Showing posts with label Thoreau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoreau. Show all posts

2019/09/04

What Are People For?: Essays - Kindle edition by Wendell Berry. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

What Are People For?: Essays - Kindle edition by Wendell Berry. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.



What Are People For?: Essays Second Edition, Kindle Edition
by Wendell Berry (Author)


4.5 out of 5 stars 55 customer reviews



Ranging from America’s insatiable consumerism and household economies to literary subjects and America’s attitude toward waste, here Berry gracefully navigates from one topic to the next. He speaks candidly about the ills plaguing America and the growing gap between people and the land. Despite the somber nature of these essays, Berry’s voice and prose provide an underlying sense of faith and hope. He frames his reflections with poetic responsibility, standing up as a firm believer in the power of the human race not only to fix its past mistakes but to build a future that will provide a better life for all.





ISBN-13: 978-1582434872
File Size: 557 KB
Print Length: 225 pages
Biography
Wendell E. Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. A prolific author, he has written many novels, short stories, poems, and essays. He is an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a recipient of The National Humanities Medal, and the Jefferson Lecturer for 2012. He is also a 2013 Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Berry was named the recipient of the 2013 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. On January 28, 2015, he became the first living writer to be ushered into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Guy Mendes (Guy Mendes) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

55 customer reviews
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Lori R. Dowell
5.0 out of 5 starsmy favorite being Hannah CoulterNovember 11, 2015
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I have read several of Wendell Berry's novels, my favorite being Hannah Coulter, but have never read his essays before. His message in Hannah Coulter is similar to his message in this book, which is for us to think about the meaning of our lives, exactly as the title says. What is important to us and what should be important to us? This is an excellent book that I recommend to everyone. I will be buying several copies of this book for my friends for Christmas and Birthday gifts.

7 people found this helpful

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Kyle Gardner
5.0 out of 5 starsEssential Reading!March 14, 2014
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Wendell Berry is a national treasure. His contributions are monumental. This collection of essays is especially worthy of reading again and again – insightful brilliance throughout! I especially enjoyed his essay about Ed Abbey (who we lost 25 years ago today) and the piece entitled “Nature as Measure.” There is no better indictment of industrial agriculture and the cultural mindset which seeks only profit.

Only Berry could say this: “There is no sense and no sanity in objecting to the desecration of the flag while tolerating and justifying and encouraging as a daily business the desecration of the country for which it stands.” And that was 1989!

If you’re a fan of Wendell Berry you know and you nod in agreement. Now, can we spread the word? Berry’s wisdom, which is rooted in the land and his experience working the land, is critical for retaking the moral and political high ground from the corporate destroyers of the land. People are becoming aware and are willing to speak out. Can this tip the balance favorably?

We couldn’t do it without Wendell Berry!

Kyle Gardner, author, Momentary Threshold

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Jim Wilder
5.0 out of 5 stars"This successful life we're livin' got us feuding ..."March 7, 2009
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This book inspired me to believe individuals and community can mutually enhance each other, and that God intended for us to enjoy our time on Earth much more than we generally do. It's full of inspiring quotes, e.g. "The more coherent one becomes within oneself as a creature, the more fully one enters into the communion of all creatures." The author is a philosopher, and his unique voice of exhortation is not overly preachy.

Mr. Berry touches on many far-ranging topics of quotidian life: the real values of education; the merits of decentralized control; the inherent biases toward, and the effects of, centralized control; the idea that language and writing should involve all senses; the concept that the future is faith based on all that we do now. The author delves into the most fundamental human motivations, and why we should be stewards of the Earth.

This book was a joy to read, and in these times of economic crisis it left me inspired that we can adapt and improve, and I feel sustained warm thoughts for the author. It was the first work of his I've read, and I'm eager to read more of his nonfiction and novels.

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markfav
5.0 out of 5 starsBerry's insightful prose casts a light on our nature.December 15, 2014
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Wendell Berry's essays are far ranging and diverse in topic, but unified by his curiosity about the human condition. These are essays and reviews that you can read over and over, and likely will, because they resonate with an inner longing of the reader. Berry has a way of persuading the reader, not just telling him, about something of import - taking him from unaware to deeply affected. A very worthwhile read.

4 people found this helpful

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Andrew M. Gordon
4.0 out of 5 starsin the American grainJune 1, 2014
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I first read Wendell Berry's novel Hannah Coulter. These reviews and essays explain the philosophy and ecology behind the fiction. While not as entertaining as a novel, his prose is very well crafted and a pleasure to read. Berry sometiems comes across as cranky, old-fashioned, or a Luddite (technophobe), but he is in the American grain of Thoreau. He emphasizes the values of community and loving the land and stresses all we have lost in the modern world.

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JC_
5.0 out of 5 starsAs good as it getsMarch 19, 2014
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I gave this book a 5-star rating not because I agree with everything Berry has to say about economics or conservation. The 5-star rating comes from Berry's mastery of the English language. Even if you disagree with everything Berry has to say you will love his style.

Here is a sample: “Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.”

Beautiful.

6 people found this helpful

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JAY BREMYER
5.0 out of 5 starsWendell Berry Is a TreasureNovember 14, 2015
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I've been reading Wendell Berry for 55 years, many of the books several times, and never come away less than moved, informed, and inspired.

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Joel Patrick Senkar
5.0 out of 5 starsEven though the essays were written many years ago, ...May 21, 2016
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Even though the essays were written many years ago, "What Are People For?" is a thought provoking read that I wish had been introduced to me earlier. Take the time to at least think about the messages contained within.

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2019/04/26

The Journal of John Woolman - Wikipedia

The Journal of John Woolman - Wikipedia



The Journal of John Woolman

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The Journal of John Woolman is an autobiography by John Woolman which was published posthumously in 1774 by Joseph Crukshank, a Philadelphia Quaker printer. Woolman's journal is one of the longest continually published books in North America since it has never been out of print.
The Journal adds to his other published works and gives greater evidence to his character as he discusses ideas of anti-slavery and anti-materialism as well as discussing power's ability to corrupt. The work also discusses God's divine power and goodness for all on the earth.
The work has remained in print due to its focus on making life simple and the hopeful message of God's divine goodness. Woolman is one of the first early American writers besides John Smith who is a not a Puritan. Puritans were the most prevalent writers in Early America, and it was during the time of this publication that writing began to move away from being by only Puritan authors. Woolman's writing is at the forefront of this transition.

Anti-Slavery[edit]

Slavery[edit]

Woolman's Journal focuses much on his decision to support anti-slavery. The struggle is first seen when he discusses how he was required to write a bill of sale for a Quaker friend who had sold a slave. He completed the bill of sale because it was part of his job and the man that sold the slave was also a Quaker however, after this even Woolman took a more official stance in regard to his opinion, even explaining during the actual event that he "believed slavekeeping to be a practice inconsistent with the Christian religion."[1] His journal shows his inner turmoil as he grapples with understanding how he truly feels about the selling and buying of slaves that eventually led to publishing works such as his Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes.
Slavery is prominent in Woolman's journal, and it returns again shortly after the scene with the bill of sale as he discusses further opinions he has on the subject. He takes time to discuss those who he visited that did not take care of their slaves and how that made him feel uncomfortable while visiting. In contrast, Woolman discusses individuals who did take care of their slaves and how that made him feel more at ease. Shortly after that comparison, Woolman moves beyond the treatment of slaves and reflects on the idea that even if slaves were well cared for, they were still taken from their homes.[1] His continual discourse on slavery in his journal makes Woolman one of the first abolitionists.

Power[edit]

Woolman addresses one of the issues of slavery to be men having too much power: "men having power too often misapplied it...we made slaves of the Negroes and the Turks made slaves of the Christians."[1] This is an idea already a large part of American heritage as many who traveled to America were seeking freedom of some kind. Woolman's focus on how power corrupts will continue to be impactful as Americans push further away from England (which is what had been occurring when Joseph Crukshank published this journal).

God's Divine Goodness[edit]

Quakers and Puritans[edit]

Woolman spends time in his journal writing about his relationship with God and his perspective on God. He discusses that as early as the age of 7 he "began to be acquainted with the operations of divine love."[1] His perspective on God and God's love is important, as it offers clear contrasts from the opinions that Puritans had. Puritans believed in a less tolerable God, and as Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God suggests, a God who does not care for those on Earth, nearly as much as Woolman suggests. Woolman's journal speaks of a God who gives revelation and creates a feeling of sweetness as well as strong feelings of mercy.

Tolerance[edit]

The opinion on God's love and his strong mercy is what makes Woolman and other Quakers more tolerant to others. Woolman writes: "I found no narrowness respecting sects and opinions, but believed that sincere, upright-hearted people in every Society who truly loved God were accepted of him."[1] This is a very different belief from those of other major religions in American at the time. The Puritans were very intolerant, even within their own ranks--intolerance is one of the causes of the Salem Witch Trials. Quakers' differing opinion on God is also what brings about a major dislike of Quakers by Puritans. They could not stand the opinions of Quakers and considered it a type of religious heresy.[2]Woolman does not discuss this in his Journal, instead focusing on what he knows and believes. In fact, Woolman believes that tolerance and mercy towards others were given from God: "he whose tender mercies are over all his works hath placed a principle in the human mind which incites to exercise goodness towards every living creature." [1]
These kinds of connections involving tolerance and mercy towards other people are what makes Woolman's writings easier to connect with. He appears more real and sincere because of his tolerance towards others. Christians now connect with his opinions on mercy, and this is part of the reason he has remained in print since the first publication of his journal.

Anti-Materialism[edit]

Woolman did many things in his life, varying from merchant, to tailor, to Quaker preacher. Along this path he decided that his wealth and prosperity were hurting him and his relationship with God: "the increase became my burden."[1] He turned away from all his merchandise and placed his focus somewhere else, no longer even desiring it.
This aspect of Woolman's writing moves beyond Quaker ideals. It is something that contains aspects of Americanism, also portrayed in later authors like Henry Thoreau as well as Walt Whitman. He in some ways follows transcendentalism.
Woolman seems to believe in the importance of anti-mercantilism, as following his decision to forgo his wealth he becomes much more visionary and believes to become closer to God.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g McMichael, George; Leonard, James (2011). Anthology of American literature(10 ed.). Boston: Longman. pp. 293–301. ISBN 9780205779390.
  2. ^ Crisler, Jesse. Brigham Young University Class Lecture, 12 October 2016, Joseph Fielding Smith Building, Provo, UT.
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2019/04/17

Thomas Kelly speaks 1952



Thomas Kelly speaks 

Copyright 1952, Leonard S. Kenworthy 


Thomas R. Kelly's life (1893-1941) was a quest for reality. Two methods of achieving that goal characterized his search. In his earlier years the stress was upon scholarship; in the latter years the emphasis was upon commitment to Christ and holy obedience to the Inner Voice. Scholarship was not neglected but it became subordinate to inward orientation.

His life came into focus in the summer of 1938 on a memorable visit among German Quakers. There he was "literally melted down by the love of God," as he described the experience. For the next three years he poured out this experience in writing and speaking about the centrality of inward experience, the strength of the blessed community, the joys of the Christ-centered life, and the need for Christian concern. At the height of his powers he passed to the Great Beyond.

Born into a Quaker family in southwestern Ohio, he attended Wilmington College and Hartford Seminary. Most of his life was spent as a professor of philosophy at Earlham College, although he taught for a short time at Pickering College, at the University of Hawaii, and towards the close of his life at Haverford College. During World War I he worked with the Y. M. C. A. in Europe and during 1924-25 he and his wife headed the Quaker Center in Berlin. Quaker outreach in the Orient was one of his chief concerns.

The message of this great mystic is desperately needed today as he still speaks from his first-hand experiences with God,



ON GOD . . .

"But there is a wholly different way of being sure that God is real. It is not an intellectual proof, a reasoned sequence of thoughts. It is the fact that men experience the presence of God. Into our lives come times when, all unexpectedly, He shadows over us, steals into the inner recesses of our souls, and lifts us up in a wonderful joy and peace. The curtains of heaven are raised and we find ourselves in heavenly peace in Christ Jesus. Sometimes these moments of visitation come to us in strange places—on lonely roads, in a class room, at the kitchen sink. Sometimes they come in the hour of worship, when we are gathered into one Holy Presence who stands in our midst and welds us together in breathless hush, and wraps us all in sweet comfortableness into His arms of love. In such times of direct experience of Presence, we know that God is utterly real. We need no argument. When we are gazing into the sun we need no argument, no proof that the sun is shining."
ON A LIVING RELIGION . . .

"Religion isn't something to be added to our other duties, and thus make our lives yet more complex. The life with God is the center of life, and all else is remodelled and integrated by it. It gives the singleness of eye. The most important thing is not to be perpetually passing cups of cold water to a thirsty world. We can get so fearfully busy trying to carry out the second great commandment, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself', that we are underdeveloped in our devoted love to God. But we must love God as well as neighbor."

2 .

ON THE INWARD LIGHT'

"The Inner Light, the Inward Christ, is no mere doctrine, belonging peculiarly to a small religious fellowship, to be accepted or rejected as a mere belief. It is the living Center of Reference for all Christian souls and Christian groups—yes, and of non-Christian groups as well —who seriously mean to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. He is the center and source of action, not the end-point of thought. He is the locus of commitment, not a problem for debate A practicing Christian must above all be one who practices the perpetual return of the soul into the inner sanctuary. . . ."

"What is here urged are inward practices of the mind at deepest levels, letting it swing like the needle, to the polestar of the soul. And like the needle, the Inward Light becomes the truest guide of life, showing us new and unsuspected defects in ourselves and our fellows, showing us new and unsuspected possibilities in the power and life of good-will among men."

ON THE RESULTS OF CONTACT WITH THE LIGHT . . .

"The basic response ot the soul to the Light is internal adoration and joy, thanksgiving and worship, self-surrender and listening. The secret places of the heart cease to be our noisy workshop. They become a holy sanctuary of adoration and of self-oblation, where we are kept in perfect peace, if our minds be stayed on Him who has found us in the inward springs of our life."

"We are owned men, ready to run and not be weary and to walk and not be faint."

ON THE STEPS TO HOLY OBEDIENCE • • •

. the first step . . . is the flaming vision of the wonder of such a life, a vision which comes occasionally to us all, through biographies of the saints, through the journals of Fox and early Friends, through a life lived before our eyes . , through meditation upon the amazing life and death of Jesus, through a flash of illumination. . . ."

the second step to holy obedience is this: Begin where you are. Obey now.

Live this present moment, this present hour . . . in utter, utter submission and openness toward Him.

. the third step in holy obedience, or a counsel, is this: If you Blip and stumble and forget God for an hour, and assert your old proud self, and rely upon your own clever wisdom, don't spend too much time in anguished regrets and self-accusations but begin again, just where you are."

"Yet a fourth consideration in holy obedience is this: Don't grit your teeth and clench your fists and say, 'I will! I will!' Relax. Take hands off. Submit yourself to God. Learn to live in the passive voice . . and let life be willed through you."

ON THE FRUITS OF HOLY OBEDIENCE . . .

"The fruits of holy obedience are many. But two are BO closely likened together that they can scarcely be treated separately. They are the passion for personal holiness and the sense of utter humility."

ON PRAYER

"This practice of continuous prayer in the presence of God involves developing the habit of carrying on the mental life at two levels. At one level we are immersed in this world of time, of daily affairs. At the game time, but at a deeper level of our minds, we are in active relation with the Eternal Life."

"Such practice of inward orientation . the heart of religion."

ON THE CROSS . . •

"The Cross as dogma is painless speculation; the Cross as lived suffering is anguish and glory. Yet God, out of the pattern of His own heart, has planted the Cross along the road of holy obedience. And He enacts in the hearts of those He loves the miracle of willingness to welcome suffering and to know it for what it is —the final seal of His gracious love. I dare not urge you to your Cross. But He, more powerfully, speaks within you and me, to our truest selves, in our truest moments, and disquiets us with the world's needs. By inner persuasions He draws us to a few definite tasks, our tasks. God's burdened heart particularizing His burdens in us."

ON JOY • . .

"Christians who don't know an inner pentecostal joy are living contradictions of Christianity."

"I'd rather be jolly Saint Francis hymning his canticle to the sun than a dour old sober Bides Quaker whose diet would appear to have been spiritual persimmons."

ON THE GATHERED MEETING . . .

"I believe that the group mysticism of the gathered meeting rests upon the Real Presence in our midst. Quakers generally hold to a belief in Real Presence, as firm and solid as the belief of Roman Catholics in the Real Presence in the Host, in the Bread and Wine of the Mass."

"Some individuals need already, upon entering the meeting, to be gathered deep in the spirit of worship. There must be some kindled hearts when the meeting begins. In them and from them, begins the work of worship. The spiritual devotion of a few persons, silently deep in active adoration, is needed to kindle the rest, to help those others who enter the service with tangled, harried, distraught thoughts to be melted and quieted and released and made pliant, ready for the work of God and His Real Presence."

"Brevity, earnestness, Bincerity—and free quently a lack of polish—characterize the best Quaker speaking."

"Words that hint at the wonder of God, but do not attempt to exhaust it, have an openended character. In the silences of our hearts the Holy Presence completes the unfinished words far more satisfyingly."

"Vocal prayer, poured from a humble heart, frequently shifts a meeting from a heady level of discussion to the deeps of worship. Such prayers serve as an unintended rebuke to our shallowness and drive us deeper into worship, and commitment. They open the gates of devotion, adoration, submission, confession. They help to unite the group at the level at which real unity is sought."

ON CHRISTIAN CONCERN

"Our fellowship with God issues in worldconcern. We cannot keep the love of God to ourselves. It spills over. It quickens us. It makes us see the world's needs anew. We love people and we grieve to see them blind when they might be seeing, asleep with all the world's comforts when they ought to be awake and living sacrificially, accepting the world's goods as their right when they really hold them only in temporary trust. It is because of this holy Center we relove people, relove our neighbors as ourselves, that we are bestirred to be means of their awakening."

"Would that we could relove the whole world! But a special fragment is placed before us by the temporal now, which puts a special responsibility for our present upon us."

a Quaker concern particularizes . cosmic tenderness. It brings to a definite and effective focus in some concrete task all that experience of love and responsibility which might evaporate, in its broad generality, into vague yearnings for a golden Paradise."

. a concern hag a foreground and a background. In the foreground is the special task, uniquely illuminated, toward which we feel a special yearning and care. . . . But in the background is a second level, or layer, of universal concern for all the multitude of good things that need doing."

"The world needs something deeper than pity; it needs love."

ON THE SIMPLIFICATION OF LIFE .

. I would suggest that the true explanation of the complexity of our program is an inner one, not an outer one. The outer distractions of our interests reflect an inner lack of integration of our own lives. We are trying to be several selves at once, without all our selves being organized by a single, mastering Life within us. Each of us tends to be, not a single self, but a whole committee of selves.

. It is as if we have a chairman of our own committee of the many selves within us, who does not integrate the many into one but who merely counts the votes at each decision and leaves disgruntled minorities."

"Life from the Center is a life of unhurried peace and power. It is simple. It is serene. It is amazing. It is triumphant. It is radiant. It takes no time, but it occupies all our time. And it makes our life programs new and overcoming. We need not get frantic. He is at the helm. And when our little day is done we lie down quietly in peace, for all is well."

 ===

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Harper and Brothers for the many quotations taken from ''A Testament of Devotion,•• to Pendle Hill for quotations from "Reality of the Spiritual World," and to ' 'The Friend" for material from •'The Gathered Meeting."


Additional copies may be obtained from Leonard S. Kenworthy

Brooklyn College, Brooklyn 10, N. Y.



Titles include: Jane Addams, Aggrey, Robert Barclay, Ben-

Gurion, Bunche, Cereso'e, Chisholm, Einstein, Emerson, Fosdick, George Fox, Franklin, Elizabeth Fry, Gandhi, Gibran, Goethe.

Hammarskiold, Carl Heath, William James, Jefferson, Jesus,

James Weldon Johnson, Rufus Jones, Kagawa, Thomas Kelly, Tygve Lie, Lincoln, Charles Malik, Nehru, Nkrumah, Nyerere,

Orr, Paton, Penington, Penn, Franklin Roosevelt, Rowntree, Schweitzer, Tagore, Thoreau, Tolstoy, U Nu, van der Post, Wesley, Whitehead, Whittier, Wilson, and Woolman.
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2019/02/25

Bron Taylor - Wikipedia Dark green religion



Bron Taylor - Wikipedia



Bron Taylor
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Bron Raymond Taylor (born 15 April 1955) is an American scholar and conservationist. He is Professor of Religion and Nature at the University of Florida and has also been an Affiliated Scholar with the Center for Environment and Development at the University of Oslo. Taylor works principally in the areas of religion and ecology, environmental ethicsand environmental philosophy. He is also a prominent historian and ethnographer of environmentalism and especially radical environmentalist movements, surfing culture and nature-based spiritualities. Taylor is also Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature and subsequently founded the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, serving as its President from 2006-2009. He also founded the Society’s affiliated Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, serving as its editor since 2007.


Contents
1Dark green religion
1.1Dark green versus green religion

2Selected publications
3See also
4References
5External links


Dark green religion[edit]

Taylor is credited with coining the term "dark green religion" or "dark green spirituality",[1]which he broadly defines as a religion, or a "religion-resembling" set of beliefs and practices, characterized by a central conviction that "nature is sacred, has intrinsic value, and is therefore due reverent care."[2][3] Tied in with this belief is a felt kinship with non-human entities and a conscious awareness of the interconnected and interdependent nature of life on the planet. 

Taylor argues that dark green religion possesses many of the characteristics of established religions, such as sacred texts (a book such as Walden, for example), prophets (writers and activists such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Rachael Carson), rituals ("soul surfers" meeting the ocean at dawn) and elements some consider dangerous (radical "eco-terrorists"). Dark green religion also has an inherently political component with regards to environmentalism; the idea that nature is sacred comes with an ethical responsibility to treat it as such.

As outlined in Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future, Taylor asserts that belief in the sacrality of nature may or may not involve a belief in supernatural beings or forces. An atheist who reads evolution as an epic narrative of spiritual significance may be engaging in dark green religion, as would a pantheist who is humbled by the structure of the cosmos. Those who perceive the Earth to be like an organism if not also a sentient being (Gaianism), or intuit that animals and trees possess spiritual intelligences (animism), may also be viewed as engaging in dark green religion, according to Taylor. Dark green religion often finds common ground with religious traditions such as paganism and shamanism, as well as philosophical belief systems such as deep ecology, Aldo Leopold's theory of land ethic, and James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.

Taylor's conviction that "religion" is a paradigm that can be understood to include entirely naturalistic worldviews puts him at odds with many of the new atheist thinkers such as Christopher Hitchens and especially Richard Dawkins, whom he discusses directly in his book.

Taylor contends that dark green religiosity has deep roots and has manifested itself in a diversity of ways throughout human history. He finds eco-spiritual synchronicity, for example, in phenomena as seemingly disparate as surfing magazines and the writings of Edmund Burke. Other cultural actors and elements explored by Taylor include Charles Darwin, Jane Goodall, Edward Abbey, Alice Walker, tree-sitting activists, the Earth Liberation Front, the Animal Liberation Front, Al Gore, Orion magazine and Disney films such as The Lion King and Pocahontas.[3]

Taylor has also written about James Cameron's film Avatar and its relevance to dark green religion. He argues that the widespread popularity of the film, in which nature is regarded as sentient and sacred, is a testament to the growing appeal of dark green spirituality around the world.[4]

Taylor also finds an emerging global receptivity to dark green religious sentiment in political institutions such as the United Nations. He has observed that, as concerns over the state of the environment intensify, global summits aimed at addressing the ecological crisis have assumed a decidedly spiritual tenor. He points to the opening ceremony of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development as one example of this trend.[5] He argues that current trends in earthen spirituality might even presage the emergence of a “civil earth religion” that promotes loyalty to the biosphere rather than to nation states.[6]

Dark green versus green religion[edit]

Taylor makes a distinction between dark green religious phenomena (which emanate from a belief that nature is sacred), and the relatively recent "greening" of certain sectors of established religious traditions (which see eco-friendly activities as a religious obligation). Many of the central figures and seminal texts of dark green religion, as curated by Taylor, express a strong condemnation of Abrahamic theism, which, dark green religionists allege, as Lynn Townsend White, Jr. did in a famous Science essay[7] in 1968, is deeply linked to an anthropocentric worldview that sees human beings as above nature and divinely endowed with the right to dominion over the biosphere. Those aligned in the dark green religion camp have alleged that this cosmogony has played a major role in the desecration and exploitation of the natural world.

For this reason, those engaged in dark green religion are often skeptical that conventional religions can play a constructive role in halting and reversing ecological degradation. While the environmentalist efficacy of the stewardship model, which some think is mandated by Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike, remains a hotly disputed issue,[8] many dark green thinkers believe that efforts to preserve the ecosystem will not succeed unless underlying spiritual attitudes are shifted towards a more biocentric perspective. To this point, in a 2010 interview with the online magazine Religion Dispatches, Taylor stated, "Although it is not my intent to annoy those with conventional religious understandings, few such religionists will welcome the evidence assembled in Dark Green Religion, or my supposition based on this evidence, that eventually their religions are likely to be supplanted by naturalistic forms of nature spirituality."[9] Taylor has thus drawn criticism from those who believe that conventional religious ethics and infrastructure can be effective agents of environmental preservation.

Selected publications[edit]


See also[edit]



References[edit]

  1. ^ Gary Laderman; Luis D. León (2003). Religion and American cultures: an encyclopedia of traditions, diversity, and popular expressions, Volume 3. ABC-CLIO. Retrieved 5 August2010.
  2. ^ Tomalin, Emma (2009). Biodivinity and Biodiversity: The Limits to Religious Environmentalism. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-5588-1. Retrieved 5 August2010.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b Taylor, Bron (2010). Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 978-0-520-26100-6
  4. ^ Taylor, Bron. "War of the Worldviews: Why Avatar Lost", Religion Dispatches, 11 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-24. Retrieved 2010-08-03."Welcome Ceremony at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development," Johannesburg, 25 August 2002.
  6. ^ Taylor, Bron. "Reconsidering Civil Religion, The Politics of Spirituality: Civil Earth Religion Versus Religious Nationalism", The Immanent Frame, 30 July 2010.
  7. ^ White, Lynn Townsend Jr. "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis", Science, Washington, D.C., 10 March 1968.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Tom. "A New Genesis: Getting World Religions to Worship Ecologically"Archived March 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Miller-McCune, 29 April 2009.
  9. ^ Taylor, Bron. "Losing Old Gods, Finding Nature", Religion Dispatches, 21 January 2010.

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