Teaching & Learning Guide for: Religious Environmentalism in the West

Abstract

This guide accompanies the following article(s): Religious Environmentalism in the West I: a Focus on Christianity, Religion Compass 3/4 (2009) pp. 717–737, 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00161.xReligious Environmentalism in the West. II: Impediments to the Praxis of Christian Environmentalism in Australia, Religion Compass 3/4 (2009) pp. 738–751, 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00162.x Author’s Introduction Religious environmentalism (also termed, amongst others, ‘religion and ecology’) is a growing field of academic study that encompasses disciplines such as ecological theology, ecopsychology, environmental education, political science, environmental sociology and applied ecology. This field of research is of particular political significance as it is argued that the rise of religious environmentalism in the West has been and continues to be a factor in promoting an alliance of socially conservative religion and socially progressive environmentalism. Growing concern about climate change is a factor in the rise of religious environmentalism, in part because the impacts of climate change are seen to be significant for people as well as non-human Nature. Religious groups who have long been concerned with human welfare, often to the exclusion of any form of environmentalism, are increasingly seeing that human welfare and ecological well-being are inextricably linked. Similarly, secular environmentalists and scientists are acknowledging the potentially powerful role that religion and spirituality can play in changing human behaviours for the better. Author Recommends The following recommended works are specific to Christian environmentalism. 1 Hessel, D.T. and Ruether, R.R. (eds.), (2000). Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press/Centre for the Study of World Religions. This is a large volume of work written by a range of authors. It is a core resource in the field of Christian environmentalism, and provides good coverage of this broad field. 2 Habel, N. (2000). Introducing the Earth Bible. In: N. Habel (ed.), Readings from the Perspective of Earth (Earth Bible Vol. 1), pp. 1–25. Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press. The Earth Bible is a series of theological texts that amount to an ecologically oriented reinterpretation of biblical texts. 3 Kearns, L. (1996). ‘Saving the creation: Christian environmentalism in the United States’, Sociology of Religion, 57(1), pp. 55–59. http://users.drew.edu/lkearns/creation.pdf Whilst written in a USA context, this relatively short work (which is freely available on-line) provides a classification of religious environmentalism that is useful more widely. It provides some particularly useful background information to important works and events in the development of Christian environmentalism. 4 McDonagh, S. (1990). The Greening of the Church. Quezon City: Claretian Publications. This is a potent earlier work on religious environmentalism in the Catholic Church. The author, himself a Catholic, points out the many contradictions and deficiencies in the Vatican’s then environmental policies and proclamations, including a failure to deal with the issue of human population growth. This publication is a powerful insight into the development of institutional Catholic Church environmentalism. It even addresses the anti-environmentalist views of then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who has since promoted a ‘greener’ view. 5 McFarland Taylor, S. (2007). Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. This text and associated articles in the journals ‘Worldviews’ and ‘Ecotheology’ explores the growing movement of environmentally activist Roman Catholic nuns in North America and the implications of this movement for theorising new directions in religion and culture. 6 Northcott, M.S. (1996). The Environment and Christian Ethics. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. The author argues that the ‘natural tradition law’ within Christianity ‘provides significant resources for an ethical response to the environmental crisis of modern civilisation, but only if the humanocentric revision of this tradition by Finnis, Grisez and the Vatican is rejected in favour of an ecologically informed reappropriation of the pre-Enlightenment natural law tradition, focused as it was not just on human life and human moral goods but on the moral significance and moral goods of the natural created order’ p137. 7 Palmer, M. (1992). Dancing to Armageddon. London: Aquarian/Thorsons. An important text dealing with the history of Christianity in relation to environmental thought, differences between Western and Eastern Christianity, and the fact that other faiths are linked to environmental harm i.e. Christianity is not solely or even primarily to blame. Palmer explores some of the ecologically problematic aspects of Christianity, capitalism and Western culture. He recognises that ultimately the ecological and social crises are crises of the mind. 8 Scharper, S.B. (1997). Redeeming the Time: A Political Theology of the Environment. New York: Continuum. An incisive, original and deep investigation into Christianity in the context of the ecological crisis. The author writes: ‘Political theology maintains that this new human-nonhuman relationship is fundamentally moral, not simply biological, and acknowledges, like process theology, a primal interrelationship between the human and nonhuman realms’ p189. The text is readily understood and provides some excellent background to some of the core philosophical and theological issues associated with Christian environmentalism. 9 Berry, T. (1988). The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. An earlier work important in understanding the ‘Creation spirituality’ view within Christian environmentalism. 10 Boff, L. (1997). Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. New York: Orbis Books. An important text in the context of the development of the ‘eco-justice’ paradigm that links Christian concern for social justice to the more recent concern for ecological justice. Online Materials 1 http://fore.research.yale.edu/index.html This is the website of the Forum On Religion & Ecology (FORE) originally based in Harvard, now at Yale University in the USA. This large and multifaceted website provides a wealth of information to researchers in the field of religious environmentalism. Whilst it provides an abundance of information relating to Christianity, it also deals with other traditions. It is US-centric but is not US-exclusive. Resources include bibliographies and lists of/links to engaged projects operated by various individual, ecumenical and multifaith groups. A Canadian chapter of FORE has also been established (http://www.cfore.ca/) and there is a similar entity in Europe (http://www.hf.ntnu.no/relnateur/). A FORE will be established at Monash University (http://www.monash.edu.au/) in Australian during 2010. 2 http://www.arcworld.org/ This is the website of the Alliance of Religions & Conservation (ARC), a group founded in 1986 by WWF International through its then President, Prince Phillip of the UK. ARC was a pioneering endeavour in the field of religious environmentalism, and is particularly significant given its multifaith basis and its focus on ecological outcomes. ARC continues to grow, including several faith traditions beyond its founding five. The website is updated regularly and contains news and a wide range of resources for researchers. 3 http://www.religionandnature.com/society/index.htm The International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature & Culture is a professional association of particular relevance to researchers in the field of religious environmentalism. The Society holds international conferences and produces a peer-reviewed journal. 4 http://www.ecocongregation.org/ Eco-Congregation developed from a partnership between a UK Government-funded environmental charity and the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. It aims to encourage churches to consider environmental issues and to enable local churches to make positive contributions in their life and mission. The project now encompasses the whole of the UK and Canada. Aspects of the project, particularly its environmental audit process for churches, are also in use in Australia. 5 http://creationcare.org/ This is the website of the Evangelical Environment Network (EEN) based in the USA. EEN operated the What Would Jesus Drive website and associated project aimed at discouraging the widespread use of large and inefficient motor vehicles in the USA. EEN also publishes Creation Care magazine. EEN’s website contains, amongst other things, programs with a strong practical focus intended to reduce the ecological footprint of individuals and churches. EEN is a significant factor in what has been termed the rise of the ‘religious left’ in US politics. Sample Syllabus This sample syllabus includes readings appropriate to both general-level courses as indicated by A, and advanced courses as indicated by B. Advanced students should read content listed for A and B. Week 1. Introducing environmentalism A Nash, R.F. (1990). The Rights of Nature: A History of Environmental Ethics. Leichhardt, NSW: Primavera Press. Chapters 1–3 B Hay, P.R. (2002). Main Currents in Western Environmental Thought. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. Chapters 1–2 Week 2. Introducing religious environmentalism A Nash 1990, Chapter 4 B Gottlieb, R.S. (2006). A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapters 1–4 Week 3. Christian environmentalism in the West A Hessel, D.T. and Ruether, R.R. (2000). Introduction: Current thought on Christianity and ecology. In: D. T. Hessel and R. R. Ruether (eds.), Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans, pp. xxxiii–xlvii. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press/CSWR Gottlieb, R.S. (2006). A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 7. Douglas, S.M. (2009). ‘Religious environmentalism in the West I: a focus on Christianity’, Religion Compass, 3(4), pp. 717–737. B Kearns, L. (1996). ‘Saving the creation: Christian environmentalism in the United States’, Sociology of Religion, 57(1), pp. 55–59. Grizzle, R.E. and Barrett, C.B. (2003). ‘The one body of Christian environmentalism’, Zygon, 33(3), pp. 233–253. Harper, C. (2008). ‘Religion and environmentalism’, Journal of Religion & Society, Supplement Series, 3, pp. 5–26. Week 4. Christianity: ecological sinner or saviour? A White L. Jr., (1967). ‘The historical roots of our ecologic crisis’, Science, 155 (3767), pp. 1203–1207 B Nasr, S.H. (1996). Religion and the Order of Nature. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 6 Week 5. The ‘greening’ of the Church A McDonagh, S. (1990). The Greening of the Church, Quezon City: Claretian Publications. Pages 175–198 B McFarland Taylor, S. (2002). ‘Reinhabiting religion: green sisters, ecological renewal, and the biogeography of religious landscape’, Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion, 6(3), pp. 227–252 Mische, P.M. (2000). The integrity of Creation: challenges and opportunities for praxis. In: D. T. Hessel and R. R. Ruether (eds.), Christianity & Ecology, Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, pp. 591–602. Gottlieb, R.S. (2006). A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapter 8. Douglas, S.M. (2009). ‘Religious environmentalism in the West II: impediments to the praxis of Christian environmentalism in Australia’, Religion Compass, 3(4), pp. 738–751. Focus Questions 1 Many publications dealing with Christianity’s relationship with Nature mention the influential speech and journal article by historian, Lyn White Jr., in the late 1960’s. White was widely interpreted as condemning Christianity as the source of attitudes and behaviours that caused the modern ecological crisis. Read White’s 1967 article and discuss your perspective on White’s argument. 2 Christian religious texts originate in the Middle East and precede the knowledge of modern ecology and of a global ecological crisis. Can a text-based Christian environmentalism make a significant and positive contribution to mitigating or even solving modern ecological problems? For example, what do Christian texts have to ‘say’ about the premature extinction of species in Amazonian rainforest or Australian rangelands, about global warming and ozone layer depletion? 3 A theme within Christian environmentalism is that of ecofeminism, for example, the works of Sally McFague and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Christianity has been criticised for its anthropocentrism and its patriarchal orientation. Ecofeminism argues that for Christianity to adopt an ecologically sound agenda, it must simultaneously overturn its privileging of the male; a factor seen as being linked to the abuse of Nature/Creation, which is seen as having a feminine character (i.e. Mother Earth, Mother Nature etc.). Can Christianity adapt to both of these challenges and remain authentic, or would it no longer be Christianity? How far and in what ways can religion change before it becomes arguably a different religion? 4 Some views within Christianity argue that environmentalism is not only pointless but sacrilege – that it gets in the way of God’s plan. This view is based on a fatalistic reading of Revelations in which Earth or at least its surface is to be destroyed by God to cleanse it of sin and sinners (who will be sent to Hell). The ‘new Earth’ is remade as a latter day Eden, to be occupied only by the devout. Contrasting this view is that which sees that the destruction forecast in Revelations is not inevitable – that if humans act with Creation/Nature rather than against it (and against God), Eden may be remade through ecological care and restoration. Compare the ‘environmentalism is pointless’ perspective to the ‘environmentalism is a Christian duty’ view based on their interpretations of biblical text, and discuss their implications. 5 Examine the role that knowledge of and concern about the effects of global climate change has had and is having on the development of Christian environmentalism? What are the trends in Western Christian responses to climate change? Seminar Activity Divide the class into three groups representing the three forms of Christian environmentalism recognised by Kearns (1996): i.e. Stewardship, Eco-justice, and Creation Spirituality. Each group is given Kearns’ description of these forms. The groups should familiarise themselves with the perspectives held by these approaches to Christian environmentalism. Each group will then present the perspective of its particular form of environmentalism in relation to the following topics: 1 ‘All of Creation is potentially available for human use, as long as such use is ‘wise’ and in accordance with Christian principles’; 2 ‘Secular environmentalists miss the point because it is only by resolving issues of global human poverty, that we can hope to resolve the ecological crisis’; 3 ‘Humans are only of importance to God to the extent that they don’t, individually and collectively, destroy the Creation of which they are merely a part’.