

New Holy Wars

New Holy Wars PDF Author: Robert H. Nelson
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271047321
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description