Th is article argues that evolution is of particular importance to those working on religious responses to the ecological crisis, despite public opposition to evolution in some quarters. To take evolution seriously, the article maintains, effects a fundamental revolution in reference points for those working in religion. Th e article presents the basic tenets of evolution, with a brief discussion of creationism and Intelligent Design theory. A second section discusses how attending to evolution changes the manner in which the ecological crisis is interpreted and understood. A final section explores hazards arising from, and contributions of religious responses to, the ecological crisis in the light of the revolution of evolution.2) Th ere are intense debates concerning which are the primary evolutionary mechanismsfor instance, concerning the role of behavioral changes or genetic mutations, and whether evolution is merely matter in motion or if change occurs from multiple pressures and innovations. Some of these discussions are described by John Cobb Jr in this issue. I am not questioning the relevance of these debates; however I am presenting evolution through a wide lens, using recent interpretations suggesting that the processes are dynamic, organic, intricate, inter-related and composite.
For some time I have wanted to bring the global economic agenda into the centre of ecological and feminist religious reflections. I sense the urgency of this task, and the need for our ecofeminist reflections to be pertinent to the global economic ghoul that is shaping many levels of current reality. In a desire to evaluate the power and liberatory potential of ecofeminist discourses in light of globalization, and in particular global corporate rule, I began this inquiry. A further desire was to expand the capabilities of ecofeminist liberation theologies to confront globalization. This article is a reflection on the process of attempting these goals. In brief, the results have been a disturbing realization of the power of corporate rule and the fallibility of ecofeminism.In an initial approach to the relationship between ecofeminism and globalization, I drafted what seemed to be useful categories of reflection : (1) to challenge the theoretical framework of religious ecofeminism to move beyond the cultural, ideological and conceptual connections between women and nature into acknowledging the centrality of the concrete incidents of deforestation, drought, pollution, militarization and socio-economic impoverishment; (2) to support the need for religious critiques of the dominant global systems of economic profit that function through oppression of those who benefit least, and leave ecological and social ruin in its wake; (3) to suggest paths of liberation from the vantage points of ecofeminist liberation theologies, North/South experiences and radical religious movements.As I began to examine ecofeminist religious discourses in light of globalization and these categories, I became overwhelmed by the governing reality of global corporate rule. 1
The theme of this article is a rise in notions of a planetary community, and the tensions this evokes in global-local and universal-contextual debates. The primary focus is the realization that new visions are needed to respond to ecological dilemmas in a culturally diverse yet global world and interconnected Earth. Of the many ways to discuss this, I first consider the growing interest in and expansion of biodemocracy as a way to combine these dimensions. Insights and issues from postmodern perspectives follow this, surveying the suspicion of what lurks behind "global." The next segment turns to ecological postmodernists who realize that a unifying path must be found for a viable planetary future. A brief and final section considers the Earth Charter to be an initiative responsive to postmodern pressures, and yet seeking a global vision and common ground for an emerging world community.
Are we indeed ethically destitute, as suggests Thomas Berry? We are in an era of a barrage of ethical discourses, and yet Berry claims that are unable to respond to the radically new problematique facing any human communities. This article explores the idea of the macro and micro dimensions of ethics, noting the conventional reference points as well as the change of reference points Berry suggests. The discussion dwells on these two dimensions, and the interplay between them. The article also suggests that the religious/spiritual experiences of awakening, and presently to the cosmos, could also be considered as a source for ethics.
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